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The Diet Beverage Barn

Written by Sky Taylor, Diet Bites

Diet Article: Examining your beverages beneath the microscope of weight loss. How beverages impact weight.


"Love me?  You know it!" - but this unforgettable Young Frankenstein line generally doesn't apply to most diet beverages.  

Many claim to be de-caloried replicas of their tasty best-seller, but many diet sodas tend to be falling stars rather than Diet Stars.

For one, the manufacturers just can't quite capture the taste of the real thing (no pun intended) in a diet soda.  

But are all bad?  

Like most everyone, we have our favorites - though shy of the real-soda-mark, they do satisfy our craving for soda, without calories.

However, the lack of calories due to sugar substitutes does come with other risks and potential side effects.

Sugar substitute can trigger all sorts of ills in some individuals - from rashes to making the individual more susceptible to allergens. And sugar substitutes can also cause a breakdown in immunity.

When used in moderation they can assist with weight loss results, but some do have that whangy after-bite - or after-taste that sticks with the dieter for hours or at times, days on end.

If you are concerned about using sugar substitutes, then ask your doctor about their safety. Personally speaking, I've asked several and not one of them gave sugar substitutes their approval. There were a lot of eyebrows that lifted; a lot of head shaking. But no approvals.

At this point in time, we know the ills associated with real sugar - rotted teeth, potential sugar highs which might cause hyperactivity as well as weight gain issues associated with sugar. With time, we'll also learn more of the health impacts that sugar substitutes has on our health. We do know that some cause digestive upset. If you've ever had ice cream containing sugar substitute, you probably experience enough gas to fill up a giant air balloon. You know the ones - with the big baskets beneath that resemble picnic baskets. Unfortunately, ice cream containing sugar substitute is no happy picnic.


There is also controversy over the 'safe amounts' that can be consumed in a particular time.

It's important to keep in mind that like natural table sugar which rests in our sugar bowls, the more we use the more we want to use. The same applies to sugar substitutes - some of which are several times over the sweetness power of white table sugar.

Our Picks for Diet Soda

If you are using sugar substitute in an effort to reduced your weight, the following diet soda won in our Soda Challenge in which family and friends participated. Remember to please limit use of sugar substitutes while dieting, or not.

The top diet soda picks based on flavor alone were: Coca-Cola's Diet Vanilla Coke, Mr. Pibb's X-tra, Dr. Pepper's Cherry-Vanilla, Diet Sprite, Diet 7-Up, A & W Diet Cream Soda, A & W Diet Rootbeer, Pepsi One, Sunkist Diet Orange, RC Cola Diet Rite.

But don't stop at the Diet Soda Heap when it comes to diet beverages. From Crystal Lite to light cranberry beverages, the market has good pickings for those watching their waistline.

Tip for Diet Juice - At first glance, many diet beverages appear to be lighter versions of our favorite juices - but not so. Look at the label for Real Fruit Juice. Most are 'drinks', such as Orange Drink which become promoted as health-wise juice.

Our favorite drink in the whole wide world is REAL Coca-Cola - yeah, the real thing.  

And every once in a while we make room in our daily diet plan to enjoy that Coca-Cola - because what's life if you can't enjoy the things you love?

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