I know we are not supposed to drink carbonated drinks since it can add gas and fill up your stomach and might stretch it out (or at least it might stretch out the pouch on a gastric bypass - there seems to be a question about if it is possible to stretch out the sleeve very much). I was wondering if one of the reasons for obesity in the first place might be excessive consumption of carbonated (diet or regular) beverage? I mean the obesity epidemic is a fairly new phenomenon. And I'm not one of those people that got fat drinking my calories - I've drank diet soda since I was about 12 years old, however I had an extreme diet Coke addiction for many years. I was in the habit of downing as much as 3 liters of Diet Coke a day.

my NUT said that on average, people who only drink diet soda GAIN 15 pounds a year. she explained it so much better than i am, but something about the carbonation, mixed with the sweeteners used causes an reaction in your brain that actually makes you FEEL hungrier and you end up eating more. so, yep, as for me, no more soda. ever. and honestly i have drank NOTHING but soda since i was 13 (im 37 now) i had my last soda in april of this year, and thanks to mio sweet tea, i don't miss it. but, there are sleevers that still partake in soda. but, for me, nah.

good luck on your journey.

Well, I don't know about 15 lbs a year - if I had gained 15 lbs a year I would have been 700 lbs by now - but I do know that the diet soda never kept me from gaining weight - what I was wondering is if maybe it stretched out my stomach so that I needed more to fill it?

I have asked my surgeon about the whole soda thing. He said anything is really fine in moderation. I am not a big sweets person. I never have been. Usually I drink unsweetened iced tea and water. However occasionally I do enjoy a small fountain coke. This is few and far between. I asked my surgeon if after my sx I will have to give this up completely and he said no. As long as you don't over do it on the soda you will be fine.

I have asked my surgeon about the whole soda thing. He said anything is really fine in moderation. I am not a big sweets person. I never have been. Usually I drink unsweetened iced tea and water. However occasionally I do enjoy a small fountain coke. This is few and far between. I asked my surgeon if after my sx I will have to give this up completely and he said no. As long as you don't over do it on the soda you will be fine.

A hotly debated topic. Follow your surgeons advice - if he said to stay away there may well be a very legitimate reason. Suppose there is an 80% chance it won't harm you... SO not worth it to me. It is too widely debated to believe with 100% certainty that it is not harmful. Also, many many many many of us with obesity have had addictions to soda - coincidence?

But this still does not address the OP's actual question - which is whether soda could have stretched our stomachs in the first place creating larger capacities allowing us to become obese. I don't have a medical answer, but I think it is unlikely. Our stomachs were previously pretty stretchy - now not so much as they removed the part that stretched the most. This is NOT a definitive answer - just my best guess!

Well' date=' I don't know about 15 lbs a year - if I had gained 15 lbs a year I would have been 700 lbs by now - but I do know that the diet soda never kept me from gaining weight - what I was wondering is if maybe it stretched out my stomach so that I needed more to fill it?[/quote']

I drank diet soda because it made me appear to choose a healthier alternative to sugary drinks. -- however the diet drinks washed down the pizza and chips!!!

my NUT said that on average' date=' people who only drink diet soda GAIN 15 pounds a year. she explained it so much better than i am, but something about the carbonation, mixed with the sweeteners used causes an reaction in your brain that actually makes you FEEL hungrier and you end up eating more. so, yep, as for me, no more soda. ever. and honestly i have drank NOTHING but soda since i was 13 (im 37 now) i had my last soda in april of this year, and thanks to mio sweet tea, i don't miss it. but, there are sleevers that still partake in soda. but, for me, nah.

good luck on your journey.[/quote']

This is exactly what the two NUTs I see have said. I also drank nothing but Diet Coke and it didn't stop me from gaining weight. I did have a 6 month spell where I didn't drink it and I lost 30lbs! As soon as I started drinking it again I put all the weight and more back on. I was my own research study and I took nothing from it! I haven't had a Diet Coke in 6 weeks, 3 weeks pre and 3 weeks post and I've got to say I don't miss it! I cannot allow myself to have just one because I know that will be a slippery slope to fatness again!