When you are striving for weight loss, the goal is to drink something with zero calories so you gain zero weight. Right? Wrong. In fact, with the exception of water, any zero-calorie beverage you consume can lead to weight gain. How is this possible?
When you drink that diet soda, your brain is tricked by the sweetness and signals your pancreas to produce insulin to deal with anticipated sugar, but then no sugar arrives, it confuses your body and disrupts its metabolic process and leaves you craving for sugar more than before.
Furthermore, drinking diet soda apparently contributes to making unhealthy choices, sabotaging your effort in losing weight.
Common sense and caution are key when it comes to sweetened carbonated drinks. Sugar is often perceived as the enemy and the main cause of serious health conditions such as obesity and related comorbidities.
The promise is tempting: similar taste, zero calories. In practice, we live the illusion that it is similar to drinking water, when in fact, it is only a mirage.
According to a recent scientific research conducted in Australia, replacing these sugars with non-caloric artificial sweeteners leads to negative changes in fat and energy metabolism.
Another 10-year study, conducted by the American Geriatric Society, examined the long-term effects of zero-calorie drinks on the increase in abdominal fat, the kind that is closely associated with obesity and heart disease. Once again, the results were unequivocal.
As your consumption of zero-calorie drinks increases, your waistline also increases. In practice, those who consumed zero-calorie drinks daily quadrupled their weight gain, compared to those who did not drink them.
Pregnant women may also want to skip diet sodas while they are expecting. A Canadian study involving more than 3,000 pregnant women reported that those who consumed artificially sweetened beverages every day were more likely to double their children’s risk of being overweight at one year old.
The bottom line: Be smart about your beverage choice as zero-calorie sweeteners are often too good to be true.
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