Fruit Juice vs Diet Coke: Best for losing weight?

Fruit Juice vs Diet Coke: Best for losing weight?

Author
Discussion

davidspooner

23,907 posts

196 months

Tuesday 19th April 2011
quotequote all
How about Coke Zero?

Fatman2

1,464 posts

171 months

Tuesday 19th April 2011
quotequote all
RichB said:
Fatman2 said:
I don't think it's clear cut..
Of course it's clear cut. Assuming you're on a proper diet and excercise regime then if you are thirsty a diet coke is better than 50 cals of fruit juice.
Sadly it's not.

It has been found that although diet drinks obviously contain fewer calories, it is often the case that ingesting sweeteners leads to additional food cravings.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1578260/Die...

As with any research there is always a question mark as to the reliability of results but like I said, it's not clear cut.

Obviously if you're on a strictly controlled diet and drink diet coke instead of fruit juice then yes, the calorie deficit is going to benefit but 'if' artificial sweeteners make you more hungry then you are less likely to sustain a strict diet.

Edited by Fatman2 on Tuesday 19th April 20:33

RichB

51,835 posts

286 months

Tuesday 19th April 2011
quotequote all
Let's just disagree then. Anyway, forget all the science, as I said it's simple fewer calories in than you expend out and you'll lose weight, excercise is the key.

Tiggsy

10,261 posts

254 months

Tuesday 19th April 2011
quotequote all
so in summary - if you can stick to your diet/cal intake have a D coke.....if you're weak minded dont, because you'll eat a Mars bar instead.

D coke....only works if you arent a quitter.

mrmr96

Original Poster:

13,736 posts

206 months

Tuesday 19th April 2011
quotequote all
All good advice, cheers guys. I'll probably go back to diet coke but be more mindful of having to resist eating crisps etc if/when it makes me hungry!

I used to drink Coke Zero but I found it never seemed to really quench my thirst, and it also gave me a headache after a while, so that's not an option for me.

shouldbworking

4,769 posts

214 months

Wednesday 20th April 2011
quotequote all
Has anyone ever actually noticed any increased food cravigns after diet coke etc? I can't say I ever have.

Fatman2

1,464 posts

171 months

Wednesday 20th April 2011
quotequote all
Rarely drink the stuff myself but the TV research was carried out with a bunch of rugby players. One team drank water/fruit juice after the match whilst the other diet drinks.

They then put on a spread and asked both teams to tuck in as much as they liked. Oddly enough it was pretty clear cut that those that had drunk the diet drinks massively over ate.

Hardly conclusive (sports/nutrition research never is) but they were highlighting that the false sugar leads to some sort of calorie deprivation that the body subsequently tries to compensate for.

Tiggsy

10,261 posts

254 months

Wednesday 20th April 2011
quotequote all
Fatman2 said:
Rarely drink the stuff myself but the TV research was carried out with a bunch of rugby players. One team drank water/fruit juice after the match whilst the other diet drinks.

They then put on a spread and asked both teams to tuck in as much as they liked. Oddly enough it was pretty clear cut that those that had drunk the diet drinks massively over ate.

Hardly conclusive (sports/nutrition research never is) but they were highlighting that the false sugar leads to some sort of calorie deprivation that the body subsequently tries to compensate for.
The OP is on a diet and watching his cal intake....we have to assume that, if offered to stuff his face, he wouldnt!

mrmr96

Original Poster:

13,736 posts

206 months

Wednesday 20th April 2011
quotequote all
Tiggsy said:
The OP is on a diet and watching his cal intake....we have to assume that, if offered to stuff his face, he wouldnt!
Indeed!

Hence why I'm asking about a drink which is 50cal/250ml! (Snacks have reduced nil bar 1x bag baked crips /day and fruit.)

But it's still good to be aware that drinking a 'diet' soft drink like coke zero or diet coke could make me feel hungrier than if I'd drunk something like water, which has (appz) the same calories (none) but no artificial sweetener which might induce a craving later.

Fatman2

1,464 posts

171 months

Wednesday 20th April 2011
quotequote all
mrmr96 said:
Tiggsy said:
The OP is on a diet and watching his cal intake....we have to assume that, if offered to stuff his face, he wouldnt!
Indeed!

Hence why I'm asking about a drink which is 50cal/250ml! (Snacks have reduced nil bar 1x bag baked crips /day and fruit.)

But it's still good to be aware that drinking a 'diet' soft drink like coke zero or diet coke could make me feel hungrier than if I'd drunk something like water, which has (appz) the same calories (none) but no artificial sweetener which might induce a craving later.
The stuffing the face bit wasn't what I was focusing on but ok, fair play smile

Ultimately though, given the choice of the two, I'd still opt for the fruit juice and give the coke a miss, even if it means an extra 50 kcals. Coke is nasty stuff and the acid/fizz/chemicals etc. are not particularly good for you.

A better option would be to water down fresh orange juice or drink a good quality squash.

How much weight are you trying to lose and how much do you currently weigh?

I've put this on another thread but snacking is fine providing it's balanced i.e. nuts/seeds/Greek yoghurt/peanut butter sandwiches etc. Fruit on it's own is not that good as a snack (contrary to what you might think) as there's no protien to supplement the carbs/sugar. The baked crips (nice as they are) will definitely leave you wanting as they'll give you nothing except another 100 kcals. If you're going to take in 100 kcals then two glasses of orange juice would definitely be the better option.

jimbobsimmonds

1,824 posts

167 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
quotequote all
Try ad get hold of some "shreak"... It's a low calorie electrolyte drink that only seems available in Army ration packs... Bloody makes you go mental (and I am pretty much stimulant immune), hence the name "shreak". Need to find out what it's real name is...

Big E 118

2,411 posts

171 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
quotequote all
Your body requires sugars, dieting is all down to the types of sugars you eat/drink.

A glass of OJ after excercise is not going to pile on the pounds and will do you a lot more good than a can of Diet Coke.

The best way to lose weight and not get the urge to pig out is moderate eating of healthy foods and excercise. Cutting good foods because they may contain natural sugars or complex carbohydrates will make your body crave food more.

Ordinary_Chap

7,520 posts

245 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
quotequote all
Big E 118 said:
Your body requires sugars, dieting is all down to the types of sugars you eat/drink.

A glass of OJ after excercise is not going to pile on the pounds and will do you a lot more good than a can of Diet Coke.

The best way to lose weight and not get the urge to pig out is moderate eating of healthy foods and excercise. Cutting good foods because they may contain natural sugars or complex carbohydrates will make your body crave food more.
Sorry but that is complete nonsense.

Your body does not need sugars.

And removing sugars and complex carbs does not make you crave more after the first day or two for about 90% of the population.

ewenm

28,506 posts

247 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
quotequote all
I'm confused. Is Diet Coke like 1kcal per 250ml or is it 1kcal per 250ml? If it's like 1kcal, how like 1kcal is it? 2kcal? 0.5kcal?

mrmr96

Original Poster:

13,736 posts

206 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
quotequote all
ewenm said:
I'm confused. Is Diet Coke like 1kcal per 250ml or is it 1kcal per 250ml? If it's like 1kcal, how like 1kcal is it? 2kcal? 0.5kcal?
For the sake of discussion lets assume it is exactly 1.0 cal/250ml. Lets not let my use of language derail and otherwise useful thread. I wasn't sure exactly whether it was 1/250 or 1/500 but it's pretty immaterial. I should have said "about" not "like" so 'sorry for using conversational English on a message board'. Lets move on. smile

mrmr96

Original Poster:

13,736 posts

206 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
quotequote all
Fatman2 said:
The stuffing the face bit wasn't what I was focusing on but ok, fair play smile

Ultimately though, given the choice of the two, I'd still opt for the fruit juice and give the coke a miss, even if it means an extra 50 kcals. Coke is nasty stuff and the acid/fizz/chemicals etc. are not particularly good for you.

A better option would be to water down fresh orange juice or drink a good quality squash.

How much weight are you trying to lose and how much do you currently weigh?

I've put this on another thread but snacking is fine providing it's balanced i.e. nuts/seeds/Greek yoghurt/peanut butter sandwiches etc. Fruit on it's own is not that good as a snack (contrary to what you might think) as there's no protien to supplement the carbs/sugar. The baked crips (nice as they are) will definitely leave you wanting as they'll give you nothing except another 100 kcals. If you're going to take in 100 kcals then two glasses of orange juice would definitely be the better option.
Was about 17st at the start of the year, now down to 15st 7lb but I've not lost any more in the last month or so. Diet has been the same as it was when I lost the first 1.5 stone, but it's stopped now. I want to get down to about 14st - 14.5s,t and then once I've got my weight down I'll work on putting a bit more muscle on. (Oh, I'm 5'10", so yeah, a bit porky at the momement, but going in the right direction now at least.)

Maybe I need to do more excercise. I do walk and play an hour of racket sports per week, but my twice weekly gym sessions have stopped due to being busy. I guess I need to get back into that while leaving my intake the same.

jimbobsimmonds

1,824 posts

167 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
quotequote all
Ordinary_Chap said:
Big E 118 said:
Your body requires sugars, dieting is all down to the types of sugars you eat/drink.

A glass of OJ after excercise is not going to pile on the pounds and will do you a lot more good than a can of Diet Coke.

The best way to lose weight and not get the urge to pig out is moderate eating of healthy foods and excercise. Cutting good foods because they may contain natural sugars or complex carbohydrates will make your body crave food more.
Sorry but that is complete nonsense.

Your body does not need sugars.

And removing sugars and complex carbs does not make you crave more after the first day or two for about 90% of the population.
Yes would have to agree with OC on this... I have gone 3 weeks now on a very low carb and low alcohol diet (excluding the days with the TA I have had probably 3 sandwiches and around 6 pints in the course of nearly a month, the only carbs coming from a tin of mixed veg with my meal and what is in cottage cheese and yoghurt) and just been eating a load of protein and a fair amount of fat too and I have gone down 3kgs. At first I thought it was water loss and it would come back, but it's not...

As for energy levels, every now and then I feel a little low but nothing nearly as bad as you would think. The first week is the hardest...

Silver993tt

9,064 posts

241 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
quotequote all
The body does need sugar since that's where it gets its energy from. You don't need to consume sugar directly but you do need to consume carbohydrates (preferrably complex) since it is from these that sugars are produced that the body uses as its energy source.

Fatman2

1,464 posts

171 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
quotequote all
Silver993tt said:
The body does need sugar since that's where it gets its energy from. You don't need to consume sugar directly but you do need to consume carbohydrates (preferrably complex) since it is from these that sugars are produced that the body uses as its energy source.
I would tend to agree with this. Pure orange juice has about 50 kcals, 12g of carbs, almost all of which are sugars.

I think the important thing to look for is the percentage of the carbs of which are sugars.

Fatman2

1,464 posts

171 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
quotequote all
mrmr96 said:
Fatman2 said:
The stuffing the face bit wasn't what I was focusing on but ok, fair play smile

Ultimately though, given the choice of the two, I'd still opt for the fruit juice and give the coke a miss, even if it means an extra 50 kcals. Coke is nasty stuff and the acid/fizz/chemicals etc. are not particularly good for you.

A better option would be to water down fresh orange juice or drink a good quality squash.

How much weight are you trying to lose and how much do you currently weigh?

I've put this on another thread but snacking is fine providing it's balanced i.e. nuts/seeds/Greek yoghurt/peanut butter sandwiches etc. Fruit on it's own is not that good as a snack (contrary to what you might think) as there's no protien to supplement the carbs/sugar. The baked crips (nice as they are) will definitely leave you wanting as they'll give you nothing except another 100 kcals. If you're going to take in 100 kcals then two glasses of orange juice would definitely be the better option.
Was about 17st at the start of the year, now down to 15st 7lb but I've not lost any more in the last month or so. Diet has been the same as it was when I lost the first 1.5 stone, but it's stopped now. I want to get down to about 14st - 14.5s,t and then once I've got my weight down I'll work on putting a bit more muscle on. (Oh, I'm 5'10", so yeah, a bit porky at the momement, but going in the right direction now at least.)

Maybe I need to do more excercise. I do walk and play an hour of racket sports per week, but my twice weekly gym sessions have stopped due to being busy. I guess I need to get back into that while leaving my intake the same.
1.5 stone. That's very good so well done.

IMHO you should think about putting muscle on now as this is one of the best ways of losing weight. Current thinking is to do a rigorous weights session (to deplete gycogen stores in the muscles) followed by cardio to burn the fat.

I've known a few people to combine this with decent nutrition to achieve very good results.

In terms of your plateau it might be worth looking at the combinations of food that you're eating. The wife has just been going through this and is eating roughly the same stuff but ensuring that carbs/protein/fats are eaten in the right proportions (there's loads of info on the web). Although she thought eating porridge with banana was a good breakfast, this was too carb rich and there was not enough protein so she's ditched the banana in favour of nuts/seeds, which add some necessary protein/fat.

Anyway best of luck with losing the next stone smile