| By Alicia Tamayo
Bad news for diet soda addicts - it looks like it could be
doing the opposite of what's intended. Two new studies presented
at an American Diabetes Association conference found that
diet drinks and artificial sweeteners actually increase people's
waistlines and increase their risk of diabetes! This might
not come as a complete surprise; the debate about diet soda's
effects on weight gain, metabolic syndrome, and even cancer
has been going on for years now. Most of us turn our back
to the warnings, just putting it aside with the other proclaimed
cancer-causing agents in our lives. But could it be that it's
time to finally face the facts, that opting for "diet"
over regular could actually be a self-defeating behavior?
You'll have to decide for yourself, but here are the findings.
Don't say we didn't warn you!
The first study by doctors at the University of Texas - San
Antonio analyzed data from 474 subjects in the two-decade
long San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging (SALSA). The
findings from ScienceDaily:
Measures of height, weight, waist circumference and diet
soda intake were recorded at SALSA enrollment and at three
follow-up exams that took place over the next decade. The
average follow-up time was 9.5 years. The researchers compared
long-term change in waist circumference for diet soda users
versus non-users in all follow-up periods. The results were
adjusted for waist circumference, diabetes status, leisure-time
physical activity level, neighborhood of residence, age
and smoking status at the beginning of each interval, as
well as sex, ethnicity and years of education.
Diet soft drink users, as a group, experienced 70 percent
greater increases in waist circumference compared with non-users.
Frequent users, who said they consumed two or more diet
sodas a day, experienced waist circumference increases that
were 500 percent greater than those of non-users.
500 percent!? That is a huge number, and clearly a concern.
The researchers say that national campaigns against sugary
drinks need to point out that diet drinks aren't any better.
Unfortunately, this study does not compare diet drinks to
regular sodas and sweetened beverages, so it's difficult to
say if one is truly better than the other. But one thing is
for sure - those who avoid the aritificial stuff have much
better health and waistlines.
In the related project, the relationship between aspartame
and fasting glucose and insulin levels in 40 diabetes-prone
mice were studied. Aspartame is a popular artificial sweetener
found in most diet sodas and other "diet" products.
The mice were fed a high-fat diet including aspartame for
three months. Compared to the control group, the mice has
elevated fasting glucose levels and equal or diminished insulin
levels consistent with early declines in pancreatic beta-cell
function. Co-author Dr. Gabriel Fernandes says:
"These results suggest that heavy aspartame exposure
might potentially directly contribute to increased blood
glucose levels, and thus contribute to the associations
observed between diet soda consumption and the risk of diabetes
in humans."
Yikes. So does this mean you're better off drinking regular
soda? Not quite. Regular soda is loaded with sugar, containing
up to 40g of sugar in one can! So, daily consumtion of soda
and other sugary beverages will also up your risk for weight
gain and diabetes. The lesson learned here is that diet soda
is not the answer for lowering obesity or diabetes rates.
In fact, the results suggest the exact opposite.
So what's a soda drinker to do? You can't drink regular soda
and now you can't drink diet soda, either. Well, not exactly.
It's all about moderation. If you truly love the stuff, don't
deprive yourself completely. It's okay to have a soda here
and there, just not everyday (or every other day for that
matter). Skip the artificial stuff, and have a regular can
of soda when the temptation strikes. If you're serious about
making a healthy lifestyle change, cut soda out of your diet
completely! You could lose up to 15 pounds in one year by
eliminating a soda-a-day habit. Just saying!
ScienceDaily
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