Keep track of the latest in diet and fitness Twitter trends and opinions with this weekly post. Not only will AOL Health's Twitter alias Healthpop and That's_Fit ask fitness-related questions and share the best reponses with you, we'll scour the Twittersphere for the latest buzz on everything from good eats to exercise routines gone bad.

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At That's Fit, we have long been joining the conversation about diet soda, weighing in on whether it helps you shed weight, or if it is actually a cause of extra pounds. This week we went to Twitter to see what the trending topics were around calorie-free soda. Here's what these tweeps had to say:

My husband loves energy drinks. More specifically, he loves the jolt he gets from an energy drink. While I could never picture him trying to mix an energy drink with alcohol (that would defeat the purpose after all), I can see where someone else might give it a try. But the folks over at CNN tell us that mixing energy drinks and alcohol is a bad idea. The combination stresses the nervous system and can lead to heart palpitations and difficulty breathing.

And since it's nearly the Fourth and we're talking about alcohol, studies have also found that when alcohol is mixed with diet soda, it enters the bloodstream at a much faster rate than when mixed with a regular soft drink. So if you're going to have a drink or two this weekend, you might want to splurge on the extra calories in a regular soda and have a snack as well. The sugar and extra food will slow down the rate the alcohol leaves your stomach.

For more tidbits on what foods work well together and what don't, check out Real Simple's article on food pairings.

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Trying to take off the pounds? I have a trick that's worked well for me and several of my friends: Drink up. I'm not talking about calorie-laden drinks like soda, cocktails or juices. Rather, you should fill up on healthy, low-calorie liquids. We're talking water, tea, vegetable juice, soup, even diet soda and juice from time to time.

You see, sometimes when we think we're hungry, we're mostly just thirsty, and having a tall glass of water can curb your hunger and keep you from binging on junk food. So try this: Next time you feel hungry and find yourself craving something unhealthy, either chug a low-calorie drink or have a small bowl of soup. Wait 20 minutes, and if you're still hungry, have something nutritious to eat.

A big steak with french fries and a buttery, white roll is not the ideal meal. Published in the on-line journal Circulation last month, a long-term study has shown these unhealthy foods -- red meat, fried foods and processed grains -- are associated with an 18 percent increased risk for metabolic syndrome. Abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and elevated blood glucose and blood pressure comprise metabolic syndrome, the collective risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Don't order a diet soda with that steak and side of fries, either. This same study, which examined the diets and health of 9,500 men and women between the ages of 45 to 64 over nine years, determined the risk of developing metabolic syndrome was a whopping 34 percent higher among one-can-a-day diet soda drinkers compared to diet-soda-teetotalers.

As one author of the research wondered, is there a chemical in diet soda or certain behaviors common among diet soda drinkers that explain this increased risk for metabolic syndrome? I gave up regular diet soda consumption months ago, but I do imbibe on a rare occasion. Hmm. Maybe 'everything in moderation' does not apply for metabolic syndrome in a can.

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Drinking one or more soft drinks per day, be them diet or regular, may increase your obesity risk. Okay, fine. This is old news by this point. But, for some strange reason, I can't seem to get past this report, which appeared in the very well-respected journal Circulation. This is not because I'm overly concerned that it may be true, but because I feel it's an obvious sign of poor statistical analysis.

What the researchers found is that downing one or more 12-ounce servings of soda per day can increase a person's risk of obesity by 31 percent. Clearly this makes sense when referring to the drinkers of regular sodas, as it is almost common knowledge that soda contains an inordinate amount of fast-digesting, simple sugars and a great deal of calories. My issue, however, is with the claim that diet soda can have the same effect.

I have a friend that replaces meals with diet soda. Afterall, a Diet Coke is 0 calories and all the carbonation makes her feel more bloated than if she ate a 5-course meal. I definitely don't agree with her weight-loss philosophy, but I can see how it would work. A diet soda can help make me feel full when I'm not -- for an hour or so anyway -- but I don't drink it because truth be told, I don't like soda.

Based on that, I would assume that drinking diet soda would help you eat less, but that's not the case, according to a recent study. Diet drinks actually tend to lead to people over-eating. Why is this? One reason could be justification -- ie. I'm having a diet soda, so I can supersize the fries and have dessert too. Also, studies show that rats who are put on low-cal diets tend to overeat whenever they have the chance, compared to rats who are given a normal diet.

What do you think?

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It's a hard decision for many of us -- to drink regular soda or diet soda. One has refined sugar and way too many empty calories, while the other has less calories but artificial sweeteners.

But those who drink diet drinks may have reason to partially celebrate that activity (for what it is worth), as heart disease rates between the drinkers or normal sodas and diet sodas are roughly the same.

Scientists thought that diet soda drinkers may eat more sugary treats, causing more cases of heart disease. But, when it comes to heart issues, all soft drink drinkers are the same it appears.

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Are you a fan of diet soda? Many folks I know switched to diet versions of their favorite soft drinks years ago to get away from the sugar and calories of normal soft drinks. While diet sodas can be looked at as healthier than normal soft drinks, I still avoid them like the plague. Why? Chemicals and other non-nutritional items.

Have you looked at the sodium content of some diet soft drinks? How about aspartame content (a fake but dangerous sweetener)?

Always do what you feel is right, but in the case of diet soft drinks, the additives, fake colors, chemicals and other things sound like bad news to me. Do they to you?

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This just in: Diet soda can make you fat. Huh? Isn't it calorie-free? Yes, it is, but according to this, studies show that people often compensate for the lack of calories in their soda by consuming more in their food. Another theory is that artificial sweeteners in diet soda cause an increase in hunger-inducing hormones.

As for me, I've never liked soda, diet or regular, and I'm glad I don't because there just seems to be no end to the bad publicity it gets. How about trying a different kind of calorie-free drink that's not artificially sweetened and has proven health benefits? This magic substance is water and if you switched to it from anything else, I'm sure you'll notice some healthy changes to both your body and your mood.

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Here's some news that comes just in time for the New Year's Eve celebrations. For all the bad publicity that full-sugar soda gets, there's something positive: it keeps you from getting drunk as fast as sugar-free soda would. So, if you want to wake up the next morning without the foggy pounding head and the lurching stomach, avoid the diet rum and coke and go for the standard version of the drink instead. If you want to keep from embarrassing yourself and creating mortifying memories that your family members will dredge up for years, mix your drink with regular soda. Sure, it's more calories, but alcohol is chalk-full of calories anyway so if that's your major concern then maybe you should be the designated driver.

Keep in mind that regular soda will still get you drunk, just not as fast. So as always, moderation is important.

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