(05-03-12) Evidence shows diet soda is not a healthy weight loss product

by Celeste M. Smucker, MPH, PhD


(NaturalNews) Artificially sweetened drinks are often promoted as healthy
alternatives for weight loss and diabetes because they are low in calories and
don't contain sugar. However, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that these
diet sodas are harmful to human health. According to Sharon Fowler, MPH, an
authority on this subject, "Diet soda is not a health food. In fact, it's not a
food at all, it's simply a slurry of chemicals, a number of which may have
deleterious effects on the body." Most recently diet sodas have been tied to
increased risk of stroke and heart attack, and while many people drink them as
an aid to weight reduction, research suggests if you drink diet soda, weight
gain may be the result instead.

Weight gain
In one study linking diet beverages to weight gain, Hazuda, et. al. at the
University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, recorded changes in
waist circumferences in 474 elderly participants in a 10-year study. As part of
the study they controlled for diabetes, physical activity, neighborhood, age,
sex and ethnicity. Findings showed that increases in waist sizes were 70
percent greater among those who drank diet soft drinks compared with those who
did not. In addition, waist size increases were as much as 500 percent greater
amongst those that drank two or more diet sodas a day.

In other research, Sharon Fowler and colleagues studied eight years of data
based on individuals between 25 and 64. Of the study participants who were of
normal weight in the beginning, a third were overweight or obese eight years
later. In evaluating the correlation between obesity and diet drinks
researchers found that every bottle of diet soda participants drank in a day
raised their obesity risk by 41 percent.

Diabetes
Aspartame, a common sweetener in diet beverages, has also been linked to
diabetes. In an animal study conducted at UT San Antonio, researchers fed corn
oil-enriched feed to one group of mice and the same feed plus aspartame to
another group. Three months later the aspartame group had elevated glucose
levels but insulin levels that were equal to or less than those of the control
group, suggesting that aspartame may be part of the connection between diet
soda consumption and diabetes.

Corrupted Signals
What is the reason for the diet soda weight gain connection? One theory is
that our bodies rely on a signaling system based on the quality of the foods we
eat. In the case of diet soda, the body experiences a sweet taste and expects
calories; but when they aren't forthcoming starts to crave food, which leads to
overeating. Psychologists at Purdue University tested this idea by comparing
two groups of rats, one which was fed yogurt with sugar and one which was fed
yogurt with saccharine. The saccharine rats ate significantly more calories,
gained more weight and put on more body fat than the control group.

Sweet Cravings
Still another possibility is that eating sweets dulls our taste buds causing
us to eat more sugary foods in compensation. Some 2011 research in the UK seems
to support this idea. The scientists found that consumption of two cans of soda
a day for a month resulted in a noticeable dulling of taste buds and increased
cravings for high calorie foods. Since artificial sweeteners (which were not
part of this particular study) are 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar, it is
at least possible that they may have a similar impact on our taste buds.

Sources for this article include

http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/1033-is-diet-soda-bad-for-you.html

http://www.uthscsa.edu/hscnews/singleformat2.asp?newID=3861

http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008a/080211SwithersAPA.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/artificial-sweeteners.html

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