I always hear people talking about their low-calorie diet they’re on, but there is always one little item that is included and considered their “cheat”… Diet Coke. It makes sense though. How could one be gaining weight from a soda that has few to no calories in it? After witnessing this lifestyle choice numerous times, I began to wonder how it is possible to lose weight while drinking soda all of the time? Recent research has answered my question, and the truth is diet sodas can actually be even worse than regular sodas and sugary/fruity drinks!
It turns out that diet sodas can actually lead to “weight gain, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and heart disease.” (Eliza Shapiro) There has been many commercials discouraging sugary drinks, especially artificial-like juice drinks, to persuade people to not drink them anymore. However, the whole “diet” and “zero” idea gets drilled into peoples heads making consumers believe that it is a far more healthy route to take instead of eating fattening foods, sweets and carbs.The “diet” title is basically a scheme that tricks people into buying it as a healthy alternative. I fell for the idea too; it is way more convincing to drink a diet soda as opposed to a regular one if you are watching your figure. Why would I drink a soda with 120 calories if I can drink one with 0-5 calories? With this thought process in everyone’s mind, more and more problems are occurring especially in children. As well, there have been studies questioning if the artificial sugars and sweeteners are actually changing the way your body and mind functions causing you to actually be hungrier and eat more afterwards. Even newscasts, like CNN,reporting the negative effects of diet sodas, which is definitely not reassuring.
This is actually a major issue that people need to be aware of, because many people are dealing with severe health risks; like obesity, heart problems, strokes, and many other negative side effects due to this “healthier” option, or so we believe. This topic needs to be displayed more and something needs to be done about it before we’re all too late!
Very interesting blog! After reading this, it makes me wonder if “diet” sodas should come with a warning that they are not 100% diet material. This could be an interesting addition to the recently shut down soda ban law!
It’s been engraved in our head that the fewer the calories, the better it is for us. So often we forget that there are so many other nutrition facts that we need to take into account. I used to drink soda everyday. I would constantly crave the sugary goodness that Coke and Pepsi had. Then one day, I was just drinking my soda like normal, and I suddenly felt very sick after I finished the can. I slowly moved away from drinking soda and started to drink water much more often. After reading this post and another post by a student, I realize I definitely made the right decision to start drinking more water. The one article you referenced that talks about you’re body tricking you into thinking the sugar from the soda is real and completely confusing your metabolism system really interested me. To read more, check this out!
Hi Georgie,
I have always wanted to know more about what the actual difference is between diet and regular sodas. To me, it was always to good to be true that you can drink soda with 0 calories and it tastes pretty much the same. I never knew that it actually caused people to gain weight but that is very interesting. I always thought that diet sodas and such would have a negative effect because they are just chemicals but never thought actually gaining weight would be one of the effects. Check out this article on how artificial sweeteners make you eat more.