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Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

www-m.cnn.com

21–30 of 68 posts

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#21
I concluded a some time ago that soda drinks weren't adding a lot of value for me at all. And I heard some people claim that the artificial sugars actually are not that great for you. 1) they teach your body that sweet stuff has no nutrition, which then becomes a problem when you actually eat sweet stuff 2) sweeteners like aspartame build up in your liver and fat deposits, which may or may not have long term impact. 3) artificial sweeteners can cause issues with your gut bacteria/cause some irritation. All of that may or may not be true and I never really experienced any of that.

I used to just order a cola light/zero/diet in restaurants but it was more of a habit than something I actually particularly enjoyed. These days I usually go for water, tea, or coffee. Small change, probably a lot healthier, and I actually enjoy drinking it.

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#22

I’ve never seen a skinny person regularly drink Diet Coke/Pepsi Diet carbonated drinks just make me gassy. I’d rather have the sugar from a regular Coke and just not drink one every day, or multiple ones per day. I have co-workers that drink 6-8 per day. I find the “tiny” cans which are only 7.5 are about the perfect size. 3-4 drinks, only 80 cslories, a small bump of sugar...if I drink a 20oz bottle I usually can’t…

https://www.instagram.com/matpatgt/?hl=en

> Creator of Film Theory, Game Theory, and co-host of GTLive. Diet Coke addict. Owner of a cat and a baby.

I don't know if he counts as "a skinny person", but he's not exactly a FatPat either.

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#23
post #16

The problem is that diet sodas are seen as a cheat that allows a person to eat more calories than they should. This usually is linked to people with poor nutrition habits. Those same people are probably more likely to stroke out or have a heart attack.

That's unlikely to be the basis for this result as they controlled for weight.

In fact, of their cohort, if the person was obese and drank high quantities of diet drinks, their risk of strokes shot up even further.

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#25
post #16

The problem is that diet sodas are seen as a cheat that allows a person to eat more calories than they should. This usually is linked to people with poor nutrition habits. Those same people are probably more likely to stroke out or have a heart attack.

That's unlikely to be the basis for this result as they controlled for weight. In fact, of their cohort, if the person was obese and drank high quantities of diet drinks, their risk of strokes shot up even further.

I would still guess it has little to do with the diet soda itself and everything about the persons habits, which led them to drink diet soda twice or more per day. It seems unlikely artificial sweetener can have this impact. If it can, that is definitely interesting and the mechanism should be discovered.

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#26

I’ve never seen a skinny person regularly drink Diet Coke/Pepsi Diet carbonated drinks just make me gassy. I’d rather have the sugar from a regular Coke and just not drink one every day, or multiple ones per day. I have co-workers that drink 6-8 per day. I find the “tiny” cans which are only 7.5 are about the perfect size. 3-4 drinks, only 80 cslories, a small bump of sugar...if I drink a 20oz bottle I usually can’t…

> I’d rather have the sugar from a regular Coke

I guess this is what the article tries to achieve. Just PR to steer you to more unhealthy consumption.

Safe choice here was always to simply avoid sweet beverages altogether, and not just Coke, all the juices too.

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#27
post #18

I’ve never seen a skinny person regularly drink Diet Coke/Pepsi Diet carbonated drinks just make me gassy. I’d rather have the sugar from a regular Coke and just not drink one every day, or multiple ones per day. I have co-workers that drink 6-8 per day. I find the “tiny” cans which are only 7.5 are about the perfect size. 3-4 drinks, only 80 cslories, a small bump of sugar...if I drink a 20oz bottle I usually can’t…

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/25755228385065369...

That feels like just anecdotal evidence from one fat diet coke drinker.

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#28
post #11

I wonder whether even if there is a causal link, the diet version will still be healthier (for low values of healthy) than the sugary version. I tend to think so. I would assume the people most likely to drink diet beverages do so to wean themselves off of sugary drinks. That's one of the first steps in getting towards a healthier lifestyle. The article notes this too. A mystery to me is why they haven't asked about…

> A mystery to me is why they haven't asked about consumption of sugary drinks at the same time.

Obviously because sugary drinks manufacturers are paying for the article and the "study".

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#29
post #8

The article states that the research was done only for women above 50, and that it is observational, does not show cause and effect, so not sure how to interpret this.

You should interpret it the same way you interpret any other study that demonstrates only correlation and fails to control for obvious confounders.

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#30

I’ve never seen a skinny person regularly drink Diet Coke/Pepsi Diet carbonated drinks just make me gassy. I’d rather have the sugar from a regular Coke and just not drink one every day, or multiple ones per day. I have co-workers that drink 6-8 per day. I find the “tiny” cans which are only 7.5 are about the perfect size. 3-4 drinks, only 80 cslories, a small bump of sugar...if I drink a 20oz bottle I usually can’t…

Caffeine, sugar, (and alcohol) aren't necessarily bad for you. Joe Rogan repeats a phrase on his podcast all the time that I quite like, "keep all things in moderation, including moderation itself"
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