Coke

[Greenshield]

Dad drinks Diet Coke ...no sugar However I’ve been told the colouring Caramel is made with corn syrup ? Is this ok for him to drink ? Many thanks

 

[Ljc]

Hi @Greenshield , welcome to the forum .
I drink Coke Zero or Diet Coke , neither has carbohydrates or sugar.
https://www.coca-cola.co.uk/drinks/diet-coke/diet-coke

 

[Browser]

Reports out today are saying that Diet/sugar-free drinks are just as unhealthy as ‘full fat’ fizzy drinks and can lead to diabetes. Where does that place diabetics? I personally take Diet drinks ( not in huge quantities) in preference to sugar heavy alternatives and probably will continue to do so.

 

[SueEK]

This is exactly what my husband and I were talking about. He said they were discussing it in the Jeremy vine show and that Diet Coke is not what it is cracked up to be. Am going to try to find out more online as otherwise what on earth will I put in my Bacardi!!!

 

[rebrascora]

I dilute my diet cola with water so that I have a quarter to a third of a glass of cola and the remainder water. I started off just adding a bit of water to mostly diet cola and gradually reduced the amount of cola once I got used to it. I am currently doing the same with Low Cal Bitter Lemon. I do drink water with a slice of lemon in it too but it is nice to have a flavoured drink sometimes or as you say, with a mixer. It is surprising how quickly you get used to the watered down version. If you like to keep the fizz, you could use soda water instead of tap water to dilute it. It is obviously not ideal because there are still sweeteners in the diet cola but at least you are consuming less of them.
I now find it a bit sweet when I occasionally have it undiluted.

 

[Sally W]

I drink Stur water flavours & put them in soda water. Cherry, peach & lovely flavours too. They’re sweetened with stevia.

 

[SueEK]

Please include a Web link or reference to these 'reports'

I can’t find anything on tinternet about it but my husband said they were discussing it on Jeremy vine show, radio 2 yesterday. I have so little of it, only drink Bacardi when on jollies, so I’ll carry on having it x

 

[MikeTurin]

Seems that sugar free drinks aren't the same compared with sugary drinks. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5118762/
On healthy individual sugar free drinks are increasing the GLP-1 response https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2782974/

It could happen in beverage like Fanta zero because they put in orange and beet juice that have sugar from the fruits. They actually aren't sugar free, are without added sugars.

 

[Eddy Edson]

Please include a Web link or reference to these 'reports'

This is it: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2749350

A big European long-term cohort study.

Results In total, 521 330 individuals were enrolled. Of this total, 451 743 (86.7%) were included in the study, with a mean (SD) age of 50.8 (9.8) years and with 321 081 women (71.1%). During a mean (range) follow-up of 16.4 (11.1 in Greece to 19.2 in France) years, 41 693 deaths occurred. Higher all-cause mortality was found among participants who consumed 2 or more glasses per day (vs consumers of <1 glass per month) of total soft drinks (hazard ratio

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, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.11-1.22; P < .001), sugar-sweetened soft drinks (HR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.01-1.16; P = .004), and artificially sweetened soft drinks (HR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.16-1.35; P < .001). Positive associations were also observed between artificially sweetened soft drinks and deaths from circulatory diseases (≥2 glasses per day vs <1 glass per month; HR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.30-1.78; P < .001) and between sugar-sweetened soft drinks and deaths from digestive diseases (≥1 glass per day vs <1 glass per month; HR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.24-2.05; P < .001).

Conclusions and Relevance This study found that consumption of total, sugar-sweetened, and artificially sweetened soft drinks was positively associated with all-cause deaths in this large European cohort; the results are supportive of public health campaigns aimed at limiting the consumption of soft drinks.

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[Bruce Stephens]

Conclusions and Relevance This study found that consumption of total, sugar-sweetened, and artificially sweetened soft drinks was positively associated with all-cause deaths in this large European cohort; the results are supportive of public health campaigns aimed at limiting the consumption of soft drinks.

Also see the NHS behind the headlines summary, https://www.nhs.uk/news/food-and-di...ing-sugar-free-versions-linked-earlier-death/ which is slightly more measured (basically "don't panic", but also don't drink too many soft drinks).

 

[Ralph-YK]

They actually aren't sugar free, are without added sugars.

There are some drink that have "no added sugar" on them. Then there are those that say "no sugar" (in the ingredients/nutritional information they 0 carbohydrates and sugar).
The first one is allowed sugar if it's not added (cause that's what it says). The second has to have no sugar, as that's what it says. People don't always take the label literally enough.

 

[Ralph-YK]

I've not heard anything of these new reports.
For diabetics, no sugar drinks are ok as there are no carbohydrates. As for the fowl cola with its evil corporation backed additive mixtures, and how good that is for anybody: that's another conversation.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I often find these kinds of studies rather less than convincing. Particularly when they take something as complex as diet and way of life and then draw causative conclusions between an association that is identified and tie it to one specific food item (which is why one week coffee or red wine or chocolate or whatever will ‘give you cancer’ and another week it will ‘cure you of heart disease’). To be fair I’ve not read the study itself, and often there is some attempt at stratifying for confounding factors (smoking or whatever), but I’m not all that convinced that “diet drinks are just as bad as sugary drinks” really holds true for the particular population here.

Perhaps what it shows is that if you are in a group which usually drinks at least two carbonated drinks every day, then you are more likely to be in a group with other diet, lifestyle and socioeconomic factors that put you at greater risk of all cause mortality?

Personally I’ll keep having an occasional Diet Coke in a pub when driving and not worry about suddenly dropping dead because of it.

 

[Eddy Edson]

I often find these kinds of studies rather less than convincing. Particularly when they take something as complex as diet and way of life and then draw causative conclusions between an association that is identified and tie it to one specific food item (which is why one week coffee or red wine or chocolate or whatever will ‘give you cancer’ and another week it will ‘cure you of heart disease’). To be fair I’ve not read the study itself, and often there is some attempt at stratifying for confounding factors (smoking or whatever), but I’m not all that convinced that “diet drinks are just as bad as sugary drinks” really holds true for the particular population here.

Perhaps what it shows is that if you are in a group which usually drinks at least two carbonated drinks every day, then you are more likely to be in a group with other diet, lifestyle and socioeconomic factors that put you at greater risk of all cause mortality?

Personally I’ll keep having an occasional Diet Coke in a pub when driving and not worry about suddenly dropping dead because of it.

As usual, the headlines and clickbait are more dramatic than the actual study. The authors suggest the lifestyle confluence thing as a possible explanation.

 

[Flashgordon12345]

A report came out the other day that said if you have more than 2 glasses a day for 10 years, you have a 50% chance of having a heart attack, because diet coke uses sweetners that have some chemical inside

 

[Sally71]

I'll be dead soon then

If you believe all the reports about whatever foods and drinks someone has decided are bad for you this week, you'll have nothing left to eat or drink safely!