Put that Diet Soda Down! Diet Sodas Do More Harm Than Good



Mindlessly you go to the vending machine and put in your money, hit the button for that diet cola, hear the clunk of the can hitting the bottom slot, and grab the cold can. Without thinking, you pull the top off and start to guzzle the mixture of bubbling brown, mostly artificial ingredients. The next time you think about drinking a diet cola, do yourself a favor: don’t do it.



How is it that you started drinking this liquid mixture of chemicals? You didn’t always consume diet drinks, there was a time, even though it may have been years ago, when you drank water instead of diet drinks. Somewhere along the line someone told you that these diet colas have little or no calories; and with the invention of artificial sweeteners, seems like everyone on the planet embraced these beverages.

But the reality is, these drinks do NOT help you to lose weight; in fact, they may actually CAUSE weight gain. And do you think that they are healthy for you? Well, they’re not. In fact, there have been an overwhelming number of studies concluding that these diet drinks are quite dangerous to your good health.

Your kidneys are at risk if you drink diet colas. Harvard Medical School completed a 10+ year study of 3,000 women who drank two diet colas a day. The researchers found conclusive evidence, proving that diet cola is clearly associated with an increased risk for kidney failure. The kidney decline was not associated with sugar-sweetened sodas, allowing researchers to conclude that diet colas’ artificial sweeteners are responsible.

Another study conducted by the American Psychological Association determined that because people who are trying to slim down believe that these drinks will help them, because they have zero calories and may contain high amounts of caffeine, will drink even more of them, or even substitute them for a healthy meal. With a University of Minnesota study, researchers concluded that 10,000 adults who consumed just one diet soda a day, gained weight due to “high metabolic syndrome.” This condition has a group of symptoms attached to it (including belly fat and high cholesterol) which puts you at risk for heart disease, hypertension, and stroke. Another unintended side effect of these drinks was that after the effects wear off, the individual may feel as though he is starving, making him crave foods which are high in fat and caloric content. How many times, after drinking a diet cola, have you craved a hamburger or chocolate bar?

You wouldn’t think so, but these “diet” colas can actually help you to gain weight. A University of Texas Health Science Center study concluded that, the more diet sodas a person drinks, the greater their risk of becoming overweight. Drinking two or more cans a day increased dieters’ waist lines by 500%. You may ask yourself, “How can this be?” Artificial sweeteners disrupt the body’s natural ability to regulate calorie intake (which is based on the sweetness of foods). This means people who consume diet foods, are more likely to overeat, because their body is being tricked into thinking it’s eating sugar, which increases the cravings.

Instead of diet sodas, enjoy lemon water, unsweetened iced tea or freshly extracted fruit and vegetables juices! You’ll be glad you switched!