Now that people are watching their calories and switching from regular soda to diet soda, a new debate has arisen: is diet soda any better? Although it has zero calories, which is much better compared to regular soda, diet soda can also have harmful health effects.
Now don’t freak out! This doesn’t mean you can’t drink diet soda! I became interested in this subject (not being much of a soda drinker myself) when I had lunch with my aunt and we discussed her love for diet coke. She didn’t give a number, but her shocked face when I suggested only having two diet cokes a day said it all.
After doing a little research, I found out that there aren’t any studies saying, conclusively, that people should not drink diet coke but they did demonstrate a possible link to poor health. An article by Leah Goldman in the business insider discussed a study done by the American Diabetes Association, which showed that diet sodas can contribute to weight gain, as well as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other chronic conditions.
The study watched adults over a nine and a half year period who drank diet soda, finding that those who drank more diet soda per day gained more weight and added more to their waistlines. The gain was then explained by a study done on mice which showed that mice who had added aspartame to their diet (an artificial sweetener used in diet sodas) had higher blood glucose levels at the end of a three month period.
I read another article on msnbc.msn.com which discussed another study, which showed that people who drank diet soda every day had a 61 percent higher risk of vascular events, including stroke and heart attack, than those who did not drink it at all.
Jillian Michaels, personal trainer from the Biggest Loser, mentions that there may not be clear cut facts that diet soda is harmful to your health and waistline, but once she kicked her diet coke addiction she felt much healthier because she wasn’t consuming all of those chemicals anymore.
As an advocate of all-natural eating, I recommend that any diet soda addicts out there try and wean the drink from their diets. I can’t say I’m perfect and never eat anything artificial, but why not replace a few of those sodas each day with a glass of water? After a while you’re body will probably thank you! Every little bit helps!
What are your opinions on diet soda? Yay or nay? What about alternatives?