Is Coke Zero bad for weight loss? Is it a “dietary option” or is it just another sugary soda adding to your waistline and sabotaging your efforts to lose weight? Coke Zero is one of the best tasting and most popular sugar free carbonated soft drinks on the market. When it comes to diet sodas, it’s on everybody’s list of favorites. However, there has been rumors floating around that Coke Zero is bad for weight loss primarily because it doesn’t contain any important ingredients for proper weight loss and fat burning (which many people think are saccharin, aspartame and caffeine).
IS COKE ZERO BAD FOR WEIGHT LOSS
There are a number of drinks labeled as “diet” or “zero-calorie” products like the Coca-Cola Zero Sugar (formerly Coke Zero). As they virtually provide no calories, they won’t make us fat.
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar tastes sweet, but how come does it provide no calories? Because there is no sucrose, or corn syrup, in Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. Instead, the sweetener used in Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is aspartame. Since aspartame is extremely sweet — — 200 times sweeter than sucrose, a little bit of it is enough to make the Coca-Cola Zero Sugar sweet. As a result, the calories are almost negligible and it can be considered to be a “zero-calorie” drink.
Since Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is indeed having “zero-calorie”, it won’t theoretically make you fat no matter how much you drink.
However, some netizens say that Coca-Cola Zero Sugar will cause an increase in insulin levels, and an excessive secretion of insulin will make us really fat. It’s actually ridiculous. Insulin level primarily depends on blood sugar, instead of taste. Although some sugar substitutes may indeed induce a slight increase in insulin levels, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all of them work that way. In general, although Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is sweet, it has no obvious effect on inducing insulin secretion.
Moreover, the key to changes in body weight is calories, not insulin. The insulin only tells the cells to store excess energy as fat. In the absence of excess calories, no matter how much insulin there is, it won’t make you fat.
Therefore, in terms of weight loss, it’s okay to drink Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. Not a problem at all. Drinking Coca-Cola Zero Sugar alone will never make people fat.
Is Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Safe?
As diet drinks like Coca-Cola Zero Sugar are added with aspartame, even if they don’t make people fat, some people are still worried about the safety of aspartame. Will it be harmful to health? Rumor has it that aspartame is linked to an increased risk of cancer. Is that true?
First of all, in most parts of the world, aspartame is a legal sweetener. Since 1976, when the Food and Drug Administration of the US approved the addition of aspartame in foods, the use of aspartame has been approved in more than 100 countries. Although there has been some controversy about it, almost all the authoritative organizations around the world have recognized the safety of aspartame.
We all know that Europe has always been strict with food safety. In 2011, the European Food Safety Authority concluded that aspartame is safe. On December 10, 2013, EFSA reassessed the overall risks of aspartame and once again announced that it is not harmful to the health of ordinary people given its usage within the safe dosage. The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives has also evaluated the safety of aspartame twice and eventually confirmed that it is safe to healthy people when consumed within the safe dosage. That is to say, as long as they don’t eat too much aspartame, healthy people will have no problem with it.
But how much is too much? For example, a healthy adult can drink ten cans of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar a day without having any health issues.
Nevertheless, this is only considering healthy people. People who have a condition called phenylketonuria shouldn’t consume aspartame. In fact, some others may experience uncomfortable symptoms, such as headaches, nausea, mood swings, and insomnia, after drinking beverages containing aspartame. This may be a neurological effect produced by phenylalanine. So if these symptoms occur, do not drink beverages containing aspartame.
Coke Zero does not add nutritional value to your diet, and the long-term effects of drinking diet sodas are still unclear. If you want to reduce your sugar or regular soda intake, opt for healthier, low-sugar drinks like herbal tea, fruit-infused water, and black coffee — and leave Coke Zero on the shelf. We sweeten Coke Zero Sugar in our bottles and cans with a blend of aspartame and acesulfame potassium (or Ace-K). Together, they create a great taste with zero sugar and zero calories.
Why is Coke Zero Bad for You? Here’s What You Should Know
It might be difficult to kick the soda habit. Many consumers were excited to learn that Coca-Cola has introduced a healthier version of its sodas, Coke Zero. Health experts, on the other hand, advise against drinking this supposedly healthful beverage. To put it another way, it’s maybe even more harmful than regular Coke! Why is coke zero bad for you? Here are the 8 reasons why you should stop drinking Coke Zero for good!
1. It can cause weight gain
Drinking sugary soft drinks like Coke Zero, according to Live strong, may have an impact on your weight and could lead you to gain weight without realizing it!
2. It tricks your brain
Coke Zero has been shown by Harvard’s School of Public Health to boost your cravings for sweets and mess with your body’s capacity to calculate how many calories you’ve ingested.
3. The caffeine content can have effects on the body
Most people don’t realize that even Coca-Cola Zero has caffeine in it. Overconsumption of caffeinated beverages throughout the day might result in restlessness, irritation, and difficulties falling asleep.
4. It has no nutritional benefits
As long as you don’t eat anything else after drinking Coke Zero you’re still not getting any nutrients or vitamins from it. If you’re concerned about your child’s health, don’t give him or her a soft drink.
5. There are still preservatives in Coke Zero
Natural flavors and potassium citrate are among the ingredients that go into making Coke Zero’s sweet taste and distinctive brown color. These ingredients include caramel color, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, natural flavors, and potassium citrate.
6. There are artificial sweeteners in there, too!
Aspartame and acesulfame K are used to sweeten Coke Zero (ACE-K). Despite the fact that Diet Pepsi includes less aspartame per serving than Diet Coke, this sweetener has been associated with a variety of health issues, including cancer, seizures, depression, ADHD, obesity, lupus, and Alzheimer’s.
7. ACE-K isn’t good for you either
This artificial sweetener is safe for human ingestion, but research suggests that it may induce weight gain and blood sugar management issues in the future if used in large quantities.
8. The caramel color isn’t doing you any favors
It is now on the list of chemicals known to cause cancer in California and petitions have been formed to encourage the FDA to prohibit the dangerous forms of caramel color.
When you hear the words Coke zero, do you immediately think of weight loss? After all, diet sodas are marketed as having “no calories.” But are they really helpful for losing weight? For many years, people drank regular soda in order to drink and eat more without gaining weight. But with the increasing popularity of diet soft drinks – especially zero Coke – people are now afraid that they will gain weight more easily by consuming these types of drinks.
What is Diet Soda?
Diet soda is a zero-calorie, sugar-free version of a carbonated beverages. For example: to give the diet soda its classic sweet taste, Diet Coke contains aspartame and Splenda, both of which are artificial sweeteners, which contain no actual sugar or calories.
That said, artificial sweeteners can be between 200 to 600 times sweeter than table sugar, says Schapiro. So while diet soda is calorie[ and sugar-free, it can still taste sugary.
Can Diet Soda Lead to Weight Gain?
While scientific evidence has not yet confirmed a direct link between diet soda or artificial sweeteners and weight gain, there may be some indirect associations.
Consumption of these non-nutritive sweeteners and others, such as acesulfame K and saccharin, have been linked to heightened sugar cravings, weight gain, higher BMI’s, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease, and increased risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes,” Schapiro says. “Yet, it is unclear whether diet soda is the sole cause of these negative effects,” she adds.
These hyper-palatable sweeteners can disrupt and over-stimulate your sugar receptors, says Schapiro, and, as a result, diet soda drinkers may experience heightened sugar cravings and choose less nutritious foods.
Does Drinking Diet Soda Have and Side Effects?
Even though diet soda doesn’t have sugar or calories, it does still contain phosphorus, which if consumed in excess, may lead to deterioration of bone density with age and heighten risk of osteoporosis. (Yes, even in men!) Of course this doesn’t mean much if you have one or two, but if diet soda is your jam and you’re drinking them like water, they surely add up.
Is Drinking Soda Bad for Weight Loss?
If you’re trying to lose weight, soda is not your best beverage choice. Regular soda is high in sugar and calories and studies show that diet soda might not be great to gulp down either, despite the fact that it has 0 calories.
Skip The Regular Soda
The excess sugar in regular soda tacks on extra calories but does little to actually fill you up and doesn’t add any nutrition to your diet, so is not a great choice to help you drop pounds. Plus, high intakes of added sugars are linked with high blood pressure and high triglyceride levels, risk factors for heart disease. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends limiting all sugars to no more than about 6 teaspoons a day if you’re a woman, no more than 9 teaspoons if you’re a man. A 12-ounce can of cola has about 8 teaspoons of sugar-which translates to about 130 calories. So while one soda every now and again won’t make or break your diet, if you drink it more regularly these calories can add up to weight gain.
What to Drink Instead
If drinking water to stay hydrated sounds a little boring, mix it up! Try seltzer, which gives you the bubbles without any sweeteners or sugar and now comes in many fun flavors. You can also add a splash of juice to seltzer for a more flavorful drink. DIY-infused waters may also help-just add lemon, cucumber, mint, orange slices-whatever flavor you’re craving and the fruits and herbs will infuse into your water. Unsweetned teas, both hot and iced are a great choice too. And get really festive with fun ice cubes in your drinks.
Does My Body Process Artificial Sweeteners Just like Sugar?
Another concern of drinking diet soda rests on the idea that your body processes high-intensity sweeteners as it would normal sugar.
The argument states that these sweeteners are so sweet that they fool your body into thinking it’s consuming actual sugar.
After drinking diet soda, your body responds as it would after consuming normal table sugar: by dumping out insulin. This slows down the fat-burning process.
That’s the gist of it, more or less.
Can Drinking Diet Soda Cause Cancer? (Is Aspartame or Saccharin Dangerous?)
In the 70s a high-intensity sweetener (saccharin) was shown to give rats cancer. People flipped out and actually banned saccharin in America, although it’s since been reintroduced.
Why the reintroduction?
Because no cancer link has ever been shown for the human consumption of saccharin. And folks have looked.
Not everything that is cancerous to rats is harmful to people, and vice versa.
Is Coke Zero Better Than Coke For Weight Loss?
It is recommended not to take more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar per day (added sugar is the sugar added to food like bread, cookies, and ice cream). And 16-ounce (473 ml) of normal cola has 12 teaspoons of added sugar.
So obviously, normal coke looks way worse.
A group of scientists discovered that aspartame (the main artificial sweetener in coke zero) is more harmful to you than sugars. And it can cause mood disorders and mental illness. In the long run, you may experience impaired learning and memory.
Also, aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar, which can make you crave more sweets. It is controversial, but studies suggest aspartame can cause poor blood sugar control.
So which is worse?
Coke Zero Sugar can be worse if you drink it very often instead of normal coke. This is because you get so used to the sweetness of this drink, and it may impact your cravings and tolerance for sweetness, leading to poor diet and health.