Question of the Century
As the demand for healthier alternatives to the common junk foods increases, several people find themselves drinking diet sodas over the regular ones. While in theory this seems like the perfect solution, is diet soda actually healthier to drink?
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Regular Sodas
The main reason that sodas are so unhealthy is that common sodas contain absurd amounts of sugar. A 2012 Gallup survey says that 48% of Americans drink at least one glass of soda a day and if you consistently load yourself up with that amount of sugar, it isn’t too hard to imagine the negative effects that will result. Common sodas consumed by Americans include Coke, Dr. Pepper, and Fanta. In a can of Coke, there are 39 grams of sugar; In Dr. Pepper there are 41 grams and in Fanta Orange there are 23 grams. All of these listed sugar amounts as well as the amounts of just about any other soda you can think of are provided here. Sugar is widely accepted as extremely unhealthy, especially when consumed regularly. Whether it is breaking down the enamel of your teeth or being the leading cause to adulthood obesity, sugar is unfortunately one of the worst things we can consume. So if these sodas didn’t have the sugar in them, would they be considered healthy.
Diet Soda
Diet sodas are considered by many Americans to be healthy. While they do have some “healthier” Sodas without sugar or diet sodas are often sought after over regular soda because of their lack of natural sugars. The way that diet sodas get their sweetness is through artificial sweeteners. Whether or not artificial sweeteners are unhealthy for you is still a controversial topic however they are believed to be significantly better than regular sugars. Since there is no sugar in diet sodas, the likelihood of getting a cavity in your mouth is greatly reduced. Although, dentists are not known for recommending that you drink diet sodas everyday. Even though they don’t contain any sugar, diet sodas are still very acidic, which can break down your enamel faster. Diet sodas usually don’t have any calories so you’d think that they would help people with weight loss. This is actually wrong. Since diet sodas do not provide the brain with actual sugars, the brain continues to want sweet foods. People drinking diet sodas will crave more food even after eating a meal than do the people who drink regular sodas with sugar. Scientists also noticed a correlation among people who drink diet sodas and the rate of heart attacks among these people. People who drink diet sodas were 48% more likely to have a heart attack according to one observational study. This is only a correlation however. Confounding variables such as the fact that people who drink diet soda may already.
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Conclusion
Clearly soda in general is a unhealthy choice of beverage. While regular sodas have high levels of sugar, diet sodas contain artificial sweeteners and can lead to unhealthy choices in the future. Neither are beneficial and your body will end up hating you if you drink sodas regularly. However, if you had to choose between diet soda or regular soda and stick with that choice for the rest of your life, diet soda would be the way to go.
Diet soda is cool man. Im glad you wrote this blog. it really opened up my life to make healthier choices. I think I am gunna turn my life around when it comes to healthier choices. When it comes down to the two, regular might taste better but I am glad that I now know that there are way more bad chemicals in Diet soda. I appreciate your help. 🙂
I always found it crazy when people are trying to lose weight, decide to drink diet soda as opposed to regular soda, thinking that diet soda is a “healthier” option. I remember having a teacher in elementary school who would drink diet soda every day! Personally, I think neither soda, with or without sugar is good for you. I remember watching a youtube video of a guy who dissolved household objects using soda, and I thought to myself how crazy that was, because we’re putting that into our bodies; and it’s able to dissolve all of those things. Great post though, it really delves into both sides and breaks down the differences between regular soda and diet.
I enjoyed reading your post, but I have to disagree. I think diet soda is much worse for you than regular soda. Because it’s diet, it has to make up for the flavor loss of regular soda. This means adding more artificial sweeteners and chemicals we can’t pronounce. The addition of these foreign ingredients might end up being worse for our bodies, since they’re ingredients we don’t normally consume. Therefore, our bodies might react negatively and have a harder time processing/digesting them. Here’s an article that goes more into detail about what happens to our bodies when they’re met with these fake sugars: http://www.businessinsider.com/diet-soda-may-not-be-any-better-for-you-2013-7. All in all, it’s an interesting subject and even though I have a different viewpoint, I enjoyed reading your take on it!
I must admit, when I saw the topic of your blog, I was instantly intrigued. The assumption that diet soda is healthier is something that I have always found interesting. What I have always found interesting about it, is that many people do indeed assume that, simply because it says diet on the can, that it is actually healthier for you. Contrary to that assumption though, I have found more research that states that diet soda is actually worse for you than regular soda. One big health aspect that I feel it is important to take into account is the fact that diet sodas use artificial sweeteners, as you mentioned in your post. According to Brooke Alpert, who authored the book, The Sugar Detox, diet sodas can actually be worse for you because of these artificial sweeteners. In an article posted on Health.com, which you can find the link to here, Alpert suggested that the artificial sweeteners so many diet drinks claim as their own actually make one crave more sugar and fatty foods, which in turn can lead to an increased risk of obesity. Overall though, what I find to be the most interesting about your post is that, as you mentioned, individuals who are more apt to drink diet soda on a regular basis actually suffer from more health problems, such as the increased rate of heart attacks. This makes me wonder if we, as a society should stop promoting diet soda so much. Or rather, we should put more effort into studying the actual effects of what diet soda does to our body. I know that personally, I make a point not to drink diet soda because I have never thought it to be healthier than regular soda, I think it would be a great idea to put more research into this topic, maybe through that we could help our society cope with its obesity problem.
Source: Squillace, B. M. (n.d.). 10 Reasons to Give Up Diet Soda. Retrieved September 15, 2016, from http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20739512,00.html#it-confuses-your-body-0
David, Another aspect that you may want to look into is some of the artificial sweeteners that are in some diet sodas. I am an avid soda drinker in general and I have had points where all I would drink is diet, and other points where all I would drink is regular soda. It kills me to even call this drink soda because where I am from it is strictly called “pop”. Back to the major point here, do some research into artificial sweeteners. There is a long debate to whether the Aspartame can be a carcinogen or not. It is up for debate still. Look at this article that I am going to append.
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/aspartame
I agree that diet sodas are not healthy at all plus they taste really bad. I first tried diet soda in middle school because all of the other kids were talking about how great it was. I tried a diet coke once and I am never making that mistake again. I drink water everyday its a much healthier beverage plus its keeps your body hydrated. Soda is the main reason why we have an obesity epidemic going on in the United States right now.
I agree that both are terrible for you and shouldn’t be consumed. I used to drink soda when I was younger but as I became older and more aware of my health habits I drank it less. I would much rather rink water or an organic juice honestly. At least with organic juice the sugars are natural and from the fruit. The sugar found in the sodas are much more unhealthy and don’t give you true energy. Years ago I had actually heard that diet sodas were linked to cases of cancer. I’m not sure if that was actually true but it was enough to turn me off of both. I found a link that actually argues that diet beverages are worse than sugary ones. Let me know what you think.
http://www.newsmax.com/Health/Diet-And-Fitness/diet-drink-health-sugar/2015/12/14/id/705796/
even though diet soda would be the better option for you; it still taste sweeter than regular soda and like you mentioned it has more acid. What I wasn’t aware of was that people who drink diet soda are likely to be more hungry even after they eat than people who drink regular soda. I know that when I’ve drank regular soda it has left my throat dry and thirsty. Anyways I’m not a big soda drinker but now I know which soda is better in a way.