We all know that people these days consume way
too many calories, which has led to the obesity epidemic that we are currently
faced with. Soda is especially guilty of delivering gross amounts of
calories with even modest servings which is made worse in America, as we prefer
enormous proportions compared to other parts of the world. So many people
have made the switch to diet soda, as a way to circumvent the high calories but
still enjoy the flavor of soda. I used to drink mass quantities of diet
soda myself every day, thinking that it was a healthy alternative to its high
sugar brethren. Whelp, I was wrong, diet soda is bad too.
The entire reason most people drink diet soda
is to reduce their caloric intake and to lose weight or prevent further weight
gain. That seems to be the exact opposite effect diet sodas have on those
who drink them. According to the University of Texas Health Science
Center, the more diet soda you consume, the greater the risk of you becoming overweight,
and that people who drink diet soda or more likely to overeat. Why is
this you might wonder?
Scientist believe that the artificial sweeteners
in diet drinks disrupt your body’s regulation of caloric intake by adjusting
your ability of reaching a “fullness” sensation you would receive from
consuming regular carbohydrates. Basically the body is being tricked into
thinking it hasn’t eaten as much as it really has. Another effect of
artificial sweetener trickery is when it’s mixed with alcohol. A person
is more likely to drink “Bourbon & Diet” faster than a regular
cocktail. On top of that, artificial sweeteners enter the blood stream
much faster than sugar, meaning they will make you drunker, in less time.
I know I might have just inadvertently made every fraternity house in America
stock up on Diet Coke. But if you are over consuming already, diet drinks
are only going to make you feel worse the next day.
Diet soda contains
preservatives that other regular sodas don’t. Other than the fact that
health naturalist view preservatives as unnatural and should be avoided when
possible. University of Sheffield warns that preservatives in diet sodas
have been found to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria. For
all you non-biology majors out there mitochondria supply your cells with energy
by generating (ATP) as a form of chemical energy. This also probably
explains the link between the consumption of diet beverages and a higher risk
of metabolic syndrome.
But the reasons you shouldn’t be drinking diet
sodas don’t end there.
After an eleven year study at Harvard Medical
School of 3,000 women, it was concluded that there is a connection with Kidney
degeneration and drinking diet soda. The study also found that there was
not a connection between kidney degeneration and regular soda, leading
researchers to believe that the damage to the kidneys was from the artificial
sweeteners in diet beverages.
So unfortunately, all soda is bad for
you. But surprisingly, the lesser of the two evil is regular soda.
Though, if you choose to drink soda, be aware of the high amounts of sugar, and
try to enjoy it with moderation as part of a balanced diet plan.
