Diet soda might seem like a logical alternative to the regular, sugar-laden varieties when you’re trying to lose weight and keep your blood sugar in check. But, unfortunately, while it may be free of calories, diet soda isn’t free of consequences…
Here’s the ugly truth: Diet soft drinks can actually lead to obesity. Numerous studies over the years have made the link between diet drinks, obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes.
The artificial sweeteners in diet soda actually set you up to keep you hungry–so you end up eating more food.
And a new study took a long-term look at the effect of diet soda on the waistline. Researchers looked at data on 474 participants, all between the ages of 65 and 74.
They recorded the participants’ height, weight, waist circumference, and diet soda intake at baseline and at three separate follow-up exams over a 10-year period.
Ten years later, researchers found that diet soda drinkers had 70 percent bigger waists compared with non-soda-drinkers. Frequent diet soda drinkers had five times bigger waist circumferences than non-drinkers! And by “frequent” we’re not talking 10 cans a day…no, this jaw-dropping result occurred in people drinking just TWO diet sodas a day.
Do yourself a favor–switch to water.
It’s the best way to truly satisfy your thirst. Plus, it helps fill you up so you eat less, it helps flush out toxins, and it keeps your bowels moving regularly.
And water doesn’t have to be boring. Add some cucumber slices and fresh mint to a pitcher of filtered water and keep it in your fridge. You’ll feel like you’re at the spa every time you refill your glass.