Can Diet Soda Make You Gain Weight?

Should You Drink Diet Soda?

This is a controversial topic and you’re going to hear different views depending on whom you talk to. Many people believe that because diet soda is calorie free and sugar free that it’s a harmless beverage and you can drink as much of it as you want.

However, there has been a lot of research done to show that diet soda and artificial sweeteners in general are not as harmless as some people believe because there’s a lot more to diet soda than the lack of calories and sugar.

Diet Soda Can Cause Weight Gain…

What the heck…
How is that even possible?
Isn’t the whole point of drinking diet soda to reduce calories and help prevent weight gain?

That’s what we’ll discuss in the video below…

As crazy as it sounds, Diet Soda can actually contribute to gaining 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. Drinking just two or more cans of sugar free soda a day was show to increase waistlines by a whopping 500%.

Why?

The artificial sweeteners that are in diet soda wreck havoc on your body’s ability to regulate calorie intake and appetite based on the sweetness of foods. When you consume sweet tasting food or drink your body automatically assumes it’s getting “real sugar” and secretes insulin along with all the other metabolic processes to prepare for a large influx of sugar. But the problem is that the body never gets the sugar it was expecting. This increases your sugar cravings and appetite even more due to the disrupted feedback loop in the brain.

Diet Soda messes with your metabolism. According to a 2008 University of Minnesota study of almost 10,000 adults, drinking just one diet soda per day was linked with a 34% higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome. By comparison, drinking regular soft drinks didn’t boost the risk factor by a statistically significant amount. So while diet sodas may allow you to save some calories initially. The end result is your body is still craving sugar and you’ll feel hungrier. Thus you will tend to overeat with other foods to make up for it.

Now I know some people who read this will argue that it’s up to the individual to control their calories – and that is absolutely true!

Regardless if you drink diet soda or not you still have to factor in everything that you eat or drink when it comes to fat loss. And I’ll be the first to admit that you can still lose weight on a calorie restricted diet even if you drink diet soda. I have personally gotten in ripped contest shape for bodybuilding competitions while drinking diet soda throughout the entire dieting process.

However, since I’ve stopped drinking diet soda and using artificial sweeteners the process of dieting is A LOT easier. I have less food cravings and it’s not as hard to control my appetite. While it takes a bit of willpower and discipline to initially stop consuming the artificial sweeteners. Once you do you won’t even crave them anymore.

It’s strange how the body works because the more sweet food & drink you consume, the more you crave them – The less you consume, the less you crave them. When I was younger I used to drink diet soda on a daily basis, but over the past 2 years I haven’t drank any soda (diet or regular) and I don’t miss it at all. In fact, I feel a lot healthier and better without it. My personal favorite beverage now is simply pure water 🙂

Do You Drink Diet Soda? – Why or Why Not?
Please let me know in the comments below…

Here are some links you may wish to check out for more information about the side effects of diet soda.
www.uthscsa.edu/hscnews/singleformat2.asp?newID=3861
www.minnesotaalumni.org/s/1118/content.aspx?sid=1118&gid=1&pgid=1123
www.prevention.com/mind-body/emotional-health/diet-soda-linked-increased-risk-depression
www.webmd.com/diet/news/20091102/diet-sodas-hard-on-the-kidneys