Can you still put on weight if you drink diet soda or eat foods that claim to be low in calories?

Yes. I notice in Japan that supermarkets are full of drinks that are labeled as zero or low calorie but I am always dubious about it. By the way, perhaps a nutritional expert out there can help. If I want to lose weight, which info on a food product label is more relevant: the fat percentage or the calorie count? Or are they both as important as each other? Can anyone enlighten me please?

What a daft question! Of course you can put on weight if you eat enough of anything...

Calories.

If you want to lose weight, watch the fibre, too; complex carbohydrates are more fibre-rich than refined products. Aim for between 30 and 50 g daily.

And exercise!

(Disclaimer: Cleo is not a nutritional expert)

Yes, if you stuff your face with pies and chips the rest of the time.

If you want to control your weight, smoking is one of the best and easiest ways. And it increases your coolness by a factor of 10!

This has been a corporate message by Altria Group

Cleo

Thanks, but why is the fat content less important than calorie count?

(aarrrghhh...a follow-up question! Cleo is not a nutritional expert!!!)

High fat invariably means high calorie; high calorie doesn't necessarily mean high fat. When you lose weight you do it by burning more calories than you ingest, so watching the calories is the way to go to lose weight.

But if you don't exercise the calories will come from your muscles, not your fat stocks.

Even with the same calorie content, it also depends how fast the carbs get converted into energy (the whole GI thing). If your body gets a steady release of energy, it uses it to run your body, if it gets its energy in short, sharp spikes, it's more likely to store it as fat.

Isn't that where the fibre and complex carbs come in?

(Cleo is still not a nutritional expert)

Let's see, I'll have a couple of big macs, large fries, and to maintain the pretense of loosing weight will wash it down with a diet coke. Here's to healthy life up!

cleo

Thanks. Are you sure you're not a nutritional expert?

I've never liked the taste of diet soda or those so-called zero calorie drinks. I suspect there are some calories in the zero calorie ones.

So called diet products often have other chemicals in them that can be dangerous to your health. The full effects of these are not yet known but the artificial sweeteners have been linked to all kinds of abnormalities. I think people are better off drinking a good old fashioned pop. Just dont drink too many. It is simple. If you are real thirsty, drink a lot of water. As for food. We are in Japan. All kinds of healthy stuff out there. I hope this is not off topic too much. I just think that a good diet doesnt have to be so complicated.

No, you can't. You will however crave sweet crap and/or eat more because many folks think that they are safe by only eating and drinking this stuff. There are studies out there (please don't ask me to search for them) that have shown that people tend to eat more if they think whatever they are eatting is low calories. For example - two regular oreo cookies vs 8 "low calorie" oreo cookies. That starts to add up in calories, you'll feel hungrier because you'll need more food to feel full... Diet crap also "tricks" your body into thinking it gets sweet stuff when eatting such things which then makes the craving stronger later when the body has digested it.

Alan Carr's "Easy Weight" is worth a read for anyone seriously wanting to lose weight and change their eatting habits.

Simple math.

If you burn 2800 cal. in a day and eat 3500 cal. in a day you will gain weight

If you eat the same 3500 cal. a day and burn 3700 cal. a day you will lose weight.

I'm a little stumped as to why my ol Speedo stopped selling big bottles of soda water. I'm not talking about American Soda Pop, I'm talking bubbly water. I've also always wondered how this affects diet. Is soda water healthy for you? Bad for you? Or does it have little impact on health? Anyways, I'm amazed that few Japanese drink soda without alcohol. It is really like a sugar-free party in your mouth. Awesome.

Hey JT crowd, I only drink diet cola but I eat a large pizza by myself three times a week, any idea why I put on 10 kilos recently?

You can still gain weight even if you drink Coke Zero, if you also eat Double Quarter Pounders with Cheese and don't exercise.

Hey JT crowd, I only drink diet cola but I eat a large pizza by myself three times a week, any idea why I put on 10 kilos recently?

There's your mistake: eating alone. You should eat two large pizzas with a friend.

Studies have shown that people who drink diet sodas gain weight more readily than people who drink crappy corn-syrup-laden sodas. I prefer to get my calories from food or wine. The cost-benefit of soda gets lower the older I get. I just appreciate a nice bit of Manchego cheese more than popping a Coke.

"You should eat two large pizzas with a friend"

If that friend eats one and a half pizzas, it might work.

I am sorry to ask, but why is this a question for posters on JT? Would it not be better ask a Dietitian/Nutritionist this question and then REPORT the findings on JT?

Moving along; Diet soda often contains Aspartame and other artifical sweetners that can have adverse effects on your health, including heart disease, which can be fatal, once you're dead you can't gain any weight, so a possible answer is no you can't put on weight.

On the other hand, watch the episode of The Simpsons where Krusty tries to lose wieght.

Of course you can put on weight if you drink diet soda or eat low calorie foods, if you also eat lots of other food as well.

The diet soda, low calorie food experiment has already been tested in the U.S. and proved a huge failure. One in three Americans are now officially obese, as opposed to being just overweight. Americans have been exposed to diet sodas and low calorie food information for years with no affect. In fact the reverse has happened. People have gained weight.

For sure, you can't put on weight with wafer-thin questions like this one.

I seem to have read somewhere that these ""ZERO Cal"" drinks are anything but, seem to recall(cud be wrong tho) that these drinks still contain around 20% of the cals of a normal pop.......can anyone verify disprove?

Sarge, what if I eat(ok ATE yesterday) a single quarterpounder w cheeze & reg coke(only drank half & was a damned ton of ice in the cup!!), am good??

Can you still put on weight if you drink diet soda or eat foods that claim to be low in calories?

yep

yes you can. In case you don't you'll still be unhealthy.

If you don't exercise it's only natural that you will put on weight even with low calorie foods.