At first glance, diet sodas appear to be healthier options for individuals who want to lose weight. Diet sodas effectively mimic the taste of regular sodas and thus provide drinkers with the enjoyment they would get from sugar-sweetened soda. However, they do it without the 140 calories that most of those sodas contain. Diet sodas save you the calories because they contain artificial sweeteners in place of sugar. Unfortunately, use of these sweeteners can have some unpleasant health consequences. Here are some of the negatives of diet soda:
• Weight Gain
Just like sugar, artificial sweeteners trigger the production of insulin. Insulin causes your body to store fat, which means that consuming them can result in weight gain despite the fact that they have no calories. Another problem is that drinkers may be more likely to consume calorie-rich foods when drinking diet sodas since they know that their soda has no calories.
• Kidney Problems
A study from Harvard Medical School showed that women who had more than two diet sodas a day doubled their risk of kidney problems. The decline in kidney function is not a problem with sodas that contain sugar; therefore, it is believed that the artificial sweeteners are behind it.
• Metabolism Issues
Just one daily diet soda increases the risk for metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is the collective name for the set of symptoms that put an individual at increased risk for stroke, heart disease and diabetes. Those symptoms include high cholesterol and fat around the midsection. These effects may result from artificial sweeteners affecting gut flora.
• No Nutritional Value
Diet soda has no nutrients and contains nothing that is beneficial for your body in any way.
• Aspartame Headaches
Studies indicate that the artificial sweetener aspartame may cause headaches in some people.
• Tooth Damage
The citric acid in diet sodas can result in damage to your teeth over time, according to a study from the Journal of General Dentistry. That same study stated that the damage to teeth from regular consumption of diet soda was comparable to that caused by long-term cocaine and methamphetamine use.
• Faster Intoxication
Using diet soda as a cocktail mixer instead of sodas sweetened with sugar can cause you to get drunk faster. Individuals who drink cocktails made with diet sodas show a higher concentration of breath alcohol when compared to those who had drinks made with sugar-sweetened sodas. Diet sodas allow alcohol to enter your bloodstream more quickly.
• Damage to Cells
Many diet sodas contain either sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate. Both chemicals are preservatives that are not found in sugar-sweetened sodas. They can cause severe damage to DNA and have also been linked to a variety of allergic reactions such as hives and asthma.
Ironically, the increase in the consumption of diet sodas over the last four decades has coincided with increase in the rate of obesity. Many researchers suggest water, coffee or fruit juices as reasonable alternatives to diet sodas.
Here a very sobering video about the dangers of diet soda:
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