Diet Soda

I am the first to admit that I occasionally indulge in diet soda, but light soda doesn’t translate into better health or waistline. Is diet better than regular soda? Yes. The reality is- you without the diet soda; is thinner than you with the diet soda. Lets look into the facts of a ten year study.

The research simply involved diet soda drinkers to non soda drinkers. The honest study showed that all waistlines grew, the diet drinkers had a 70% increase in belly bulge and 5 times the increase in waist size.

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The results left the researchers from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center shocked and the answers are still under debate. Here are the possible explanations.

Artificial Sweetness Tricks The Brain?

“Some studies suggest that when our taste buds sense sweetness, the body expects a calorie load to accompany it. When that doesn’t happen, it may cause us to overeat because we crave the energy rush our body was expecting,” says Cheryl Forberg R.D., author of Flavor First.

Another Bad Habit

“Often times these soft drinks are consumed with fast foods, fried foods, etc.—sometimes as a rationale that their zero-calorie diet soda is negating or mitigating the harmful effects of the fast food simply because the beverage has no calories,” Forberg says

Being healthy is typically a reward for good habits and discipline. Those who drink poorly generally eat poorly. Simple as that.

Biology Isn’t Stupid

Yup, this would be my personal favorite (and my own hypothesis). Zero calorie is zero nutrient. When I cave in, I personally drink soda when I am hungry and hot. It’s refreshing and the carbonation has a volumetric effect (makes you feel full). Basically you just tricked your brain and stomach into thinking it has some kind of nutrient/calorie source. But it has neither; and 40 minutes from now you will be even more hungry and craving sweets.

Fact of the matter is that diet soda is best left alone. If you have no choice or are in the Caribbean fiend-ing a diet soda make sure you pair it with a healthy meal or choose some alternatives. Water, green tea, seltzer water (if you’re craving the carbonation), or even coffee and make you and your body happier through health.