Okay, so how bad is this for me?

[DoogieT]

This is sort of a follow-up to the "what are you addicted to?" posting. I put these in a large glass of water several times a day:

http://www.nestle.ca/en/products/brands/Nestea/cranberry_grape.htm

I used to drink Coke a lot, then I switched to Caffeine Free Diet Coke because the caffeine made me anxious, and then I realized that the aspartame in the Diet Coke was making me feel hungry. I eventually switched to Sprite (not diet) but finally came to my senses (why did I take so long?) and so now I drink these. I find that if I only drink water eventually it tastes disgusting.

They don't have aspartame, they have Splenda, which I know is still a synthetic product. I know a lot of people decry anything artificial, but I have to point out that Prozac is artificial and basically saved my life while rattlesnake venom is natural and will kill me. (Appeal to nature -> logical fallacy).

Are these hampering my weight loss at all? I think one of the biggest factors in my recent weight loss was getting rid of all soda cold turkey, but if this isn't helping I'll find a way to kick it, too.

Thanks again, fellow rebels.

D

(And I can now deadlift 185, woo!)

[Georges]

I you're not looking to eliminate "artificial" or processed foods, I don't see any reason to worry about this product.

A few questions, though:

Does the box say anything about caffeine content (since it has tea in it)?

Do you feel like they're okay? It sounds like you would recognize it if they were stimulating appetite, or if they had too much caffeine.

I have to say that I would rather throw a sliced up lemon or lime into a pitcher of water, for just that hint of flavor, because I'm poor and a lime is about 25 cents right now. That might not be enough flavor to make you want to drink water, though.

[Horsedog]

Hey DoogieT,

I use these as well (water, nature's pee). But, I use them at about half the recommended dosage. All I'm looking for is something to give the water a little flavour. I find a full package makes it no different than a can of pre-mixed stuff. I also agree with Georges - if you're not looking to eliminate artificial stuff (which, as you astutely point out, doesn't make a thing bad) AND as long as you feel ok with the decision, then do it up. If this product is helping you increase your water intake (to a point - even water is toxic at very, very high doses) and remove soda from your diet, then it'll definitely help, not hinder, your weight loss!

[Kewilson]

Probably not that bad.

I use Paleo as the basis of what I eat, but I'm not especially religious about it. For non-Paleo foods I just ask myself 1) how hard would it be to give up as a regular food and 2) how much damage is it really doing? Probably the thing to do would be to ask yourself if you're happy with your progress while using these substances. Are you losing fat/gaining muscle (or whatever you want to do) at a rate that's acceptable to you? If yes, then maybe there just isn't much to gain from abstaining (not to say it's necessarily healthy). If you're not hitting your targets, then maybe go without for a trial period and see if it makes a difference.