Why Drinking Diet Coke Isn't Healthy For Weight Loss
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Here's the Science That Explains Why Drinking Diet Soda Makes You Gain Weight
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Could this be harmful? Answer From Katherine Zeratsky, R. With Katherine Zeratsky, R. Show references Artificial sweeteners and cancer. National Cancer Institute. Accessed July 3, Mooradian AD, et al. The role of artificial and natural sweeteners in reducing the consumption of table sugar: A narrative review. Lohner S, et al. Health outcomes of non-nutritive sweeteners: Analysis of the research landscape. Nutrition Journal.
Diet soda: How much is too much? - Mayo Clinic
Zeratsky KA expert opinion. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Yu E, et al. In one study, participants who started out normal weight and drank three diet sodas a day were twice as likely to be overweight or obese eight years later as their non-diet-soda drinking peers. Some skeptical scientists point out that association is not the same as causation. Maybe not, but researchers have developed several theories that could very well explain why drinking diet soda causes weight gain.
One or more of them are likely enough to be true that everyone who drinks diet soda should consider stopping now.
Insulin, secreted by the pancreas, is how the human body stores sugar. When the taste of artificial sweeteners in soda, yogurt, or anything else hits your brain, it automatically sends a signal to your pancreas to begin producing insulin. Insulin is what tells our cells to either use sugar as food or store it as fat--without it, our bodies can't process the sugar that lands in our bloodstreams. This may explain why several studies have shown a link between regularly drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome, a collection of symptoms that includes larger waist circumference, higher blood pressure, and higher blood sugar.
You probably know or have observed that the more regularly you taste something sweetness, saltiness, etc. This situation has led many to put the blame on artificial sweeteners, when in fact the problem lies elsewhere. The fact is a low-fat or no-fat diet just makes you hungry for more sweets to counterbalance the horrible taste bland foods have.
We don't eat and drink only because we are hungry, but also because we enjoy certain aromas and tastes and when food lacks aroma and taste we do try to make up for it. And there are also people who need a high dose of caffeine on a daily basis. Caffeine addiction is quite common in today's world, even though most of us would rather not to call it a true addiction. Caffeine is a great stimulant for the human body because it keeps us focused and active and we like to feel that energy boost every time we drink something that contains caffeine.
This is why caffeine is used in most of today's weight loss pills.
It can also have a low to mild appetite suppressant effect. In case you do need to drink more than 3 cans of coke a day, you can at least do yourself a favor and have Diet Coke. It will give you all the benefits of caffeine without the headaches of counting the sugar calories. Of course, replacing meals with Diet Coke or any coke for that matter is not a good idea.
Even if caffeinated beverages are a great help when dieting, you should not skip meals and - as you already know by now - you should plan for a balanced, healthy diet. This will help you make the most of your weight loss efforts and will ensure long term results. How To Burn Calories?