Occasionally a situation arises where I’m tempted to buy a diet cola. This is hardly common since when I usually crave a Dr. Pepper I go straight for the real stuff. But sometimes, when I feel like I’ve had too much sugar for the day, I reluctantly get a diet drink. These drinks, sweetened with aspartame instead of the HFCS found in regular colas, contain zero calories, but taste far from the real thing. Also, there has been some controversy over whether aspartame is even considered safe for human consumption. Given the controversy and the taste, I usually am successful in avoiding these drinks altogether. But when push comes to shove and you’re really craving a Coke or Mtn. Dew, is diet soda really a lesser of two evils?
Drink Sparingly: Just as you should drink regular colas sparingly, I’d suggest going easy on the diet stuff as well. Neither could ever be considered good for you. Your daily diet should consist of lots of water to stay hydrated and well fueled throughout the day. The caffeine found in these drinks only serves to sap water from your body. And all the artificial ingredients don’t help you either.
Less Calories: It is true, that diet cola contains much less calories than regular cola. If you have surpassed your calorie limits for the day and are in an either-or situation, I’d have no problem going for the diet drink. I often do this in movie theaters. If I’m splurging on buttered popcorn and need something to wash it down, diet drinks are sometimes a convenient way to avoid a couple hundred extra calories.
Not for me: Ultimately, though, I just don’t believe that aspartame drinks are right for me. The flavor along with the controversial ingredients are enough to turn me off from them for the most part. However, this is somewhat of a fitness gray area. While professional nutritionists are probably getting ready to hurl tomatoes and insults my way, let me just say that diet drinks CAN be good for cutting some calories from your daily intake. If you are like I formerly was and are totally addicted to colas, a process of slowly weaning yourself to healthier drinks (like water or unsweetened iced tea) is a great step to take. If diet cola is an intermediary step in this process for you, then I certainly have no problem with that.
