What's the deal with diet soda? Is zero sugar too good to be true, or what? Use code 50WOLFE to get 50% OFF plus free shipping on your first Factor box at bit.ly/4dDHGWk!
John, as a long time drinker of coca cola I switched to La Croix and I'm telling you, give it a chance, it might not have the caffeine but it's so good.
john, i am SO into this new style of video you're posting. i'll always love your video game playthroughs but this is such a cool departure and it totally fits your channel theme as well! think critically!
I’ll respond here in hopes you see this as you kinda asked out input. I am not citing any research because im tired asf but what I say does hold merit but in summary I think its mostly harmless excluding a few cases of those who are predisposed to heart problems. Caffine is kinda the biggest issue here as it raises blood pressure, you also eat food typically when drinking the stuff which diverts alot of the blood fluid into the digestion which causes the body to respond to the new low volume blood by tightening up the blood vessels to get blood pumping properly everywhere. You can think of it like putting your finger at the end of a hose that has low pressure so it reaches further. These two together can cause pretty high blood pressure when eating and can make you lethargic or dizzy. Regardless this can cause heart palpitations and “induced chronic high bp” which is not an official phrase but its just me saying you’re gonna have higher bp over time compared to water. This can result more urine release via slow regulation methods (aka long term adaption) and can also cause a possible negative feedback loop towards the hormones causing you to pee thus forcing them to work harder for less results and possibly causing some issues? That last part is theoretical as hell though and I wouldnt bother too much. The biggest issue is in those who are predisposed to heart problems or have inherited high blood pressure from their family which can lead to blood vessel hardening overtime quicker than usual. Now I don’t know the duration of action of these so its likely that all these effects are minimal and the no caffeine version would likely completely solve the issue. Again this is just me interpolating based on how the body functions typically, under testing and whatnot we can possibly see other results.
Agreed. At least he puts some thought into his videos. A lot of "content creators" just post random shit that they don't even bother doing a quick google search of.
Same... like LITERALLY same. But I was pregnant... they just smoking in front of me. Oh it wasn't diet either, regular. Fk diet. If I'm going to treat myself, I'm going all out!
You must have Elon Musk-levels of money to be able to afford to buy Coke these days! Especially in cans. ;-) I've been reduced to drinking the 2 liters of store brand versions of Coke Zero for the past ~3 years. All I can say about aspartame is that I switched from drinking regular sugar soft drinks to diet soft drinks when I was about 22 and am now 58. So I have been guzzling aspartame for the past 36 years and haven't had cancer yet. But since the #1 cause of death is heart problems and #2 is cancer, even if I get cancer there's no way you could prove it was aspartame.
@@SirReptitious I did the same at around 28. Dr Pepper was my poison. Gave up red meat now too. Basically live on lettuce and aspartame flavored water.
thanks for this, John. i'm an alcoholic (1 continuous year sober atp!!) and at my worst i got seriously dehydrated because i was also having trouble getting water down. my doctor told me drinking ANYTHING non-alcoholic - tea, coffee, gatorade, even soda - is always better than drinking nothing. it was the first time i'd ever heard that and now i tell anyone i can. if anyone who reads this is struggling, know it really can get better (:
thank you! I'm the same.. and i still have such issues getting water down. I know ill die from dehydration if im forced to only drink water. I really wish you good luck in your recovery!
I agree, I'm not an alcohlic but I was addicted to coca cola (the normal one) for 9 years, I'm a bit over a year sober now and since then I haven't touched coke anymore. but it's tough.. when I get the urge to drink it I just buy other stuff like sprite or fanta and it usually helps. it might not be the most healthiest drinks but drinking one bottle of sprite is still healthier than my 9 year long addiction of coca cola
my problem with reddit for answers is everyone is too busy proving they're superior to ACTUALLY answer the question. I always end up yelling (and John proved it here) "BUT THAT ISN'T WHAT OG ASKED!"
Any subreddit with more than 100k subs is practically unusable because of this. Everything is a popularity contest and an easy way to make a comment stand out is to be snarky and insulting, that's why so many people do it. Chronic redditors are some of the most infuriating people I've seen.
@@rrajaste yeah. The example I'm thinking of, a while ago, I wanted to learn Korean (didn't last but) and ofc with the writing system the keys on a keyboard can write out the hangul (hangul being the letters) so someone innocently asked "hey, where can I buy keyboard stickers?" everyone immediately was like "ahktually I learned in a few hours where they are" like good for you, that's not what they ASKED. If you don't know, either SAY "I don't know" or just don't reply, it's not hard. I hate people who have to be superior to innocent questions. Sure, they're not CALLING the question dumb, but they don't have to when they act better
it's either people talking out of their ass, the same tired running gags, people acting all high and mighty and the one comment that actually gives good info. nowadays you usually have to scroll longer to reach that comment
@@mynameisjohnjackajoe I agree with the running gags, sometimes you will look something up and the op will have a typo in the original post or something similar and half the thread devolves into make puns/jokes about typo but not answering the question.
@rrajaste I am in the cancer subreddit, it's always very kind and people give good and very accurate advice (no woo-advice or sellers allowed). I don't know how many members it has but it must be 100k+ I'm sure
As a diabetic with a blood sugar measuring device, whatever you call them in America, I can tell you Diet Sodas does not increase insuling in your body. In that case my blood sugar would go down form drinking diet sodas, which it doesn't.
Same here, I've got Diabetes (type 1) as well. People tell a lot of bulls** to get any type of attention. Diabetic for 5 years, even tho I could drink Juice and such, I swapped to zero zugar products, coke, energy drinks, whatever. It is more of a benefit, than a downside to drink diet drinks... (and way more chill to not have to inject insulin for every drink with any taste).
Same here, when I first got diagnosed (type 1) I drank diet coke alot. I tend to drink pepsi max and coke zero these days. It's nice to drink something and not have to inject for it 😅
vanilla coke zero was one of the biggest factors in my weight loss. whenever i had a craving for something sweet, id have a can of that instead of candy or ice cream or something. i found most of the “healthy” alternatives to sweets to either taste just kinda sad, or be too bingeable. but vanilla coke zero is genuinely good and actually satiated those cravings.
Yup, i used to buy only zero sugar versions, even energy drinks now versions of that, which is cool. I suggest looking into kombucha drink, its super easy to maintain/make and you have such amazing flavouring "soda" drink with incredible benefits to your gut biome, i pretty much replaced my soda drinks with kombucha i make at home for 2 weeks , i fill it into bottles for 2 week amount, after drinking those its usually ~1day after i refill them from new batch. But yeah, diet soda is amazing for cutting weight, just keep in mind the moderation.
John touches on the toxicity surrounding health culture at the end there. There's this idea of nothing ever being good enough. "You're eating salad with dressing? That's so unhealthy, you're adding extra calories!" And it's like sure, but that's still nutritionally more beneficial that getting the side of fries, and if you're used to eating or drinking a certain way it's easier to stick with the changes if they happen more gradually. Health is such an individual, relative thing that making sweeping statements or worse shaming people doesn't really help anyone.
As a food scientist, I appreciate the analysis you did here to challenge incorrect assumptions many people have about food ingredients, and remind people the importance in moderation. Its a common misunderstanding that dosage is also linked to severity in outcome. For example, if you drink enough water you will die from a chemical imbalances in your cells. Something that may have been accidentally overlooked, is that consistent consumption of low pH foods can have an negative effect on the tooth enamel over time leading to dental complications. Diet sodas are usually 2.5-3 in pH, whereas water is 6-7 pH. With this fact, diet sodas are not the same as water. I’m interested to see you thoughts about this and thanks for putting together great video, inspiring!
It's pretty common knowledge that frequent consumption of acidic foods softens or damages tooth enamel. It seemed obvious to me that John was addressing the metabolic and oncological aspects of the consumption of sugar free sodas and not the dental aspects, which would still be solved by simply moderating your intake.
John I just want to say as an avid watcher of your horror games lets plays, I will say this pivot to informational/debunking type videos works really well with your personality/style. Keep it up!
Same! I've been watching this channel for years and I'm super happy with the change. I think you can really see how much more into his videos he is now compare to the last times of shitty games let's plays, when he just seemed done
God it was so cathartic to see someone address the self-righteousness and smugness of redditors like this. It isn't called out enough in subreddits where they get to pretend to be an authoritative voice on a subject without ever providing evidence or even sources to their claims. Thank you!
I had a brief period with a personal trainer and nutrition expert last year when I first tried being serious about weight loss and at one point she asked me how I was doing and I said I had been desperately craving a coke for days. She just told me to grab a 6 pack of coke zero's from the store on my way home from the gym and enjoy a can or two today, and another can or two tomorrow. She said I had no reason to deny myself everything and that in doing so I was only increasing my odds or cracking and binging on something *actually* bad. A can of coke zero, or whatever else zero, wouldn't even affect my weight loss so why fret? And well I've been enjoying sugar free sodas nearly daily since and haven't gained any weight, I have in fact been losing is slowly but surely. So chill out folks, grab a can of your favorite sugar free beverage and enjoy it with no remorse, you deserve it. At least I think you do. 10/10 video John love ya
The thing with people is that they think they have to go 100% probodybuilder lifestyle day1 or they're not doing enough, no, that's completely wrong on "fixing" your life. Change your lifestyle not the diet is the motto of great start. When your habits become healthy and you're not forced to do "extra", its when you realize how easy it is to be healthy., you dont need 2hour workouts at gym when you start, dont even need 1hour, just move and do exercises that strain your body, then gradually increase the difficulty = easy lifelong exercise habit.
In Scotland, we were drinking so much sugar the government stepped in and put a sugar tax on certain amount of sugar. We’d grin in appreciation, but we’ve three teeth shared amongst all 5.5m of us
Meanwhile, we in America fluoridate our water to preserve our chompers, then consume enough sugar to develop diabetes. White teeth, brown body fat - Yay!
Same thing happened in Mexico. Even in "regular" soda or in other non-diet drinks, if you read the ingredients it will say "added sugars" or "sugar blend" which it then specifies as having aspartame, phenylalanine, or some other artificial sweetner.
This was unexpected but I always appreciate a well researched but entertaining video by John, even if it’s not his usual formula. Debunking ghosts, exposing frauds, tackling misinfo, health, mocking Reddit… I’m down for whatever he comes out with next!
I feel like this type of stuff is very much a "if it works for you it's k, if it doesn't don't drink it"? Like I was having severe migraines and realized whenever I drank a "healthy" drink with sucralose in it I was having the migraines. Stopped drinking it, no more migraines, so now I avoid sucralose cause it's clearly bad for my body chemistry. But I know plenty of peeps who drink it without a problem. Our bodies are weird.
One of my favorite professors in my dietetics program always made sure that we "consider who the patient is" Blindly looking at vitals, nutrition facts, BMI, etc. doesn't ever give you the full picture. There's always trade-offs. Artificial sweeteners are a trigger food for my colitis, but that doesn't mean a diabetic should switch to regular soda because of *my* symptoms and experiences.
Hi there, I can't speak to the effects of diet sodas on weight loss, but I am a dentist and can say that any carbonated drinks are acidic. Continuously keeping your teeth coated in an acidic substance does make you more susceptible to cavities. That being said, drinking them over a short period of time and rinsing with water after can help nullify the negative effects. TLDR if you drink soda, just drink it over a short period of time and everything in moderation idk enjoy life drink a soda every once in a while
Love this video, John! I wish I had this video to combat against my previous partner’s “you’re slowly poisoning yourself” response when I was drinking Coke Zero. Your hydro-bro impersonation perfectly encapsulates his entire personality and insufferable attitude. Turns out he ended up drinking the Coke Zero cans I left at his house when I broke up with him. I guess the whole Coke Zero being “poison” wasn’t true if he was so eager to guzzle down Coke Zero and brag to me about it. All it did was reaffirm my decision in breaking up with him.
I actually loved this video, it was about something I was curious about and couldn’t find a direct answer. Definitely would love more debunks like this!
Between Google being nothing but ads, AI hallucinations, and Reddit’s holier-than-thou “I must always be right about everything and you’re a bad person if you disagree with me” attitude, I don’t know how anyone’s supposed to find any genuine information anymore. All of humanity’s knowledge is somewhere on the internet, and every passing day it slips further from view. I dread the day it finally disappears entirely.
I went through a healthy phase for a while and tried to drink diet soda instead. I quickly found out that the aspartame in them and other items gave me terrible headaches. Since then I've just cut out soda nearly entirely
Diet soda helped me deal with a lifelong struggle of trying to lose weight. After I overcame the misconceptions, it made is so much easier to manage my cravings and I lost more than 50lbs so far! Thank you John for this video, diet soda does not deserve its bad reputation at all!
This was a huge point of discussion in my theater troupe for the longest time😂 our director always walked in with a six pack of Diet Coke, and someone did the perfectly accurate reenactment John did here. Eventually we “”decided”” to table the discussion at “we’re all dying, let’s just drink what we want”
Deeply enjoyed and appreciated this video, John! I recently switched to zero sugar to try and manage my genetic likelihood to get diabetes and knowing I'm not also poisoning myself with sugar replacement helps me feel better about my moderation so far 🙏🏻
Oh. 6:44 actually had my heart drop, as I sit here watching this new John Wolfe video at the start of my 12 hour night shift... of which I have been doing for years.
that part actually kinda surprised me, since I've heard so much talk about how people all have different circadian rhythms and whatnot, leading to night owls, larks and the other names I can't remember. Yad think if some people are just better suited to being awake at night their chances of cancer wouldn't rise by doing so- might be interestin to look into sometime, maybe when I'm putting off important work again not tryin to come in here and state the WHO is factually wrong btw, I am an idiot- just wanted to say "huh, weird"
@@dkstudios4805 I think that might depend on the study they did and the people that were a part of it. If they weren't attempting to distinguish between more night owl focused and day time people that might not be something they were able to answer in that particular study. I too would be curious to see if there would be a difference, but either way I'm not giving up my night owl way of life.
@dkstudios4805 I'd like very much if that's true. I've had insomnia my whole life and it wasn't until I started working nights that it got any better. That, and 🍃 has helped as well, hah. But it certainly feels like I'm following my natural rhythm better like this
Did you really not know night shift work is not good for us? I would assume this is fairly obvious for several reasons. Though it can admittedly get a bit more complicated depending on several other factors like your natural circadian rhythms, which can be out of whack for some of us even without artificial factors like night shift work. But in general, of course going against your own circadian rhythms will affect health in various ways, though there are bigger health concerns related to night work than downright cancer - diabetes, for example.
I used to be addicted to sugar sodas when I was a teenager and became overweight for many years. I gave soda up and got healthy through proper diet and exercise. Even though I wouldn't look back , I realize I can't be afraid of the "new soda tech" we have such as Zevia. I'm very glad something like this exists so I can enjoy it again without feeling guilty of the person I was.
Thanks for doing this video, I did some research myself on this a few years back and came to the same conclusion. There's a weird pervasive thought on the negativity of diet sodas that people will take years to get over.
Same. Diet soda's bad reputation will end only when people start applying critical thinking skills, or at least 5 minutes of research. A big part of mainstream media hates artificial sweetener for no reason I guess
John being paid off by Big Diet Soda™️ (jk literally drinking a Sprite Zero as we speak, diet soda gang gang) To throw my own anecdotal experience in the mix, I will say the acid in soda had the biggest impact on me. It was only when I decreased my diet soda intake on top of using a prescription toothpaste that I started noticing any difference on my tooth sensitivity/decay decrease
Yeah it's been like this for a long time. It didn't stop me drinking it. Until they can actually prove it's bad for me, I'll keep drinking it. Weirdly I just don't like the taste of plain water. I end up not drinking much and that's not good for me.
the salt water comparison isnt so bad if you use it in the context of "this is water with some salt in it which will actually probably help hydrate you better than if it had no sodium." Pedialyte has like 400mg of sodium and the whole point is to keep you hydrated.
True but they still shoulda used the comparison to brackish water instead, though I supposed even more people would be confused then and even John might slip up on that one because technically any amount of salt in water outside of the typical range of normal saltwater is brackish water, not just brine water, but also at the terminal of every river that runs into the ocean where it gradiates between fresh to full saltwater, but that might be a bit too technical for most people. Tbf I know because I've had a couple brackish water fish and denser then saltwater woulda absolutely killed them, so in their case brackish means "less then saltwater" not more salt ^^' Idk I find this stuff interesting, that's all
More of these videos, please! Your dry sense of humor is perfect for debunking stuff. You educate people in a very down-to-earth way, and I think that really resonates with people. Well done!
Believe it or not, he's an ex-horror game youtuber (now with a variety gaming channel) who debunks paranormal stuff and promotes/teaches critical thinking and media literacy in this format. I'm glad to hear YT is on the ball with his video-essays!
Was very excited to see this pop up. Thanks for covering this topic it is one I've wondered about a lot, and as you've seen, finding a 'clear answer' isn't as easy as it sounds. Thanks John!
I went down pretty much this exact same rabbit hole a few years back when I finally decided to work on my health/fitness, and came to the exact same conclusion. Whether its completely benign or only VERY SLIGHTLY bad...do I really care THAT much? Even getting healthy, something else is going to take me out long before the aspartame tumor gets big enough.
@@Diniethefrostmage Personally I'd say stay away from both. The main because it's bad for you, and diet cause it's gross, lol. I've cut down my soda drinking to a 2-3 times a month now. I've yet to find an artificial sweeter I can do anything but tolerant at best.
@@sporemaster97 Because it allows me to drink something other than water without cutting in to my calories. I honestly can't stand the taste of regular Mountain Dew, Coke or Pepsi at this point, and I'm pretty sure its because of the sugar. Diet Dr Pepper and Dr Pepper Zero taste great. EDIT: Also to point out specifically because I only glossed over your arguments - 1) Taste is completely subjective, as stated above. 2) Thirst is also subjective. I'm not thirsty after drinking a diet. And if I was, I can have another, because its 0 calories! I would wager you still being thirsty after drinking diet is because you aren't hydrated enough in general. 3) This is like saying sunlight won't kill you. Directly? Obviously not. But it completely disregards any health or fitness goals and/or needs an individual may have. I watch my calories and I try to stay in decent shape because the first 30 years of my life were spent doing the opposite and I was finally tired of dealing with the mental and physical consequences of that. Thankfully I made the choice before anything major caught up with me. I know striving to be healthy and fit is a crime on the internet, but I guess that means it'll just have to put up with me.
Thanks for this, but also kudos for taking on something scarier than ghost busting - the food industry! It’s become more of a struggle to know who to trust without doing your own research and sometimes, you just want someone to tell you what to do because you’re burned out from making decisions. I really appreciate you doing this deep dive for us and still reminding us to do our own investigating. It’s very important to think critically (haha, but really), particularly now. Anyways, you’ve made me reconsider my stance on diet sodas, which I admittedly just wrote off since artificial sugars have given me headaches in the past. Next time I want a soda, I’ll give Coke Zero a chance and see how it goes since I could definitely do with less sugar. Keep up the sassy media literacy, John! You’re doing important work, one diet soda at a time!
Honestly, I can taste it, and it tastes metallic and puts me off. I had Cancer, and due to the "cure/treatments" I have a heightened taste for "certain chemicals, whether they be natural or not. It's weird, but there it is. We go through, It's bad for you, no it's good for you, no it's bad again. crap. Remember eggs, being sooo bad for you, while wine was Ooh La La! Everything is in moderation. Also just read the labels. It's not rocket science, but it has become harder to determine who's actually telling the truth, and doing legitimate tests, etc.
I'm glad it was "had" cancer :) I can taste the difference in diet soda as well, but not for any specific reason. I once got a diet soda from a machine by accident. after the first sip I thought it had gone bad. upon looking for the expiration date to check, I noticed the label said diet. It's always tasted that way for me.
I can relate. I can taste this off putting chemical after taste when drinking diet soda which lingers for a while. It's kinda unpleasant making it not enjoyable to drink for me. I stick with regular soda because it tastes better.
I'm glad you beat that cancer and yeah... I think diet soda tastes funky as well, though idk why, I'm also very picky on seafood because I always thought it was supposed to have a milder taste then land based meats, but it's actually opposite for me if that's generally true. Mostly I don't like it though because of the aftertaste and to me it just... Idk, it's almost gritty to me, like accidentally getting dust in your cup, and I really dislike it
definitely different but I'm not mad about it! I love that you're keeping us on our toes with topics! 🥰 I'm a pharmacy technician at a hospital and this made my science heart very happy 😁
Please, for the love of all gods, do more of these vids. They're way too entertaining. You could talk about diff bubble gum types and their ingredients and it would probably be fun lol
This was a great investigation, much better than those that in 50 years only can say "we cannot say aspartame can cause cancer, but it could, we don't know". Fantastic video, THANK YOU!
I'm SO GLAD you made a video about this, this has been my roman empire. Great video as always, I appreciate you always taking the time to be thorough and critical!
Love this video. I would definitely love to see you tackle some other interesting topics like this one in the future. Even if some stuff is inconclusive, I think there is a lot of value in just opening the dialogue about the things we consume, whether it's food or information.
I loved this video! I've been having such a hard time cutting down on my soda intake and found the zero options of Pepsi and coke are so much easier to drink rather than plain water. It sounds sad, I get that, but I'm proud of myself for finding an alternative that's less sugary. Plus cutting down on sugar has been an insane battle as my sweet tooth has never been a huge deal till I got to my mid 20s and now it's just...unlearning old habits. Thank you John, I literally got myself a Pepsi zero for my lunch today and I feel a lil more proud of that 😊 please do more like this or just whatever you feel you wanna do! Your sass is so funny to listen to
Yeah I completely agree either with you, moderation is the best for stuff like soda. In MY experience I despise the more popular sodas like coke, to me most of it is just sugary carbonated water that my brain can’t even process what the flavor is even supposed to be. So it just ends up being something I drink without even thinking about it or enjoying it, so I moderate myself by drinking less soda and if I do want a soda I pick the ones with flavors that I know I enjoy.
This is great, I love these sorts of videos. I actually prefer your longer form ones like your ghost debunking series, personally, but I can imagine those aren't easy for you to pump out regularly, so it makes total sense to do shorter videos. Keep 'em coming John, our respect for you remains immeasurable!
John, this is why you're the best kind of RUclipsr. I love coke, it's something I want to drink more than water. I usually drink water with meals though because I don't want taste clashing. As someone working on losing weight diet sodas are a saviour. People in the community claim that drinking it makes you crave sweets, but I've never had that experience.
Excellent video! You came to the same conclusion I did after reading up on it a few years back. Can you do MSG next? I went from disgusted by the stuff to having a cannister of it in my spice cabinet (great in cooking AND sprinkled on popcorn!) after learning it was unfairly feared.
as a homeschooler, so much makes sense now. a kindred spirit! in all seriousness though, i love this video. the formatting and editing is great, it's both entertaining AND informative. the epitome of thinking critically!
John I love your takes on stuff- and these new video stylings are great!! You’re always funny, but your delightful sass really shines here and I would watch many more of these! (And since it’s winter, and the holidays, lighthearted stuff is good for cheering miserable people up too).
I stay away from anything with an artificial sweetener. If I drink it, I'm gonna be tasting it all day afterwards. Having the taste of something sweet stuck in your mouth is torture after a few hours. I mostly drink water because of this.
The universe works in weird ways, I was at work this morning thinking if diet coke/pepsi were bad for you compared to normal soda. Now you've released a video about it...
I’ve been watching John for years. Maybe for over a decade? I think I started watching 2011. Idk at this point. BUT you are almost at a million subs. I’m so proud of you sir!
I'm a mega water drinker. usually 60-100 oz water a day. it is the only thing I drink most days but every once in awhile I drink a diet soda. my problem w/ aspartame is that it seems to upset my stomach over drinks that are diet but don't have it. I use water flavorers, the little flavor packets you dump into water, & I try to only use the ones containing aspartame sparingly b/c every time I get a little wild & use 2 or 3 in a day, I will start having cramps, gas pains & end up spending my evening in scenic my bathroom. I've heard of other people having this issue as well but only in people that ALREADY have stomach issues. I think aspartame is an irritant for those of us w/ sensitive stomachs already. it is not a 50 yr old study, just something I've noticed in my life, but I do tend to shy away from aspartame for that reason, long before I heard about it possibly being a carcinogen.
I love to learn stuff and I love a good rant! If these topic deep dives become a new regular upload, I’m totally here for it! Personally I don’t drink diet soda but strictly because I don’t like the taste.
I appreciate you talking about this stuff John. Personally I don’t drink pop at all, but when I tried diet soda I would always get bad headaches. My issue is that these studies focus on short term effects and not long term effects, so we don’t really know the full scope of what could happen if you consume it regularly over time. After all we used to think lead and pesticides were safe. I’m not saying aspartame does cause cancer, but I would rather be safe than sorry. I’m just a cautious person.
Long story short: I will most likely get cancer, soda or not. Nice to hear as a chronic neurotic. But at least I get to drink soda without gaining the extra calories.
I absolutely love these videos that branch out into other topics from the usual ghost debunking and paranormal ones. Keep up the great work, John, your channel has quickly become one of my favorites!
Just was in a conversation abt this with my family, glad to see i havent been crazy. Loved the video, id be excited to see what else you cover in a similar fashion
Dude this video is so good. Please keep doing whatever you set your mind to, because you're always amazing at it. You've become one of my favorite youtubers easily over the last year or so. I've been watching for years and always love your gaming content. You're other content is amazing too! Bravo
What I love about your content is that you always show evidence. Unlike these (typical) tik tok accounts they always just say “stop doing this” or “I’ve been doing this wrong my whole life.” Without providing any evidence as to why or how.
Thank you so much for making this!! I started drinking diet soda last year in an effort to cut back on drinking way too much regular soda (it worked), but always felt crazy guilty & anxious about the carcinogen thing, especially because my grandmother died from cancer at an early age after a lifetime of diet foods. I know it's anecdotal but still always stressed me out. This seriously lifted a huge weight off my chest, thank you for taking the time to do all this research and share. Plus, in a format that made me laugh my ass off. You are much appreciated.
Y'all criticized him on the chat so much we're getting a passive-aggressive educational soda video! Why couldn't y'all just let pop enjoy his pop?!? That said, I'm gonna watch this whole video cuz I am curious tho. 🤣
That's odd. My dad does the same thing, and his heart doctors (that prescribed the blood thinners) said it was perfectly fine for him to drink diet soda.
@@JWildberry It could be the patient themselves who have a negative reaction to that combination. Maybe your dad is resistant to it. Or maybe it's the specific brand of soda that causes said reaction in OP's dad. I dunno. Im not his doctor. Just a guess.
@@JWildberry there is a range of perspectives in the medical field, largely because not every doctor has the same medical knowledge, some may know more obscure medical info, some may also have incorrect beliefs that people assume are true simply because they're a doctor
Please make more of this content, it was very informative! And it does not have to be shorter ;) I mostly watch longer content on youtube, 20min and upwards.
Also I would highly recommend everyone check out Renaissance Periodization here on RUclips. A guy named Dr. Mike who has an actual PhD in sports science covers everything nutrition and lifting related. It's tailored to bodybuilders, but the information you learn from their videos on nutrition can help anyone learn how to eat to meet their goals. They also have a BS series covering myths about lifting and eating, and they've done diet soda to death. They even covered a study that showed that diet soda actually outperformed water for weight loss, and it was BECAUSE people had less sugar cravings because they were getting sweetness from the calorie free soda.
You know what this video made me think of? Of my uncle when he was in the nursing home. The man was in his 80's, had Parkinson's, could only get around in a wheelchair, and had trouble articulating words. This same man had served his country in World War II, fighting Nazi troops behind enemy lines. Now, in a nursing home, they were feeding him this pureed shit because it was "healthy" for him and given his Parkinson's, he might "choke." I used to sneak cheeseburgers in for him. The nurses would yell at me, and I would say, "The man killed Nazis! He's old, and this is one of his few joys in life. If he chokes, he goes out with a smile on his face!" He never choked. He enjoyed those cheeseburgers. Soda is like that cheeseburger--no one needs to lecture my ass on it. Let me enjoy what pleasures I can squeeze from this petty existence.
The comments about diet soda being like salt water... According to what I looked up and if my calculations are correct, a liter of ocean water contains roughly 35 grams of salt. being generous and rounding up, a liter is roughly 3 cans of soda. Each can would have to have almost 8 and a half GRAMS of sodia to equal salt water. and It took me less than 5 minutes to come to that conclusion.
love this vid, fam, keep the vibes going! could listen to you talk about anything, but i actually was really curious about the ills of diet soda bc i used to fux with DC heavy
Really enjoyed this video. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and findings on this topic. I've never been afraid of sugar vs artificial. I'm a chef not a doctor and always drank what tastes good at the moment. Knowing your body and knowing what you put in is crucial.
Use code 50WOLFE to get 50% OFF plus free shipping on your first Factor box at bit.ly/4dDHGWk!
John, as a long time drinker of coca cola I switched to La Croix and I'm telling you, give it a chance, it might not have the caffeine but it's so good.
john, i am SO into this new style of video you're posting. i'll always love your video game playthroughs but this is such a cool departure and it totally fits your channel theme as well! think critically!
I should have known this stuff, looks like I am going to the butchers to get fresh meat from now on.
I’ll respond here in hopes you see this as you kinda asked out input.
I am not citing any research because im tired asf but what I say does hold merit but in summary I think its mostly harmless excluding a few cases of those who are predisposed to heart problems.
Caffine is kinda the biggest issue here as it raises blood pressure, you also eat food typically when drinking the stuff which diverts alot of the blood fluid into the digestion which causes the body to respond to the new low volume blood by tightening up the blood vessels to get blood pumping properly everywhere. You can think of it like putting your finger at the end of a hose that has low pressure so it reaches further. These two together can cause pretty high blood pressure when eating and can make you lethargic or dizzy.
Regardless this can cause heart palpitations and “induced chronic high bp” which is not an official phrase but its just me saying you’re gonna have higher bp over time compared to water. This can result more urine release via slow regulation methods (aka long term adaption) and can also cause a possible negative feedback loop towards the hormones causing you to pee thus forcing them to work harder for less results and possibly causing some issues? That last part is theoretical as hell though and I wouldnt bother too much.
The biggest issue is in those who are predisposed to heart problems or have inherited high blood pressure from their family which can lead to blood vessel hardening overtime quicker than usual.
Now I don’t know the duration of action of these so its likely that all these effects are minimal and the no caffeine version would likely completely solve the issue.
Again this is just me interpolating based on how the body functions typically, under testing and whatnot we can possibly see other results.
I always watch the factor promos, and this winter I might finally be able to sign up, so I can finally use your code!
I was not expecting this. God, I love John's posting whatever tf he wants to era.
Same!
Same!
🤗
Agreed. At least he puts some thought into his videos. A lot of "content creators" just post random shit that they don't even bother doing a quick google search of.
Right??
I've literally been looked dead in the eye by someone smoking a cigarette and told that the diet soda I was drinking was bad for me. 😂
that doesn't make them wrong
Same... like LITERALLY same. But I was pregnant... they just smoking in front of me. Oh it wasn't diet either, regular. Fk diet. If I'm going to treat myself, I'm going all out!
@@eyyypissoff5711 But still pretty hypocritical.
Both sucks.
So because someone has one bad habit that means they can never give anyone else any advice about any other unrelated bad habits from now on? ok...
Thanks, John. From now on I'll cut back to 32 cans of coke zero per day.
Currently at about 10 per day so im still behind you
You must have Elon Musk-levels of money to be able to afford to buy Coke these days! Especially in cans. ;-) I've been reduced to drinking the 2 liters of store brand versions of Coke Zero for the past ~3 years. All I can say about aspartame is that I switched from drinking regular sugar soft drinks to diet soft drinks when I was about 22 and am now 58. So I have been guzzling aspartame for the past 36 years and haven't had cancer yet. But since the #1 cause of death is heart problems and #2 is cancer, even if I get cancer there's no way you could prove it was aspartame.
@@SirReptitious I did the same at around 28. Dr Pepper was my poison. Gave up red meat now too. Basically live on lettuce and aspartame flavored water.
@@Nickman1233 Those are rookie numbers in this racket.
Or at least bring it down to 31
thanks for this, John. i'm an alcoholic (1 continuous year sober atp!!) and at my worst i got seriously dehydrated because i was also having trouble getting water down. my doctor told me drinking ANYTHING non-alcoholic - tea, coffee, gatorade, even soda - is always better than drinking nothing. it was the first time i'd ever heard that and now i tell anyone i can.
if anyone who reads this is struggling, know it really can get better (:
thank you! I'm the same.. and i still have such issues getting water down. I know ill die from dehydration if im forced to only drink water. I really wish you good luck in your recovery!
I agree, I'm not an alcohlic but I was addicted to coca cola (the normal one) for 9 years, I'm a bit over a year sober now and since then I haven't touched coke anymore. but it's tough.. when I get the urge to drink it I just buy other stuff like sprite or fanta and it usually helps. it might not be the most healthiest drinks but drinking one bottle of sprite is still healthier than my 9 year long addiction of coca cola
🎉🎉🎉
Yep that's true. I know someone who had a type of stomach cancer, and now she can't drink water anymore because of it
"I'm an alcoholic" or at this point, more like _was_ an alcoholic. Congrats on your year sober!!!
my problem with reddit for answers is everyone is too busy proving they're superior to ACTUALLY answer the question. I always end up yelling (and John proved it here) "BUT THAT ISN'T WHAT OG ASKED!"
Any subreddit with more than 100k subs is practically unusable because of this. Everything is a popularity contest and an easy way to make a comment stand out is to be snarky and insulting, that's why so many people do it. Chronic redditors are some of the most infuriating people I've seen.
@@rrajaste yeah. The example I'm thinking of, a while ago, I wanted to learn Korean (didn't last but) and ofc with the writing system the keys on a keyboard can write out the hangul (hangul being the letters) so someone innocently asked "hey, where can I buy keyboard stickers?" everyone immediately was like "ahktually I learned in a few hours where they are" like good for you, that's not what they ASKED. If you don't know, either SAY "I don't know" or just don't reply, it's not hard. I hate people who have to be superior to innocent questions. Sure, they're not CALLING the question dumb, but they don't have to when they act better
it's either people talking out of their ass, the same tired running gags, people acting all high and mighty and the one comment that actually gives good info. nowadays you usually have to scroll longer to reach that comment
@@mynameisjohnjackajoe I agree with the running gags, sometimes you will look something up and the op will have a typo in the original post or something similar and half the thread devolves into make puns/jokes about typo but not answering the question.
@rrajaste I am in the cancer subreddit, it's always very kind and people give good and very accurate advice (no woo-advice or sellers allowed). I don't know how many members it has but it must be 100k+ I'm sure
As a diabetic with a blood sugar measuring device, whatever you call them in America, I can tell you Diet Sodas does not increase insuling in your body. In that case my blood sugar would go down form drinking diet sodas, which it doesn't.
Same here, I've got Diabetes (type 1) as well. People tell a lot of bulls** to get any type of attention. Diabetic for 5 years, even tho I could drink Juice and such, I swapped to zero zugar products, coke, energy drinks, whatever. It is more of a benefit, than a downside to drink diet drinks... (and way more chill to not have to inject insulin for every drink with any taste).
Same here, when I first got diagnosed (type 1) I drank diet coke alot. I tend to drink pepsi max and coke zero these days. It's nice to drink something and not have to inject for it 😅
John: Diet soda seems to good to be..
Sam and Colby: True
😂
CHUREW!
OMG AHAHAH XD
I read them in their voice STOP IT AHAH
TREW
"True. 😮"
vanilla coke zero was one of the biggest factors in my weight loss. whenever i had a craving for something sweet, id have a can of that instead of candy or ice cream or something. i found most of the “healthy” alternatives to sweets to either taste just kinda sad, or be too bingeable. but vanilla coke zero is genuinely good and actually satiated those cravings.
Congratulations on your weight loss 🎉
@@amptown1 hey thanks, appreciate it!
Yup, i used to buy only zero sugar versions, even energy drinks now versions of that, which is cool. I suggest looking into kombucha drink, its super easy to maintain/make and you have such amazing flavouring "soda" drink with incredible benefits to your gut biome, i pretty much replaced my soda drinks with kombucha i make at home for 2 weeks , i fill it into bottles for 2 week amount, after drinking those its usually ~1day after i refill them from new batch.
But yeah, diet soda is amazing for cutting weight, just keep in mind the moderation.
That's my husband's favorite soda but we can't find it anywhere anymore 😮💨 he's diabetic so it's been a journey to find good sodas for him.
John touches on the toxicity surrounding health culture at the end there. There's this idea of nothing ever being good enough. "You're eating salad with dressing? That's so unhealthy, you're adding extra calories!" And it's like sure, but that's still nutritionally more beneficial that getting the side of fries, and if you're used to eating or drinking a certain way it's easier to stick with the changes if they happen more gradually. Health is such an individual, relative thing that making sweeping statements or worse shaming people doesn't really help anyone.
As a food scientist, I appreciate the analysis you did here to challenge incorrect assumptions many people have about food ingredients, and remind people the importance in moderation. Its a common misunderstanding that dosage is also linked to severity in outcome. For example, if you drink enough water you will die from a chemical imbalances in your cells.
Something that may have been accidentally overlooked, is that consistent consumption of low pH foods can have an negative effect on the tooth enamel over time leading to dental complications. Diet sodas are usually 2.5-3 in pH, whereas water is 6-7 pH. With this fact, diet sodas are not the same as water.
I’m interested to see you thoughts about this and thanks for putting together great video, inspiring!
It's pretty common knowledge that frequent consumption of acidic foods softens or damages tooth enamel.
It seemed obvious to me that John was addressing the metabolic and oncological aspects of the consumption of sugar free sodas and not the dental aspects, which would still be solved by simply moderating your intake.
An actual good point to consider when consuming diet sodas!
@@MyDarkMuffin yea, and damaged tooths can actualy lead to all sorts of other damages in parts of your body. Becomes too compliated to comprehend.
Yes, the acidity is bad for your teeth. Personally I drink from a straw to bypass my teeth, doing that helped a lot in this regard.
John I just want to say as an avid watcher of your horror games lets plays, I will say this pivot to informational/debunking type videos works really well with your personality/style. Keep it up!
He really is great at the content he puts out, regardless of what it is. I'm here for it.
Same! I've been watching this channel for years and I'm super happy with the change. I think you can really see how much more into his videos he is now compare to the last times of shitty games let's plays, when he just seemed done
@@sofiipote7 he still enjoys playing games on his alt channel.
@CyanAblaze yeah! And I enjoy watching that, too. It's just nice seeing that he's doing what he wants
God it was so cathartic to see someone address the self-righteousness and smugness of redditors like this. It isn't called out enough in subreddits where they get to pretend to be an authoritative voice on a subject without ever providing evidence or even sources to their claims. Thank you!
I just love the snark John brings to everything. He wasn't called Harshly Critical for nothing. I'd love to see another round of him judging AITA
The snark is what keeps me coming back lol
the best kind of pedantic snark comes from being reasonably certain you are correct after doing rigorous reading of scientific research!
Agreed! Love love love the snark, and I agree more AITA please sir.
I had a brief period with a personal trainer and nutrition expert last year when I first tried being serious about weight loss and at one point she asked me how I was doing and I said I had been desperately craving a coke for days. She just told me to grab a 6 pack of coke zero's from the store on my way home from the gym and enjoy a can or two today, and another can or two tomorrow. She said I had no reason to deny myself everything and that in doing so I was only increasing my odds or cracking and binging on something *actually* bad. A can of coke zero, or whatever else zero, wouldn't even affect my weight loss so why fret?
And well I've been enjoying sugar free sodas nearly daily since and haven't gained any weight, I have in fact been losing is slowly but surely. So chill out folks, grab a can of your favorite sugar free beverage and enjoy it with no remorse, you deserve it. At least I think you do.
10/10 video John love ya
The thing with people is that they think they have to go 100% probodybuilder lifestyle day1 or they're not doing enough, no, that's completely wrong on "fixing" your life. Change your lifestyle not the diet is the motto of great start. When your habits become healthy and you're not forced to do "extra", its when you realize how easy it is to be healthy., you dont need 2hour workouts at gym when you start, dont even need 1hour, just move and do exercises that strain your body, then gradually increase the difficulty = easy lifelong exercise habit.
In Scotland, we were drinking so much sugar the government stepped in and put a sugar tax on certain amount of sugar.
We’d grin in appreciation, but we’ve three teeth shared amongst all 5.5m of us
best comment i've seen all day
Just drink lagavulin and your teeth will grow back
Meanwhile, we in America fluoridate our water to preserve our chompers, then consume enough sugar to develop diabetes. White teeth, brown body fat - Yay!
Same thing happened in Mexico. Even in "regular" soda or in other non-diet drinks, if you read the ingredients it will say "added sugars" or "sugar blend" which it then specifies as having aspartame, phenylalanine, or some other artificial sweetner.
and sadly. iron brew was never the same again. i reckon if they did the old 20% sugar one even at 2.50 a bottle theyd sell tons to the over 30s crowd
This is how I know John is genuinely entertaining. He can make a video about anything and I enjoy watching it. Thanks John!
This was unexpected but I always appreciate a well researched but entertaining video by John, even if it’s not his usual formula. Debunking ghosts, exposing frauds, tackling misinfo, health, mocking Reddit… I’m down for whatever he comes out with next!
I feel like this type of stuff is very much a "if it works for you it's k, if it doesn't don't drink it"?
Like I was having severe migraines and realized whenever I drank a "healthy" drink with sucralose in it I was having the migraines. Stopped drinking it, no more migraines, so now I avoid sucralose cause it's clearly bad for my body chemistry. But I know plenty of peeps who drink it without a problem.
Our bodies are weird.
It is a great adaptation to the new algorithm meta, while still keeping his signature style 👍
One of my favorite professors in my dietetics program always made sure that we "consider who the patient is"
Blindly looking at vitals, nutrition facts, BMI, etc. doesn't ever give you the full picture.
There's always trade-offs. Artificial sweeteners are a trigger food for my colitis, but that doesn't mean a diabetic should switch to regular soda because of *my* symptoms and experiences.
Hi there, I can't speak to the effects of diet sodas on weight loss, but I am a dentist and can say that any carbonated drinks are acidic. Continuously keeping your teeth coated in an acidic substance does make you more susceptible to cavities. That being said, drinking them over a short period of time and rinsing with water after can help nullify the negative effects. TLDR if you drink soda, just drink it over a short period of time and everything in moderation idk enjoy life drink a soda every once in a while
Love this video, John! I wish I had this video to combat against my previous partner’s “you’re slowly poisoning yourself” response when I was drinking Coke Zero. Your hydro-bro impersonation perfectly encapsulates his entire personality and insufferable attitude. Turns out he ended up drinking the Coke Zero cans I left at his house when I broke up with him. I guess the whole Coke Zero being “poison” wasn’t true if he was so eager to guzzle down Coke Zero and brag to me about it. All it did was reaffirm my decision in breaking up with him.
Haha absolutely insufferable
I actually loved this video, it was about something I was curious about and couldn’t find a direct answer. Definitely would love more debunks like this!
Between Google being nothing but ads, AI hallucinations, and Reddit’s holier-than-thou “I must always be right about everything and you’re a bad person if you disagree with me” attitude, I don’t know how anyone’s supposed to find any genuine information anymore.
All of humanity’s knowledge is somewhere on the internet, and every passing day it slips further from view. I dread the day it finally disappears entirely.
I trust Wikipedia because those nerds are pedantic and I love it.
@@Klinkertinlegs thanks for the belly laugh, this is what i was hoping for in this comment section haha!
I think it disappeared already at least 10 years ago honestly
I went through a healthy phase for a while and tried to drink diet soda instead. I quickly found out that the aspartame in them and other items gave me terrible headaches. Since then I've just cut out soda nearly entirely
Same here. Instant migraine trigger from any of the artificial sweeteners.
same happens to me but instead with the heavily sugared drinks
Diet soda helped me deal with a lifelong struggle of trying to lose weight. After I overcame the misconceptions, it made is so much easier to manage my cravings and I lost more than 50lbs so far! Thank you John for this video, diet soda does not deserve its bad reputation at all!
John's swinging at soda now, from house decor to Ghostbusters. The growth is insane and I'm loving it lol
Loving the topic John! Thx for the video! Since i felt the same about Diet stuff! Much love from Germany!
This was a huge point of discussion in my theater troupe for the longest time😂 our director always walked in with a six pack of Diet Coke, and someone did the perfectly accurate reenactment John did here.
Eventually we “”decided”” to table the discussion at “we’re all dying, let’s just drink what we want”
Deeply enjoyed and appreciated this video, John! I recently switched to zero sugar to try and manage my genetic likelihood to get diabetes and knowing I'm not also poisoning myself with sugar replacement helps me feel better about my moderation so far 🙏🏻
Oh. 6:44 actually had my heart drop, as I sit here watching this new John Wolfe video at the start of my 12 hour night shift... of which I have been doing for years.
Yeah. I just started my shift about 2 hours ago and now I'm seeing this. I mean, it makes sense but still.
that part actually kinda surprised me, since I've heard so much talk about how people all have different circadian rhythms and whatnot, leading to night owls, larks and the other names I can't remember. Yad think if some people are just better suited to being awake at night their chances of cancer wouldn't rise by doing so- might be interestin to look into sometime, maybe when I'm putting off important work again
not tryin to come in here and state the WHO is factually wrong btw, I am an idiot- just wanted to say "huh, weird"
@@dkstudios4805 I think that might depend on the study they did and the people that were a part of it. If they weren't attempting to distinguish between more night owl focused and day time people that might not be something they were able to answer in that particular study. I too would be curious to see if there would be a difference, but either way I'm not giving up my night owl way of life.
@dkstudios4805 I'd like very much if that's true. I've had insomnia my whole life and it wasn't until I started working nights that it got any better. That, and 🍃 has helped as well, hah. But it certainly feels like I'm following my natural rhythm better like this
Did you really not know night shift work is not good for us? I would assume this is fairly obvious for several reasons. Though it can admittedly get a bit more complicated depending on several other factors like your natural circadian rhythms, which can be out of whack for some of us even without artificial factors like night shift work. But in general, of course going against your own circadian rhythms will affect health in various ways, though there are bigger health concerns related to night work than downright cancer - diabetes, for example.
Love new topics coming from you...the voice of reason. Thanks, keep them coming!
I used to be addicted to sugar sodas when I was a teenager and became overweight for many years. I gave soda up and got healthy through proper diet and exercise. Even though I wouldn't look back , I realize I can't be afraid of the "new soda tech" we have such as Zevia. I'm very glad something like this exists so I can enjoy it again without feeling guilty of the person I was.
Thanks for doing this video, I did some research myself on this a few years back and came to the same conclusion. There's a weird pervasive thought on the negativity of diet sodas that people will take years to get over.
Same. Diet soda's bad reputation will end only when people start applying critical thinking skills, or at least 5 minutes of research. A big part of mainstream media hates artificial sweetener for no reason I guess
John being paid off by Big Diet Soda™️
(jk literally drinking a Sprite Zero as we speak, diet soda gang gang)
To throw my own anecdotal experience in the mix, I will say the acid in soda had the biggest impact on me. It was only when I decreased my diet soda intake on top of using a prescription toothpaste that I started noticing any difference on my tooth sensitivity/decay decrease
Yeah it's been like this for a long time. It didn't stop me drinking it. Until they can actually prove it's bad for me, I'll keep drinking it. Weirdly I just don't like the taste of plain water. I end up not drinking much and that's not good for me.
the salt water comparison isnt so bad if you use it in the context of "this is water with some salt in it which will actually probably help hydrate you better than if it had no sodium."
Pedialyte has like 400mg of sodium and the whole point is to keep you hydrated.
Yep electrolytes. Especially if you are in a situation where you are sweating a lot, it is better to get electrolytes in there than just plain water.
Was holding my tongue just in case he mentioned it, but this is exactly what I was hoping to see in the comments.
True but they still shoulda used the comparison to brackish water instead, though I supposed even more people would be confused then and even John might slip up on that one because technically any amount of salt in water outside of the typical range of normal saltwater is brackish water, not just brine water, but also at the terminal of every river that runs into the ocean where it gradiates between fresh to full saltwater, but that might be a bit too technical for most people. Tbf I know because I've had a couple brackish water fish and denser then saltwater woulda absolutely killed them, so in their case brackish means "less then saltwater" not more salt ^^'
Idk I find this stuff interesting, that's all
yea, I also understood it as that, and not as sea water. I think its silly that John complains about reddit overall.
More of these videos, please! Your dry sense of humor is perfect for debunking stuff. You educate people in a very down-to-earth way, and I think that really resonates with people. Well done!
I don't know who you are or where your video came from in my algorithm but... quality video! I hit that like button!
Believe it or not, he's an ex-horror game youtuber (now with a variety gaming channel) who debunks paranormal stuff and promotes/teaches critical thinking and media literacy in this format. I'm glad to hear YT is on the ball with his video-essays!
He he Welcome, Stranger!
He still plays on his other channel JohnTwolfe! Can’t take the horror outta John
Was very excited to see this pop up. Thanks for covering this topic it is one I've wondered about a lot, and as you've seen, finding a 'clear answer' isn't as easy as it sounds. Thanks John!
I went down pretty much this exact same rabbit hole a few years back when I finally decided to work on my health/fitness, and came to the exact same conclusion. Whether its completely benign or only VERY SLIGHTLY bad...do I really care THAT much? Even getting healthy, something else is going to take me out long before the aspartame tumor gets big enough.
But why? Honestly, why? They taste much worse, leave you still feeling thirsty after, and sugar won't kill you.
@@sporemaster97 the sugar honestly more than likely WILL kill you. and leave u toothless LOL
@@sporemaster9770% of America is overweight, why would anyone NOT drink diet? Sugar and empty calories smh
@@Diniethefrostmage Personally I'd say stay away from both. The main because it's bad for you, and diet cause it's gross, lol. I've cut down my soda drinking to a 2-3 times a month now. I've yet to find an artificial sweeter I can do anything but tolerant at best.
@@sporemaster97 Because it allows me to drink something other than water without cutting in to my calories. I honestly can't stand the taste of regular Mountain Dew, Coke or Pepsi at this point, and I'm pretty sure its because of the sugar. Diet Dr Pepper and Dr Pepper Zero taste great.
EDIT: Also to point out specifically because I only glossed over your arguments - 1) Taste is completely subjective, as stated above. 2) Thirst is also subjective. I'm not thirsty after drinking a diet. And if I was, I can have another, because its 0 calories! I would wager you still being thirsty after drinking diet is because you aren't hydrated enough in general. 3) This is like saying sunlight won't kill you. Directly? Obviously not. But it completely disregards any health or fitness goals and/or needs an individual may have. I watch my calories and I try to stay in decent shape because the first 30 years of my life were spent doing the opposite and I was finally tired of dealing with the mental and physical consequences of that. Thankfully I made the choice before anything major caught up with me. I know striving to be healthy and fit is a crime on the internet, but I guess that means it'll just have to put up with me.
Thanks for this, but also kudos for taking on something scarier than ghost busting - the food industry! It’s become more of a struggle to know who to trust without doing your own research and sometimes, you just want someone to tell you what to do because you’re burned out from making decisions. I really appreciate you doing this deep dive for us and still reminding us to do our own investigating. It’s very important to think critically (haha, but really), particularly now. Anyways, you’ve made me reconsider my stance on diet sodas, which I admittedly just wrote off since artificial sugars have given me headaches in the past. Next time I want a soda, I’ll give Coke Zero a chance and see how it goes since I could definitely do with less sugar.
Keep up the sassy media literacy, John! You’re doing important work, one diet soda at a time!
Honestly, I can taste it, and it tastes metallic and puts me off. I had Cancer, and due to the "cure/treatments" I have a heightened taste for "certain chemicals, whether they be natural or not. It's weird, but there it is.
We go through, It's bad for you, no it's good for you, no it's bad again. crap. Remember eggs, being sooo bad for you, while wine was Ooh La La! Everything is in moderation. Also just read the labels. It's not rocket science, but it has become harder to determine who's actually telling the truth, and doing legitimate tests, etc.
I'm glad it was "had" cancer :)
I can taste the difference in diet soda as well, but not for any specific reason. I once got a diet soda from a machine by accident. after the first sip I thought it had gone bad. upon looking for the expiration date to check, I noticed the label said diet. It's always tasted that way for me.
I can relate. I can taste this off putting chemical after taste when drinking diet soda which lingers for a while. It's kinda unpleasant making it not enjoyable to drink for me. I stick with regular soda because it tastes better.
I'm glad you beat that cancer and yeah... I think diet soda tastes funky as well, though idk why, I'm also very picky on seafood because I always thought it was supposed to have a milder taste then land based meats, but it's actually opposite for me if that's generally true. Mostly I don't like it though because of the aftertaste and to me it just... Idk, it's almost gritty to me, like accidentally getting dust in your cup, and I really dislike it
12:12 is the biggest thing I hate about Reddit just smartasses that start talking about something completely different to what you asked
I love this more critical, debunking angle you’ve taken lately! Super refreshing to see lower-key, well researched stuff :] keep it up!
definitely different but I'm not mad about it! I love that you're keeping us on our toes with topics! 🥰 I'm a pharmacy technician at a hospital and this made my science heart very happy 😁
Please, for the love of all gods, do more of these vids. They're way too entertaining. You could talk about diff bubble gum types and their ingredients and it would probably be fun lol
Thanks for taking this direction in your videos. I’m so sick of being lied to constantly on the internet.
When I was young, my mother taught me that it's bad, and I never really questioned it enough to confirm it myself. Thanks for this video!
This was actually really helpful. Love your new era
Two of my favourite video experiences rolled into one! John Wolfe and he's covering food science!! I'm so happy!
This was a great investigation, much better than those that in 50 years only can say "we cannot say aspartame can cause cancer, but it could, we don't know".
Fantastic video, THANK YOU!
I'm SO GLAD you made a video about this, this has been my roman empire. Great video as always, I appreciate you always taking the time to be thorough and critical!
love this unexpected yet not truly surprising john video topic.
more than most folk i actually trust your ability to research things properly.
I genuinely love the non horror game content John puts out, high quality entertainment regardless of genre.
I’m loving the new content!!!! Your work is always the best when you do what you want.
Love this video. I would definitely love to see you tackle some other interesting topics like this one in the future. Even if some stuff is inconclusive, I think there is a lot of value in just opening the dialogue about the things we consume, whether it's food or information.
I loved this video! I've been having such a hard time cutting down on my soda intake and found the zero options of Pepsi and coke are so much easier to drink rather than plain water. It sounds sad, I get that, but I'm proud of myself for finding an alternative that's less sugary. Plus cutting down on sugar has been an insane battle as my sweet tooth has never been a huge deal till I got to my mid 20s and now it's just...unlearning old habits. Thank you John, I literally got myself a Pepsi zero for my lunch today and I feel a lil more proud of that 😊 please do more like this or just whatever you feel you wanna do! Your sass is so funny to listen to
Yeah I completely agree either with you, moderation is the best for stuff like soda. In MY experience I despise the more popular sodas like coke, to me most of it is just sugary carbonated water that my brain can’t even process what the flavor is even supposed to be. So it just ends up being something I drink without even thinking about it or enjoying it, so I moderate myself by drinking less soda and if I do want a soda I pick the ones with flavors that I know I enjoy.
This is great, I love these sorts of videos. I actually prefer your longer form ones like your ghost debunking series, personally, but I can imagine those aren't easy for you to pump out regularly, so it makes total sense to do shorter videos. Keep 'em coming John, our respect for you remains immeasurable!
John, this is why you're the best kind of RUclipsr. I love coke, it's something I want to drink more than water. I usually drink water with meals though because I don't want taste clashing. As someone working on losing weight diet sodas are a saviour. People in the community claim that drinking it makes you crave sweets, but I've never had that experience.
Excellent video! You came to the same conclusion I did after reading up on it a few years back. Can you do MSG next? I went from disgusted by the stuff to having a cannister of it in my spice cabinet (great in cooking AND sprinkled on popcorn!) after learning it was unfairly feared.
as a homeschooler, so much makes sense now. a kindred spirit!
in all seriousness though, i love this video. the formatting and editing is great, it's both entertaining AND informative. the epitome of thinking critically!
Always wondered this question. Thanks for the lighthearted fun video, John!
I love your 'I make whatever the hell I want' era. ❤
John I love your takes on stuff- and these new video stylings are great!! You’re always funny, but your delightful sass really shines here and I would watch many more of these! (And since it’s winter, and the holidays, lighthearted stuff is good for cheering miserable people up too).
I stay away from anything with an artificial sweetener. If I drink it, I'm gonna be tasting it all day afterwards. Having the taste of something sweet stuck in your mouth is torture after a few hours.
I mostly drink water because of this.
Don't often leave comments, but I loved this video. I love seeing you experiment! Keep it up!
You posted this right as I grab a diet Dr. Pepper from my fridge
Diet dr. Pepper is awesome, best diet soda
I'm drinking Gatorade.
W Dr Pepper
Same. Opened it right as I hit play 🤣
Found lil sweet in the comments lmao
This was such a fun watch! Ty John! Definitely looking forward to more content like this
The universe works in weird ways, I was at work this morning thinking if diet coke/pepsi were bad for you compared to normal soda. Now you've released a video about it...
I’ve been watching John for years. Maybe for over a decade? I think I started watching 2011. Idk at this point. BUT you are almost at a million subs. I’m so proud of you sir!
I'm a mega water drinker. usually 60-100 oz water a day. it is the only thing I drink most days but every once in awhile I drink a diet soda. my problem w/ aspartame is that it seems to upset my stomach over drinks that are diet but don't have it. I use water flavorers, the little flavor packets you dump into water, & I try to only use the ones containing aspartame sparingly b/c every time I get a little wild & use 2 or 3 in a day, I will start having cramps, gas pains & end up spending my evening in scenic my bathroom.
I've heard of other people having this issue as well but only in people that ALREADY have stomach issues. I think aspartame is an irritant for those of us w/ sensitive stomachs already. it is not a 50 yr old study, just something I've noticed in my life, but I do tend to shy away from aspartame for that reason, long before I heard about it possibly being a carcinogen.
You are my favorite youtuber I have found in the past couple years. I love the diversity of topics and styles of content
This reminds me a lot of one of my favorite podcasts, Maintenance Phase! Loved this video!
I love to learn stuff and I love a good rant! If these topic deep dives become a new regular upload, I’m totally here for it! Personally I don’t drink diet soda but strictly because I don’t like the taste.
Also, hope this video essay puts John on the map in that space. Such a fun and informative video! Keep it up, John!
I appreciate you talking about this stuff John. Personally I don’t drink pop at all, but when I tried diet soda I would always get bad headaches. My issue is that these studies focus on short term effects and not long term effects, so we don’t really know the full scope of what could happen if you consume it regularly over time. After all we used to think lead and pesticides were safe. I’m not saying aspartame does cause cancer, but I would rather be safe than sorry. I’m just a cautious person.
Long story short: I will most likely get cancer, soda or not.
Nice to hear as a chronic neurotic.
But at least I get to drink soda without gaining the extra calories.
I absolutely love these videos that branch out into other topics from the usual ghost debunking and paranormal ones. Keep up the great work, John, your channel has quickly become one of my favorites!
Just was in a conversation abt this with my family, glad to see i havent been crazy. Loved the video, id be excited to see what else you cover in a similar fashion
Dude this video is so good. Please keep doing whatever you set your mind to, because you're always amazing at it. You've become one of my favorite youtubers easily over the last year or so. I've been watching for years and always love your gaming content. You're other content is amazing too! Bravo
As a shareholder since 2014, I hereby request MORE!
What I love about your content is that you always show evidence. Unlike these (typical) tik tok accounts they always just say “stop doing this” or “I’ve been doing this wrong my whole life.” Without providing any evidence as to why or how.
John playing games, debunking ghost vids and now giving health advice. I love this channel.
Thank you so much for making this!! I started drinking diet soda last year in an effort to cut back on drinking way too much regular soda (it worked), but always felt crazy guilty & anxious about the carcinogen thing, especially because my grandmother died from cancer at an early age after a lifetime of diet foods. I know it's anecdotal but still always stressed me out. This seriously lifted a huge weight off my chest, thank you for taking the time to do all this research and share. Plus, in a format that made me laugh my ass off. You are much appreciated.
Y'all criticized him on the chat so much we're getting a passive-aggressive educational soda video! Why couldn't y'all just let pop enjoy his pop?!?
That said, I'm gonna watch this whole video cuz I am curious tho. 🤣
Wait fr? haha he's so sassy I love it
@shiftdb lol I don't really know I made it up cuz I see him popping open a soda every video. Just seems like something the chat would do 🤣
@MiguelMartinez-hs6ql im not the lives so much but this def happens in the youtube comments
I always love your commentary videos. This one was well put together and personally I'd love any more content like this you wanna make!
The only thing I know is my dad, takes blood thinner, cannot consume aspartame.
That's odd. My dad does the same thing, and his heart doctors (that prescribed the blood thinners) said it was perfectly fine for him to drink diet soda.
@JWildberry Remember. Every body is different. No two patients will be the exact same.
@@PoggoMcDawggo True, but if blood thinners react poorly with aspartame, that's about the medicine, not the patient.
@@JWildberry It could be the patient themselves who have a negative reaction to that combination. Maybe your dad is resistant to it. Or maybe it's the specific brand of soda that causes said reaction in OP's dad. I dunno. Im not his doctor. Just a guess.
@@JWildberry there is a range of perspectives in the medical field, largely because not every doctor has the same medical knowledge, some may know more obscure medical info, some may also have incorrect beliefs that people assume are true simply because they're a doctor
Please make more of this content, it was very informative! And it does not have to be shorter ;) I mostly watch longer content on youtube, 20min and upwards.
o shit here we go
I haven't represented Grove Street in 5 years but the Ballas don't give a shit
I'm loving the new content you're putting out. The ghost debunking stuff and now this. Awesome work. Keep em coming!
Also I would highly recommend everyone check out Renaissance Periodization here on RUclips. A guy named Dr. Mike who has an actual PhD in sports science covers everything nutrition and lifting related. It's tailored to bodybuilders, but the information you learn from their videos on nutrition can help anyone learn how to eat to meet their goals.
They also have a BS series covering myths about lifting and eating, and they've done diet soda to death. They even covered a study that showed that diet soda actually outperformed water for weight loss, and it was BECAUSE people had less sugar cravings because they were getting sweetness from the calorie free soda.
Dr.Mike the best with that stuff. All you need for lifting lifestyle is Renaissance Periodization and Jeff Nippard.
More of these videos pls thank you!!! I'll listen to you talk about everything!
soda in general is highly acidic and terrible for your teeth enamel, chewing sugar free gum after drinking soda can help preserve enamel!
I love watching these videos. Your scripts are amazing and it’s great hearing your jokes cause you clearly know about comedic timing lol
You know what this video made me think of? Of my uncle when he was in the nursing home. The man was in his 80's, had Parkinson's, could only get around in a wheelchair, and had trouble articulating words. This same man had served his country in World War II, fighting Nazi troops behind enemy lines. Now, in a nursing home, they were feeding him this pureed shit because it was "healthy" for him and given his Parkinson's, he might "choke." I used to sneak cheeseburgers in for him. The nurses would yell at me, and I would say, "The man killed Nazis! He's old, and this is one of his few joys in life. If he chokes, he goes out with a smile on his face!" He never choked. He enjoyed those cheeseburgers. Soda is like that cheeseburger--no one needs to lecture my ass on it. Let me enjoy what pleasures I can squeeze from this petty existence.
I think people often overlook Alcohol when they are trying to lose weight. I do agree everything in moderation!
The comments about diet soda being like salt water... According to what I looked up and if my calculations are correct, a liter of ocean water contains roughly 35 grams of salt. being generous and rounding up, a liter is roughly 3 cans of soda. Each can would have to have almost 8 and a half GRAMS of sodia to equal salt water. and It took me less than 5 minutes to come to that conclusion.
love this vid, fam, keep the vibes going! could listen to you talk about anything, but i actually was really curious about the ills of diet soda bc i used to fux with DC heavy
Started at Conjuring house and now we're here!! These videos are so much fun also!!! I love all of them!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉 thank u
Really enjoyed this video. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and findings on this topic. I've never been afraid of sugar vs artificial. I'm a chef not a doctor and always drank what tastes good at the moment. Knowing your body and knowing what you put in is crucial.