February 01, 2014
Does Diet Coke Make You Fat?
In a bid to cut down on calories during the day, many dieters will switch their daily Coke or Pepsi product for the diet version. The tempting “zero” calories advertised on the side of the bottles has many thinking that diet drinks are healthier. Research done at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has shown that this is not the case. In fact their research has shown that those who drink diet carbonated drinks consume more calories from food than those who drank regular carbonated beverages.
Dr. Sara Bleich, the lead author of the research, stated that overweight and obese adults who drink diet beverages consumed more calories from solid food at both meals and snacks. The researchers at John Hopkins found that the high levels of artificial sweeteners in diet drinks confuse the reward center of the brain and the brain’s sweet sensors are no longer reliable. The artificial sweeteners disrupts appetite control and result in increased food intake overall.
So in other words, giving up regular soda for diet soda isn’t the best option after all. It’s also indicative of the potential side affects of the high levels of chemicals in our foods and the adverse consequences they may have on our bodies. The fact remains that simply looking at the calorie count on the side of a bottle isn’t a good indicator of how healthy it is for you. A 200 calorie smoothie with greek yogurt, spinach, and fruit will be much better for your health over all than a “zero” calorie diet drink.
At the end of the day you can’t go wrong with water.
Dr. Sara Bleich, the lead author of the research, stated that overweight and obese adults who drink diet beverages consumed more calories from solid food at both meals and snacks. The researchers at John Hopkins found that the high levels of artificial sweeteners in diet drinks confuse the reward center of the brain and the brain’s sweet sensors are no longer reliable. The artificial sweeteners disrupts appetite control and result in increased food intake overall.
So in other words, giving up regular soda for diet soda isn’t the best option after all. It’s also indicative of the potential side affects of the high levels of chemicals in our foods and the adverse consequences they may have on our bodies. The fact remains that simply looking at the calorie count on the side of a bottle isn’t a good indicator of how healthy it is for you. A 200 calorie smoothie with greek yogurt, spinach, and fruit will be much better for your health over all than a “zero” calorie diet drink.
At the end of the day you can’t go wrong with water.