Diet Sodas

avdoty

Periodically I read posts that mention the need for RCC patients to cut out diet sodas and caffeine from their diets. I've been a 4 to 5 can/day soda drinker for many years.  I drink soda like other people drink coffee.  Last week I was out with some friends and the diet drink issue came up.  They were adamant about how bad it was to drink it but couldn't really say why. So I did a little research (not exhaustive) and found that there were studies that found a correlation between drinking the stuff and health issues but there seems to be a lack of understanding of what exactly the soda does biologically that is bad. Even with the lack of specificity that was enough to make me quit drinking it -- went cold turkey 2 weeks ago.  Does anyone know what diet soda does that is especially bad for kidney cancer patients?

pamstayner

Diet Soda

Interesting subject.... I am no expert, and I have no background in science,  BUT,  I am experienced as a Diet Soda drinker.  I am also a stage 4 clear cell kidney cancer patient.  I drank diet sodas since the day TAB came out.  And somewhere 20 plus years ago, replaced that with diet coke.  The sachrine days, and nor the other artificial sweetner,, aspertime is it?  My addiction was way over the top.... probably 10 to 12 cans a day.... everyday... at least.  I remember when some study came out about the artifical sugar... sachrine... and how they fed mice a gallon a day and they got tumors all over their bodies.... I remember scoffing at that saying you could feed way over normal limits of even coffee and that would probably do the same... so what does that prove... Well, years ago when I realized I was so addicted to the diet coke I said when I die, I would donate my kidneys to science to see what it does to a 40 year dose of gallons a day in a human.

Guess what?  Science indeed has some of the one kidney removed because of cancer... wonder if they would test that for a link?  I now drink 6 bottles of 16 oz spring water. 

Do I believe that it caused my cancer?  Really?  as a contributor, yes.

 

 

icemantoo

pamstayner said:

Diet Soda

Interesting subject.... I am no expert, and I have no background in science,  BUT,  I am experienced as a Diet Soda drinker.  I am also a stage 4 clear cell kidney cancer patient.  I drank diet sodas since the day TAB came out.  And somewhere 20 plus years ago, replaced that with diet coke.  The sachrine days, and nor the other artificial sweetner,, aspertime is it?  My addiction was way over the top.... probably 10 to 12 cans a day.... everyday... at least.  I remember when some study came out about the artifical sugar... sachrine... and how they fed mice a gallon a day and they got tumors all over their bodies.... I remember scoffing at that saying you could feed way over normal limits of even coffee and that would probably do the same... so what does that prove... Well, years ago when I realized I was so addicted to the diet coke I said when I die, I would donate my kidneys to science to see what it does to a 40 year dose of gallons a day in a human.

Guess what?  Science indeed has some of the one kidney removed because of cancer... wonder if they would test that for a link?  I now drink 6 bottles of 16 oz spring water. 

Do I believe that it caused my cancer?  Really?  as a contributor, yes.

 

 

Diet coke

I likewise am a diet coke addict and have been so for over 40 years. I am now on a diet program and have lost over 30 pounds. Diet coke however is not restricted.

 

The bad things about diet coke are the caffene and the acidity. Nobody has suggested the diet coke led to cancer. I do have gerd and Barrets esophogus which I assume are related.

 

 

Icemantoo

GSRon

icemantoo said:

Diet coke

I likewise am a diet coke addict and have been so for over 40 years. I am now on a diet program and have lost over 30 pounds. Diet coke however is not restricted.

 

The bad things about diet coke are the caffene and the acidity. Nobody has suggested the diet coke led to cancer. I do have gerd and Barrets esophogus which I assume are related.

 

 

Icemantoo

me too.. I used to drink

me too.. I used to drink about a six pack of Pepsi a day. No more. If you have reduced kidney function then processing the syrup and other stuff is not good. Saccharine is supposed to add Cancer risk. Water is your new best friend. I do have no more than one soda a week. Also watch your sodium intake. Ron

todd121

Soda and Reduced Kidney Function

Most of us that have lost a kidney are considered to have Chronic Kidney Disease (I'm Stage 3 with a eGFR of 40 and a creatinine of 1.8). My nephrologist recommended avoiding sodas because increased phosphoric acid (something in most sodas) has been linked to kidney disease and increased kidney stones. There have also been links to drinking lots of sodas with decreased bone density and osteoporosis in older people.

This is in addition to either the high sugar (which is bad for you in general) or the large amounts of various artificial sweeteners, which really just aren't known for sure, but why risk it? Then there is the caffeine...

I've given up sodas. I found the less I drank, the more I hated them. Now I almost can't stand them.

If you're heavy like me, the acid is very bad for your upper GI tract as well. Sodas are very acidic.

I drink lots of water, and I allow myself a cup of coffee in the morning (large, pretty strong). Occasionally I have an iced tea (I used to be addicted to that). Once in awhile a beer or glass of wine, but keep it to 1-2 a week or none most weeks. Rarely a soda. When I do have a soda, I find that I don't drink it all.

Here's an excellent article about why you may want to eliminate soda from your regular diet:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/468217-why-is-phosphoric-acid-bad-for-you/

Todd

Positive_Mental_Attitude

avdoty, I did the same

avdoty, I did the same thing--quit diet soda cold turkey.  I used to drink 1-3 cans per day, and 1-2 cups of coffee.  As part of my new way of taking better care of myself, I gave up diet soda and coffee, and substituted water and tea.  I had no hard scientific evidence, but just decided to give them up.

a_oaklee

are you onto something here?

My husband is a big soda drinker too.  He drinks way more than the average person.  I never thought about it in relation to RCC.  In all of our appointments in the past 2 1/2 years noone in the medical field has expressed any interest in causation ie. lifestyle, exposures etc..  He is a nonsmoker too.

avdoty

a_oaklee said:

are you onto something here?

My husband is a big soda drinker too.  He drinks way more than the average person.  I never thought about it in relation to RCC.  In all of our appointments in the past 2 1/2 years noone in the medical field has expressed any interest in causation ie. lifestyle, exposures etc..  He is a nonsmoker too.

Diet Soda Survey

Surprised to see so many heavy diet drink users here.  Makes me wonder if it really did contribute to my getting cancer . . . probably never will know.  The phosphoric acid stuff sounds pretty nasty from the article Todd posted. Should have quit a long time ago. 

Out of curiosity, if you read this post please post a reply to indicate whether or not you were a heavy diet soda drinker prior to your diagnosis. It can be our non-scientific survey. 

Thanks for all of the replies and congrats to Iceman for losing 30 lbs (I know from personal experience how hard it is).

Allen

foxhd

avdoty said:

Diet Soda Survey

Surprised to see so many heavy diet drink users here.  Makes me wonder if it really did contribute to my getting cancer . . . probably never will know.  The phosphoric acid stuff sounds pretty nasty from the article Todd posted. Should have quit a long time ago. 

Out of curiosity, if you read this post please post a reply to indicate whether or not you were a heavy diet soda drinker prior to your diagnosis. It can be our non-scientific survey. 

Thanks for all of the replies and congrats to Iceman for losing 30 lbs (I know from personal experience how hard it is).

Allen

for what it's worth

I don't drink more than a couple of sodas a year. There may be contributing factors to our renal cancer but so far there is no single culprit. On this site we used to joke about our cancer being caused by golfing, riding motorcycles or living in michigan. Improved lifestyles is always a good idea. However, By the time we get our cancers, the damage has already been done. We could all go nutz looking for the cause.

todd121

avdoty said:

Diet Soda Survey

Surprised to see so many heavy diet drink users here.  Makes me wonder if it really did contribute to my getting cancer . . . probably never will know.  The phosphoric acid stuff sounds pretty nasty from the article Todd posted. Should have quit a long time ago. 

Out of curiosity, if you read this post please post a reply to indicate whether or not you were a heavy diet soda drinker prior to your diagnosis. It can be our non-scientific survey. 

Thanks for all of the replies and congrats to Iceman for losing 30 lbs (I know from personal experience how hard it is).

Allen

Diet Soda

I was not a heavy soda drinker before my diagnosis - diet or otherwise. I was a heavy ice tea drinker (but even then 1-2 glasses a day, so not sure that qualifies).

I was a heavy under drinker of water or beverages in general, though. Most days I wouldn't drink a glass of water. I'd have coffee in the morning and ice tea with dinner and lunch and that would be it. I had wondered if being slightly dehydrated all the time was the cause of my cancer...I was just never thirsty. I'm still not. I have to force myself to drink water.

I have worked for years around electronics. In my job, I've often handled (daily) circuit boards with lead and heavy metals and been around a lot of soldering. There's a risk associated with that, and I've wondered if that was another possibility.

Don't think we're going to figure out the cause of each of our cancers. Probably wasted energy even thinking about it.

Todd

Karen0074

todd121 said:

Diet Soda

I was not a heavy soda drinker before my diagnosis - diet or otherwise. I was a heavy ice tea drinker (but even then 1-2 glasses a day, so not sure that qualifies).

I was a heavy under drinker of water or beverages in general, though. Most days I wouldn't drink a glass of water. I'd have coffee in the morning and ice tea with dinner and lunch and that would be it. I had wondered if being slightly dehydrated all the time was the cause of my cancer...I was just never thirsty. I'm still not. I have to force myself to drink water.

I have worked for years around electronics. In my job, I've often handled (daily) circuit boards with lead and heavy metals and been around a lot of soldering. There's a risk associated with that, and I've wondered if that was another possibility.

Don't think we're going to figure out the cause of each of our cancers. Probably wasted energy even thinking about it.

Todd

Mmmm this has me thinking. I

Mmmm this has me thinking. I would say I was addicted to pepsi Max for last 10 years, I have kicked the habit as soon as my gp gave me the news. In fact my husband used to tell the kids it was mums black gold I always had to have a bottle in the fridge or I would get shaky. Maybe there is something to this.

 

karen x

sblairc

Out of control Diet Coke habit

My husband's habit was excessive. Beyond excessive. I made him go to the doctor several years ago because I was concerned about the damage it could cause to him. I even, prophetically, said "If you die of cancer from drinking this **** I'll never forgive you" His doctor at that time laughed and they shared addiction stories, both avid drinkers of the stuff. I never felt satisfied with this answer, and always felt like my husband was going to get sick. Call it women's intuition if you want, but I have always felt like he was a ticking time bomb and regret not pushing him to get further tests based on my feeling that something wasn't right. Two subsequent serious heath scares turned out to be "nothing."

Fast forward to 5 or so years later. Husband has Stage 3 kidney cancer at the age of 47 and this very same doctor no longer drinks diet coke because it eroded his esophagus (obviously not the clinical term, but you get the idea).  I guess we can only go forward, and I'm going my best to do that, but I still stand by my conviction that what we put into our bodies can make or break us. As soon as the science catches up, we will have a better idea of what to avoid. 

 

sblairc

Carmel color, acrylmide, the list goes on. . .

There is also some belief about carmel color as an additive being carcinogenic. And every Starbucks in California has a big giant placard warning about the dangers of the cancer causing ingredients in their coffee. I guess I'm a hypocrite for drinking the coffee while I preach about the diet soda demons. I suppose moderation is the key. 

JoanneNH

Former very long and heavy

Former very long and heavy diet soda drinker for about 50 years.   Once I was extremely hot at work and downed 2 liters of Diet Coke in 2 hours.    After being diagnosed with stage 2 kidney cancer last year, I stopped drinking diet soda, though recently I have been drinking diet Fresca a couple of times a week.   I think the diet soda all those years or the hair dye for about 35 years contributed to it.

GSRon

JoanneNH said:

Former very long and heavy

Former very long and heavy diet soda drinker for about 50 years.   Once I was extremely hot at work and downed 2 liters of Diet Coke in 2 hours.    After being diagnosed with stage 2 kidney cancer last year, I stopped drinking diet soda, though recently I have been drinking diet Fresca a couple of times a week.   I think the diet soda all those years or the hair dye for about 35 years contributed to it.

Guess, I am lucky in a way...

Guess, I am lucky in a way... gosh I say that a lot..!   So I too was a heavy soda )Pepsi) drinker.. no more.  For me it was simple, St 58 I was going to a lot more funerals than birthday's and marriages.  My brain kicked in, along with the fear of dying early.  I made the change.. a bit late, but still I made it.  I was never a coffee or tea drinker.. so more water.. then more water.  I still have to cases of Pepsi in the garage that are about 4 years old now... they just sit there..  You can do it as well..  Yes I allow myself to have ONE, just one soda a week, and even then I rarely drink more than half of it.  My diet has changed as well.. much less red meat..  I have had one, yes one hamburger this year.  I have not had a hotdog in more years than I can remember.  Chicken and fish are my main foods, along with soups.  I use a lot of Mrs Dash's products as they are all salt free.. I get plenty of salt from other foods.  Will this help..?  I really do not know, but mentally I am doing what I can to make it through this year.. then next year... etc..

So, now that I have a month on Afinitor.. my energy is way up.. I feel almost normal overall... yes I have one nagging mouth sore, but that is the worst there is.. I can deal with it.

Yesterday I saw my Cardio Doc.. she was thrilled.. my B.P. was 118 / 72, then I told her that was sightly higher than normal... she smiled.  I told her I started to run again, and do a lot more walking.. she shook her head..  Most of her patients have major heart issues.. not me.. she told me my heart is not my issue.. go fight the Cancer..  Strangely, I told her that I was not sure if having a strong heart is good for me now... she got it..  Then I told her with all my new strength, I have even more fight in me...  She said see you in 4 months.. not sure why, but let's meet anyway...

My Oncologist too was happy with my physical progress.. I put on some weight, the spring in my step is noticable...  Yes diet and exercise can be a big help.. and I trust getting control of everyone's diet will do the same for you all...  Just remember to allow yourself to enjoy every now and then.. No not cheat, make it your allowance..  You can do this too... a healthier body will fight better... that is my story and I am sticking to it...  I will likely have Pizza and beer in the next two weeks... along with Manx Kippers and a lousy meat pie...

Ron 

 

Jojo61

Diet soda

I too, drank a lot of diet soda and eventually cut that down. Once I was diagnosed with RCC I saw a naturopath. She recommended I cut coffee and all sodas -especially diet sodas. A co-worker gave me a little pamphlet that her ailing mother received regarding foods that are bad for kidneys...phosperous is not only in sodas. Watch out for frozen meats, processed cheese, etc. Look in the ingredients for any word with "phos" in it. Seasoned meat is another term for "phospherous".

Who knows what can cause cancer?? My naturopath told me the kidney is the one affected by grief and worry. I lived for 27 years in an abusive marriage, drank diet coke, never smoked, ate decently. My new and lovely husband, drinks lots of coffee, soda, refuses to eat almost anything green, and smokes like a chimney - no cancer. So, go figure.

All we can do is to live life to the fullest, enjoy every moment, every little beautiful thing we can, and take care of ourselves as best we can.

Hugs,

Jojo

Jeff2159

Diet Coke

I too was a big diet soda drinker since 1976 with Tab, Diet Pepsi,Fresca and then Diet Coke when that came out later. 7-11 with its Big Gulp or the 99cent refill at Arco AM PM were big favorites. Diet coke was my caffeine as I have never had a cup of offee. With both stage 4 RCC and now Stage 4 oral cancer, I tried a sip of regular coke a few months ago and it felt like battery acid. My mouth is very tender due to radiation and chemo treatments

Eims

todd121 said:

Soda and Reduced Kidney Function

Most of us that have lost a kidney are considered to have Chronic Kidney Disease (I'm Stage 3 with a eGFR of 40 and a creatinine of 1.8). My nephrologist recommended avoiding sodas because increased phosphoric acid (something in most sodas) has been linked to kidney disease and increased kidney stones. There have also been links to drinking lots of sodas with decreased bone density and osteoporosis in older people.

This is in addition to either the high sugar (which is bad for you in general) or the large amounts of various artificial sweeteners, which really just aren't known for sure, but why risk it? Then there is the caffeine...

I've given up sodas. I found the less I drank, the more I hated them. Now I almost can't stand them.

If you're heavy like me, the acid is very bad for your upper GI tract as well. Sodas are very acidic.

I drink lots of water, and I allow myself a cup of coffee in the morning (large, pretty strong). Occasionally I have an iced tea (I used to be addicted to that). Once in awhile a beer or glass of wine, but keep it to 1-2 a week or none most weeks. Rarely a soda. When I do have a soda, I find that I don't drink it all.

Here's an excellent article about why you may want to eliminate soda from your regular diet:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/468217-why-is-phosphoric-acid-bad-for-you/

Todd

Is that true that if you have

Is that true that if you have lost a kidney we are considered people with chronic kidney disease?

 

icemantoo

Eims said:

Is that true that if you have

Is that true that if you have lost a kidney we are considered people with chronic kidney disease?

 

Chronic Kidney Disease

Elms,

 

There is a lot of discussion on the question you have raised. Please start a new post so we don't go off topic here.

 

Icemantoo

Abunai

Another Diet Soda Drinker

This is an old thread, but I just found it with a search and signed up for this forum.

I drank, probably, 3 liters or diet soda per day for years.

I'm sitting in the hospital now following removal of a football sized left kidney+stage 4 tumor and another tumor from my spine that was compressing my spinal cord.

Correlation is not causation, but my doc said the tumor had probably been growing 6 or 7 years. I started drinking that much soda about 10 years ago as part of my efforts to lose and maintain a lower weight.

JerzyGrrl

I drank Tab...

I drank Tab, probably back in the late '60s. I think I could count the number of cola sodas I've had in the last 35 years on one finger (I vaguely remember drinking a Pepsi 'round about then). 

I drank tea, loads of it, until about 40 years ago. Nowadays, I drink green tea or Japanese roasted tea occasionally. Started drinking coffee in 1995. Now that I'm not working, I usually have one cup (sometimes a big cup) a day. If that. 

I'm sure we'd find other weird things we have in common, like using composition books in school, or petting puppies when we were little. It's just shared life stuff, not the cause.

Good thing. My little dog would be mighty upset if I gave up petting puppies.