The Danger of Drinking Diet Soda

May 30, 2015 by Anthony McGirr

 

With the abundance of sugar in the American diet, more Americans are switching to diet drink products to save calories and help fix their waistline. What they don’t realize is, they’re sabotaging their own success. Despite having no calories and using artificial sweetener, drinking diet sodas do not aid in weight loss. In fact, research shows it does a lot more harm than good.
The University of Iowa sampled 60,000 women who switched to diet sodas and found some startling results. “…[C]ompared to women who never or only rarely consume diet drinks, those who consume two or more a day are 30 percent more likely to have a cardiovascular event [heart attack or stroke] and 50 percent more likely to die from related disease.”
Artificial sweeteners are just that: artificial. They are chemicals created in a lab and unfortunately wreak havoc on the human body, as the study suggests. It also leads to misconceptions about diet sodas that they’re okay to drink due to the lack of calories and sugar, but the opposite is true. Studies show that people who drink diet soda are more likely to splurge on higher calorie foods because they think they’re saving calories.
It doesn’t end there. The chemicals used in creating artificial sweeteners, have also been shown to cause a decline in kidney function, metabolic syndrome, cell damage, teeth rot and even reproductive issues. The only safe option to remain healthy is to drink plenty of water. It helps keep the human body properly regulated and hydrated.