We know that diet soda isn’t as healthy as marketers would like us to believe.
Sure, diet soda doesn’t have the 10 (yes, 10!) spoonfuls of sugar found in traditional soft drinks. But diet soda consumption has been linked to weight gain (it causes you to crave other sugary foods), tooth decay (due to the acid), insomnia, headaches and depression. Now, according to a new study published in The Journal of General Internal Medicine, researchers have found an association between diet soda and heart disease.
The study, which lasted a decade, followed more than 2,500 individuals in New York, NY. Both regular soda and diet soda consumption were linked to a number of risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Even after controlling for other variables - such as diabetes, age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption, BMI, daily calories, hypertension, consumption of protein, carbohydrates, total fat, saturated fat, and sodium - the data still showed an association between daily soda consumption and stroke, heart attack and death.
The researchers aren’t sure why the association exists - and caution that the association could be by chance or due to some other unmeasured variable. Still, you don’t have anything to lose (except possibly some extra weight) by replacing soft drinks with water.
About Davey Wavey
I don’t doubt that diet soda may have a connection to cardiovascular disease, but I have to disagree with the weight gain prospect. I will admit, I drink my fair amount of the stuff, well okay; quite a bit actually. And I’m only around 140 pounds at 5’10”. Then again, I exercise regularly, so maybe that figures.
I drink maybe 2-4 diet sodas per week. Can’t imagine that harming me, even though I believe this story. Yes?
@Hank
My mom always told my dad that he should stop drinking diet sodas. He was as stubborn as a mule. He kept on and kept on. His entire left side went numb - that is what he tells me. Even after that, he continued to drink them. I don’t know how I finally got through to him, but he finally decided to put them down.
Ingredients in the drinks are turned into formaldehyde in the body. That is seriously not good. Can you possibly go through life with an entire half of your body numb?
I’ve drank maybe one diet soda over the last 7 years. Lastly, I can’t imagine it helping you if you drink that many(even if you think it’s just a little.)
Hi,
So what about Pepsi Max??
You would you consider that to be a diet soda??
As on the bottle, it says ‘Zero sugar, Maximum taste’
I can’t stop drinking diet soda, I have signed a contract that when I die, my body will be rendered for it’s vast store of nutra-sweet. LOL Well, I guess it’s time to give up the diet soda after about 35 years of consumption. 🙁
I’ve been saying this for years. Diet soda is poison!
The iconic fat lady eating a banana split and drinking a diet soda is now the standard for the US population.When you travel outside North America, you are immediately struck by the stark difference of the Obesity Pandemic in the US and, now, slowly spreading to the rest of the affluent world. The poorer folks are still normal size.
Eat crap and you get crappy results.
I stopped drinking diet soda for about four months, then one day started again, and now just recently stopped again and started drinking sparkling mineral water or just plain old tap water. Don’t feel much difference and still crave sweets just as much as ever, the only difference I have noticed is that my skin doesn’t itch as much.
Soda (or “pop” as we call it in Canada) is a TREAT, not a grocery list item. It astounds me to see people pick up a big bottle of Coke whatever as a regular item.
Personally I save up a can or two and every so often mix with something good, for instance a little vodka does wonders in a glass of ginger ale 🙂
how bout rye whiskey and ginger ale?its my favourite.
thanx for this info.i know the study is still not completely conclusive.i stopped drinking what little diet soda i did drink now over one year ago.occasionally i buy litre size bottles flavoured sparkling water beverage-pour it into a glass size portion adding two packets of sweet-n-low.the water fizzes-settles-than ready to drink.i hope this ok.on nutrition fact label of bottle-all zeroes.o-sugar-caffeine-calorie-sodium.also-ive discovered that aspartame is a GMO-derivative-which may contribute to obesity.water is best bet.if my practice is not good-let me know.
this is seemingly scary .. i used to have a wall full of coke cans as a teenager .. then i stopped for a few years and now i’ve gone back to drinking 2 to 3 cans of soda each day before or after workouts or to wash down a meal .. when i don’t drink them sometimes i get headaches after workouts .. ah well .. life is meant to be lived .. i can’t watch too many things ..
Aspartame is a nasty little chemical which converts into formaldehyde during the digestive process, so I’m not surprised when I hear things like this. I stopped drinking soda several years ago, and I don’t miss it a bit.
alert(‘DaveyWavey Is A Gay Faggot!’)
above, that people must look at the whole pgcakae, inner and outer appearance, when searching for a partner. But to be ashamed of your own appearance is to hinder yourself from happiness in your relationship to yourself. All you can do is love and accept yourself and try to look your best without feeling inadequate. The moment you take personally the others pointing out your grays and wrinkles is the moment you’ve sacrificed your self-respect.And being gay and being insecure do not go hand in hand. It’s true that in society, it’s too easy to be insecure about your sexuality, but it’s not a requirement.