Posted by Signature Medical Group on Friday, January 13, 2017 in Nutrition and Diet
Trying to cut down on calories, many consumers turn to diet soda to watch their weight. But some health experts are warning that diet soda has its pitfalls.
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Diet soda seems like a health-conscious choice. It saves you the 140-plus calories you’d find in a sugary drink while still satisfying your urge for something sweet with artificial sweeteners.
But there are many problems associated with diet soda, health experts say:
- Artificial sweeteners have more intense flavor than real sugar, so over time products like diet soda dull our senses to naturally sweet foods like fruit.
- It can lead to weight gain, not weight loss. Much of that is psychological. If you're not drinking calories, you may eat more unhealthy foods.
- It may increase risk for type 2 diabetes. Drinking one diet soda a day was associated with a 36 percent increased risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes in a University of Minnesota study.
- It has no nutritional value. The best no-calorie beverage is water.
- Aspartame, one of the artificial sweeteners used, may trigger headaches.
- It may ruin your smile. The citric acid from the drink destroys tooth enamel.
Researchers are also studying whether diet soda has links to depression, osteoporosis and is harmful to the heart. More studies need to be conducted before definitive conclusions can be made about diet soda’s effects on health, the researchers add.
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