Do you know what the single biggest source of calories for Americans is? Soda. The average American drinks about two cans every day. Kids consume the stuff at more than double the rate of last decade, according to research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Among adults, consumption has grown almost 25%. Many people tell me that they only drink diet soda, thinking it is better because it has no calories or sugar, so it should be the perfect alternative.
Not so fast. Before you guzzle another diet soda, you need to know that it comes with its own set of side effects that may harm your health, from causing kidney problems to adding inches to your waistline. Knowing these side effects of drinking diet soda may help you kick the can for good.
You read that right, diet soda doesn’t help you lose weight. A University of Texas Health Science Center study found that the more diet sodas a person drank, the greater their risk of becoming overweight. Downing just two or more cans a day increased waistlines by 500%. Purdue University found that this happens because artificial sweeteners can disrupt the body’s natural ability to regulate calorie intake based on the sweetness of foods. This means people who consume diet foods are more likely to overeat, because the body is being conned into thinking it’s eating sugar, which makes you crave more.
According to a 2008 University of Minnesota study of almost 10,000 adults, just one diet soda a day is linked to a 34% higher risk of metabolic syndrome. Certain symptoms including belly fat and high cholesterol puts you at risk for heart disease. Whether that link is attributed to an ingredient in diet soda or the drinkers’ eating habits is unclear.
