Diet Sodas Are Even Worse Than Regular Drinks

Chances are, you were avid drinkers of regular sodas before you reluctantly consented to shifting to its diet formulations.

For one, regular sodas [also known as soft drinks or carbonated drinks] are better tasting. Also, we have already become accustomed to its taste.

But did you know that just one large soda contains a staggering 26 packets of sugar? Did you also know that these refine sugars and high-glycemic simple carbohydrates are linked to the three biggest health threats of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease confronting mankind since the past century?


21% of sugar consumed by the American public comes from sodas. It also contains enormous amounts of phosphorous which depletes the amount of calcium in the blood and diminishes the body's ability to use it. Prolonged consumption of sodas could result in thin and brittle bones.

The uproar created by mountains of evidence linking regular sodas to the aforementioned health concerns, prompted soda makers to come up with the diet versions.

Our fear of the health issues associated with regular sodas, made us jump into the diet soda camp. We boast to everyone that we only patronize diet sodas now.... because we believed that it is now much, much better for our health, and we don't have to worry about the sugar.

But does our claim have any leg to stand on? Continue reading...

In a study conducted at the the University of Texas, San Antonio, involving middle-aged subjects who drink diet soda, it was found out that:

• participants who drank 1 diet soda daily are 65% more likely to be overweight
• the odds of obesity is even more increased with 2 or more diet sodas daily
• diet soda drinkers had a greater chance of becoming overweight than regular soda drinkers

Other studies also link diet soda to metabolic syndrome and diabetes. The Frammingham Heart Study in Massachusettes on 9000 participants confirms that consumption of diet soda correlates to a 48% increased risk of obesity and elevated blood sugar. The study also acknowledged that diet soda drinkers were less likely to eat healthy foods, and more likely to crave for sweet foodstuffs.

There's more bad news for diet soda drinkers. In the recent American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference, Northern Manhattan Study researchers released results of their investigation involving 2,564 people, which showed that diet soda drinkers were at 48% higher risk of suffering from stroke or heart attack over a span of 9 years, compared with non-soda drinkers.

Now, did we make the right choice by shifting to diet sodas?

The choice is not between diet soda and regular soda. It is rather the choice between continuing on drinking sodas or dumping it altogether. We simply have to start making right and better choices now, not only for ourselves, but most especially, for our kids and the generations to come.