Diet soda is, very simply, a misnomer. Despite common "wisdom,"
frequent consumption of diet soda (and artificial sweeteners) often
leads to weight gain. Did I read that right? YES! The average diet soda
drinker gains more weight than the average regular soda drinker. How can
this be? The short answer: you can't trick your body.
When we
taste something sweet, evolution has finely tuned our bodies to expect a
payoff: calories. If your body doesn't get any calories after consuming
something sweet, it actually slows down your metabolism to try to make
the most of the real calories you do consume. Additionally, after you
drink diet soda, your befuddled body and brain starts to crave carbs, so
don't be surprised if you suddenly find yourself wrist-deep in a bag of
Fritos.
A study at the University of Texas Health Science Center found that consumption of diet soda was correlated with weight gain, likely because "undelivered expected calories from diet soda may stimulate the appetite." According to WebMD, of the 622 study participants who were of normal weight at the beginning of the study, about a third became overweight or obese.
For regular soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:
26% for up to 1/2 can each day
30.4% for 1/2 to one can each day
32.8% for 1 to 2 cans each day
47.2% for more than 2 cans each day.
For diet soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:
36.5% for up to 1/2 can each day
37.5% for 1/2 to one can each day
54.5% for 1 to 2 cans each day
57.1% for more than 2 cans each day.
For each can of diet soft drink consumed each day, a person's risk of obesity went up 41%.
Isn't that insane? Just one can a day indicated a 41% increase in a person's risk of obesity! Now correlation does not imply causation, but the findings are strong enough to make me run away from diet soda like a freaking ninja, how about you?
Researchers for the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine have found that diet soda drinkers are less likely to consume healthy foods, and that drinking diet soft drinks with artificial sweeteners increases cravings for sugar flavored sweets. Animal studies conducted and Purdue University suggest that the ingestion of artificial sweeteners found in many diet sodas cause a faulty insulin response and animals encountered increased caloric intake, increased body weight, and increased fatness (scientifically known as "adiposity"). So you heard it from me, if you want to get fat, keep on drinking diet soda.
The stuff that makes a diet soft drink sweet is called an "artificial sweetener" for god's sake! This industrial-strength cocktail of chemical compounds was invented by scientists in full body lab coats and protective glasses. Do you really want to be putting it in your body? I wouldn't be particularly surprised if down the road we find that chemical-infused diet soda and artificial sweeteners are even worse than we already know, maybe even catastrophic, like, say, chemical-infused cigarettes. But I have enough information to stay away from diet soda, and now you do too. Go get yourself some unsweetened iced tea instead. Sure, unsweetened tea isn't as sexy as soda, but an gaining weight when you're drinking "diet" isn't especially sexy either. So be good to your body, folks.
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A study at the University of Texas Health Science Center found that consumption of diet soda was correlated with weight gain, likely because "undelivered expected calories from diet soda may stimulate the appetite." According to WebMD, of the 622 study participants who were of normal weight at the beginning of the study, about a third became overweight or obese.
For regular soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:
26% for up to 1/2 can each day
30.4% for 1/2 to one can each day
32.8% for 1 to 2 cans each day
47.2% for more than 2 cans each day.
For diet soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:
36.5% for up to 1/2 can each day
37.5% for 1/2 to one can each day
54.5% for 1 to 2 cans each day
57.1% for more than 2 cans each day.
For each can of diet soft drink consumed each day, a person's risk of obesity went up 41%.
Isn't that insane? Just one can a day indicated a 41% increase in a person's risk of obesity! Now correlation does not imply causation, but the findings are strong enough to make me run away from diet soda like a freaking ninja, how about you?
Researchers for the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine have found that diet soda drinkers are less likely to consume healthy foods, and that drinking diet soft drinks with artificial sweeteners increases cravings for sugar flavored sweets. Animal studies conducted and Purdue University suggest that the ingestion of artificial sweeteners found in many diet sodas cause a faulty insulin response and animals encountered increased caloric intake, increased body weight, and increased fatness (scientifically known as "adiposity"). So you heard it from me, if you want to get fat, keep on drinking diet soda.
The stuff that makes a diet soft drink sweet is called an "artificial sweetener" for god's sake! This industrial-strength cocktail of chemical compounds was invented by scientists in full body lab coats and protective glasses. Do you really want to be putting it in your body? I wouldn't be particularly surprised if down the road we find that chemical-infused diet soda and artificial sweeteners are even worse than we already know, maybe even catastrophic, like, say, chemical-infused cigarettes. But I have enough information to stay away from diet soda, and now you do too. Go get yourself some unsweetened iced tea instead. Sure, unsweetened tea isn't as sexy as soda, but an gaining weight when you're drinking "diet" isn't especially sexy either. So be good to your body, folks.