Fruit Juice vs Diet Coke: Best for losing weight?

[mrmr96]

So, diet coke is like 1 calorie per 250ml, but pure (not from concentrate) fruit juice is around 50 calories per 250ml. So when trying to lose weight am I better off drinking Diet Coke or Fruit Juice?

Logic says drink fruit juice, but the stats on the bottle say diet coke is lower calorie. I'm confused!

[mrmr96]

I don't like the (lack of) taste of water. :-(

[mrmr96]

Hi. Thanks for your replies. My confusion was just that logic would say 'fizzy pop' = bad and pure juice (basically just mashed fruit, and nothing else) = good. But the calories don't match with my 'common sense' understanding of healthy vs unhealthy.

[mrmr96]

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.

[mrmr96]

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.

[mrmr96]

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.

[mrmr96]

Fatman2 said:

The stuffing the face bit wasn't what I was focusing on but ok, fair play

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.