Diet Soda And Weight Loss

What is the effect of diet soda on weight? Is it beneficial? Does it help you lose weight? Or is it actually harmful?

Diet drinks are (I'm sorry to say)…

… just awful.

I don't know any other way to say it.

Diet soda:

If you don't think they make you fat, look around. Who drinks diet drinks? Everybody that drinks diet soda is overweight.

Now, sure, you say. They are overweight and they are drinking the diet soda because they are trying to lose weight.

Not so. Diet drinks are more likely to make you overweight. In fact, the occasional (not everyday) real Coke would be better for your weight loss than a steady flow of diet drinks. And Mexican Coke (with real sugar and not high-fructose corn syrup) is tastes better and is better for you that what we get here in the U.S.

What is the evidence?

This is a very controversial subject. Some scientists say aspartame (the sweetener in NutraSweet and Equal) is fine. Others say it is bad for you.

But look, scientists who study obesity have found that drinking diet soda makes people fatter. For example, in 2005 Sharon P. Fowler at the University of Texas Health Science Center found that for every can of diet soda per day the risk of obesity goes up 41%.

What happens is this: when you drink the diet soda your body senses the sweetness, and this triggers your body to expect energy -- meaning something with calories -- but there is no energy in diet drinks. So now you seek out the calories you were expecting -- your body is ready for those calories now -- and you eat more.

Are there other risks?

Other scientists say the risk of NutraSweet is more than just getting fat.

For example, a study by Morando Soffritti was reported in the European Journal of Oncology in 1985. He found that NutraSweet caused lymphoma and leukemia in rats. The amount of NutraSweet was about the same as a woman would get from 3 cans of diet soda per day and a man would get from 4 cans of diet soda per day.

Well, there's lots of studies and one scientist says one thing and the next one says something else. But think about it. Is it worth it?

Women and children are at increased risk because of their size, and because NutraSweet is in so many things -- over 5000 products from chewing gum to yogurt. Why take chances?

And if you get headaches you should stop them for sure. NutraSweet gives lots of people headaches. If you have migraines you need to read the labels and never take NutraSweet again.

Weight loss and your health

It is sometimes hard for people to see the connection between their weight and overall good health. It seems like it should be just a matter of eat less and lose weight. It is not that simple.

For you to lose weight your body has to work more efficiently. You know, it has to turn up the heat. It really does have to burn calories.

Well, it does this when it is healthy. It burns calories when everything is firing just right. It's like tuning up an engine. You want to have everything right. You want to really make it fly.

Whether or not your initial purpose was to get healthy, how can you expect to lose weight if you are not healthy?

You can't get healthy by eating garbage. Diet drinks are at the top, top of the list of garbage. Sorry to be the one to have to tell you this.

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