Coke as a sensible snack? Coca-Cola works with dietitians who suggest cola as snack (blood, surgery)

[Lodestar]

Originally Posted by LongevitySeeker

I wonder if anyone here ever heard of this type of extreme diet. Back when I was in high school I had an obese friend who decided to go on yet another diet. This time it involved diet soda. If I remember correctly, it was diet coke that only had one calorie per large can.

So here's what he told me: He would only eat one meal per day which was dinner. And the rest of the day, from morning until dinner time, he would drink one can of soda every hour. So it was soda, soda, soda all day long. His parents were in business and gave him everything he wanted, so he had an apartment (away from home) just so he would have a place to keep the soda. He would buy several cases of soda at a time and keep most of it in the refrigerator. There was nothing but soda - so there was no temptation to start eating anything.

Then one day I was with him when he ate dinner at his parents house (where he lived) and it was a sad site to see. He was gulping down the food so fast, it didn't appear that he was even chewing anything. I was sorry I had to see that.

I'm not aware of how long that diet lasted or when he gave up on it but obviously it eventually failed.

A thought -

I'm glad you mentioned that. I thought about posting regarding the connection I'd observed between the one calorie colas and thyroid disease I noticed. It may just be a coincidence, I don't know. But
I see you mentioned bone deterioration in one of your last posts.

When I was in my thirties I had a large non-cancerous growth in my thyroid that interfered with the calcium in my bones. I went to the Mayo Clinic and saw there was a huge waiting room full of women of my generation with thyroid problems waiting to be seen.

One thing many of us had in common was that we'd grown up drinking those diet cokes. (Not a singular factor though. We had also grown up under the cloud of nuclear testing and radiation fallout so there's that. The government had deliberately showered Minneapolis with radiation during our teens to test the effect on the public. I always wondered if Mayo was reporting their findings to the Department of Defense. But that's another story.)

One thing I learned was that your thyroid/parathyroids stimulate the regulation and balance of phosphorus and calcium in your system. Could there be a connection between massive consumption of soft drinks and thyroid disease? I did a lot of research years ago without finding a definitive answer but there's probably a lot more info available now.

I remember I suffered miserable side effects for months after the surgery while they tried to retore normal calcium balance. Not a pleasant experience.

[steiconi]

Originally Posted by Lodestar

A thought -

I'm glad you mentioned that. I thought about posting regarding the connection I'd observed between the one calorie colas and thyroid disease I noticed. It may just be a coincidence, I don't know. But
I see you mentioned bone deterioration in one of your last posts.

When I was young (and many places still), the dentist didn't protect the patient's thyroid when taking x-rays. Ditto for CT scans even 15 years ago. I learned that AFTER I had thyroid cancer.
BTW, I discovered that a low-carb diet can affect your TSH. I just had to have my Rx adjusted.

[CarnivalGal]

This reminds me a lot of the tobacco companies getting doctors to say smoking was good for you. And they added nicotine to make it addictive. Food manufacturers and soft drink companies aren't all that much different from tobacco companies.

While I agree that Coke is complete crap, health wise, one every now and then will probably not hurt anyone. The problem is that Coca-Cola deliberately tries to make their products addictive. They know that there will be a crap ton of people who, once given the green light by nutritionists, will not be able to stop at just one every now and then. They just converted someone who may not even think of drinking soda into a reegular customer.

[Sand&Salt]

Originally Posted by SimplySagacious

Numerous sources say that Coke is excellent for cleaning toilets.

And an alternate remedy for kidney stones. Drink a couple liters of Coke and eat a bunch of asparagus.

NO, didn't work, lol.

We were raised without any sodas and I never got into the habit. The only Coke I have is a shot into the Long Island Ice Tea (to make it look like "tea", lol)

It's tragic that Coke has moved into many 3rd-world countries without safe drinking water and now kids are hooked on it.

[rstevens62]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

This reminds me a lot of the tobacco companies getting doctors to say smoking was good for you. And they added nicotine to make it addictive. Food manufacturers and soft drink companies aren't all that much different from tobacco companies.

While I agree that Coke is complete crap, health wise, one every now and then will probably not hurt anyone. The problem is that Coca-Cola deliberately tries to make their products addictive. They know that there will be a crap ton of people who, once given the green light by nutritionists, will not be able to stop at just one every now and then. They just converted someone who may not even think of drinking soda into a reegular customer.

Overall, the big soda companies are struggling right now, not nearly as many people drink the stuff regularly anymore.


Ive worked in a gas station/c store for many years, when I started soda was one of our best sellers, and generally, Coke, Pepsi delivered every day, but now, we only have them deliver once per week and really that is too often. Coke and Pepsi salespeople were constantly trying to justify daily deliveries, but we showed them how much of their product was just taking up space, and they reluctantly reduced our delivery schedule...this has to be killing them, as Im sure other places are seeing the same decrease in sales.

[Mikala43]

Originally Posted by thinkingandwondering

And there is a theory that the way you feel about what you put into your body, trumps everything else - that nothing is "good" or "bad," just your perception of it makes it so.

I BELIEVE this donut is good for me, and voila! it is?

Just no.

[Mikala43]

Originally Posted by Parnassia

The forum you're on has never been the "Health & Nutrition" board.

FWIW, I might imbibe a sweetened carbonated drink maybe a half dozen times in a year. Doesn't mean I am a dietary felon, an idiot, or that I pay no attention to my health .

Sure, we all eat stuff that is no good for us, life would be quite sad without treats.

But to recommend something nutritionally empty, and bad for you, as a recommended as a sensible snack? No. Though the link didn't take me to the actual article.

It's a bad message for a society that is as a group, overweight enough already.

[Navyshow]

This thread makes me feel bad. I had a co worker who has since retired that was addicted to diet coke. She drank a couple of bottles a day. Sometimes she would express her guilt over her habit.

I would look around and see some of the smokers, folks with diabetes/health issues and observe what they ate during some of our group luncheons and would always reply with "there are worse things to be addicted to besides a zero calorie soda. Don't worry about it. Zero calories. If I had to be addicted to something I would pick that."

I wasn't thinking. I imagine she is still drinking them today probably running through her head my "don't worry about it. Zero calories."

[sub]

Sensible snack? No.
Guilty pleasure in moderation? That's your call.
When we can, we try to get all-natural craft sodas, not that they are any better for our health. Also, the bottles are probably half the size of the conventional 20-something ounces at the C-store. I remember when 12 ounces was the norm and then they just kept getting bigger. Obesity rates followed in step.
Coke tastes pretty gross once you get used to something more high-quality.

[tasmtairy]

I was addicted to Diet Coke for years, the only good thing was the first drink and the burn down the throat.