The Harmful Effects Of Diet Soda & Other Soft Drinks

sourceMany people think that they are choosing the "healthy choice" by choosing to drink diet soda. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Sure, there are less calories in diet soda and it is "sugar free" so I understand why people consider it a "healthy alternative," but you are actually doing your body more harm than good.

The sweeteners (like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose) used in diet sodas aren't actually food or derived from something natural, they are man made chemicals and your body doesn't know how to process these chemicals! There's more to this chemical cocktail than meets the eye. Here are a few TRUTHS you should know about diet sodas:

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It confuses your body

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. Even more troubling, these sugar stand-ins have been shown to have the same effect on your body as sugar. Artificial sweeteners trigger insulin, which sends your body into fat storage mode and leads to weight gain.

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It could lead to weight gain, not weight loss

Diet soda is calorie-free, but it won't necessarily help you lose weight. Researchers from the University of Texas found that over the course of about a decade, diet soda drinkers had a 70% greater increase in waist circumference compared with non-drinkers. And get this: participants who slurped down two or more sodas a day experienced a 500% greater increase.

The way artificial sweeteners confuse the body may play a part, but another reason might be psychological. When you know you're not consuming any liquid calories, it might be easier to justify that double cheeseburger or extra slice of pizza.

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It's associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes

Drinking one diet soda a day was associated with a 36% increased risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes in a University of Minnesota study. Metabolic syndrome describes a cluster of conditions (including high blood pressure, elevated glucose levels, raised cholesterol, and large waist circumference) that put people at high risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

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Its sweetener is linked to headaches

Early studies on aspartame and anecdotal evidence suggests that this artificial sweetener may trigger headaches in some people.

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It'll ruin your smile over time

Excessive soda drinking could leave you looking like a Breaking Bad extra, according to a case study published in the journal General Dentistry. The research compared the mouths of a cocaine-user, a methamphetamine-user, and a habitual diet-soda drinker, and found the same level of tooth erosion in each of them. The culprit here is citric acid, which weakens and destroys tooth enamel over time.

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It may hurt your heart

Just one diet soft drink a day could boost your risk of having a vascular event such as stroke, heart attack, or vascular death, according to researchers from the University of Miami and Columbia University.

Their study found that diet soda devotees were 43% more likely to have experienced a vascular event than those who drank none. Regular soda drinkers did not appear to have an increased risk of vascular events.

Oh, and let's not forget: It has no nutritional value

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Written by @Moderndayhippie!

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So next time you reach for a soda you might want to reconsider your choice. Choose health, drink water! :)

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