Are Diet Sodas Hurting Your Waistline?

Have you been gulping Diet Soda in the belief that it is helping you lose weight? If that’s the case, then this article is for you!

Diet sodas are popular beverages all over the world, especially among people who want to reduce their sugar or calorie intake. Instead of sugar, artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, cyclamates, saccharin, acesulfame-k, or sucralose, are used to sweeten them.

Almost every popular sugar-sweetened beverage on the market has a “light” or a “diet” version — Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Pepsi Max, Sprite Zero, etc.

DIET SODA AND GUT HEALTH

Scientific studies also suggest that diet soda may increase appetite by stimulating hunger hormones, altering sweet taste receptors, and triggering dopamine responses in the brain. Given that diet soft drinks have no calories, these responses may cause a higher intake of sweet or calorie-dense foods, resulting in weight gain.

Artificial sweeteners (in particular Aspartame) present in diet soda are are marketed as a healthy alternative to sugar and as a tool for weight loss. Data, however, suggests that the intended effects do not correlate with what is seen in clinical practice. In fact, research suggests that changes in the gut microbiome may be one of the main issues underlying the harmful effects of artificial sweeteners.