Hi guys. I am new here but have been doing keto for about five weeks. A serious carb and sugar junkie and had to work out like crazy to keep weight down. Anyway, lately I noticed that I had increased my intake of diet soda to 2 16 oz a day of diet Mountain Dew and/or Coke Zero. So I had gained several lbs back in the past few days and am trying to get totally off the diet crap, just started today. Am I wasting my time? Does diet soda affect ketosis? I am doing ok so far but if it isn’t a problem then I am going to get a soda. Heck, gotta have at least one vice in life. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
Keto and Diet Soda
Personally, it does not. Though you should test with a monitor to be sure. I may have 2 sodas a week. Something about crushing an ice cold fizzy drink…
Yeah, love an ice cold soda. But like most I got to drinking way too much. So far so good tonight staying off of them ( I work nights ). Thanks for the input.
It depends upon the type of sweetener. Dr. Nalley in Keto Talk felt the Ace-K was bad and caused insulin to go up but that aspartame did not. I can’t handle Ace-K but aspartame is fine for me. I think most diet sodas use Ace-k these days. Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper do not. You will need to test yourself.
Most diet sodas might use Ace-k (acefulsame potassium) but, most also use aspartame. I left a decent list below. Worth noting that not all diet drinks in a brand have the same ingredients.
I do think Ace-k messes me up as I often notice foot swelling with aspartame free diet pepsi or certain zero/low carb energy drinks.
In addition to other possible issues, some artificial sweeteners can cause an insulin response even though they don’t contain sugar. I have chosen to limit my intake of diet sodas and Crystal Light, I now have 1 or 2 a week and drink them with meals so I’m not (potentially) causing my insulin to rise between meals.
Your Mileage May Vary. Some folks need to limit them. Others seem to do quite well.
I find that I have done the best when I limit myself to maybe 12 Oz a day. Works better for me. I know there are folks here who do perfectly well drinking substantially more than I do.
If you think it’s messing you up, try two weeks with half the consumption and see.
I learned from these forums that everyone seems to react differently to each different sweetener, so it’s important to check one’s reaction for oneself. I learned not to assume that what works for you will necessarily work for me. On the other hand, things that don’t work for a lot of people probably aren’t going to work for me, either. . .