You know that soda, period, isn't the best thing for you, but you just love it so much, right? So, it wouldn't hurt to just drink diet soda, right?
Sorry, but according to new research, even diet drinks can make you fat.
During a recent meeting at the American Diabetes Association in San Diego, key experts explained that, per two new studies, diet soda could be detrimental not only to your waistline, but your overall health.
"Data from this and other prospective studies suggest that the promotion of diet sodas as healthy alternatives may be ill-advised" Dr. Helen Hazuda, professor of medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, said in a written statement. "They may be free of calories, but not of consequences."
Consequences such as weight gain.
For one study, researchers at the center followed 474 diet soda drinkers, 65 to 74 years of age, for almost 10 years. They found that diet soda drinkers' waists grew 70 percent more than non-drinkers. Specifically, drinking two or more diet sodas a day busted belt sizes five times more than people who avoided the stuff entirely.
And as waist size grows, so do health risks - including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic conditions that tend to affect the African American community in larger numbers.
But What's Wrong With Diet Soda?
Just how does diet soda make you fat? The other study may hold the answer. In it, researchers divided mice into two groups, one of which ate food laced with the popular sweetener aspartame. After three months, the mice eating aspartame-chow had had higher blood sugar levels than the mice eating normal food. The authors said in a written statement their findings could "contribute to the associations observed between diet soda consumption and the risk of diabetes in humans."
But how?
"Artificial sweeteners could have the effect of triggering appetite but unlike regular sugars they don't deliver something that will squelch the appetite," Sharon Fowler, obesity researcher at UT Health Science Center at San Diego and a co-author on both of these studies, told the Daily Mail. She also said sweeteners could inhibit brain cells that make you feel full.
So if sugar soda is no good, and diet soda isn't either - what should we be drinking?
Dr. Hazuda told the Daily Mail, "I think prudence would dictate drinking more water."
What YOU Can Do
If you’re like a lot of people, you just do not like to drink water. It feels like a chore, especially since you’re probably not crazy about the taste. Unfortunately, it’s an essential chore that ensures that our bodies function beautifully. Fortunately, you can jazz up the taste of water with a few simple tweaks.
1. Get creative with ice. Some say that ice water tastes better than water served at room temperature. If that works for you, flavored ice cubes may make an even better drink. Use some of the flavoring suggestions below and start experimenting with fresh fruit, mint or cucumber ice cubes. Simply chop your additive of choice, add it to your ice cube tray along with water, and then freeze. You may also consider juice, tea or coffee cubes. To be even more creative, use ice cube trays that come in fun shapes, like stars, circles, or even fish.
2. Use juice. Any fruit juice can be a good base flavor for water, but tart juices, like cranberry, pomegranate, grape and apple, are especially delicious. Go for juices that are all natural, with no added sugars. And remember: fruits and their juices don't just taste good—they contain vitamins and antioxidants that can benefit your health, too.
3. Add fresh fruit. Citrus fruits, such as lemons, limes and oranges, are classic water enhancers, but other fruit flavors might also tempt your taste buds. Try crushing fresh raspberries or watermelon into your water, or adding strawberry slices. Cucumber and fresh mint are refreshing flavors as well, especially in summer.
4. Add fast flavor. If you're looking for a quick-and-easy flavor booster, you might also consider sugar-free drink mixes and flavor cartridges that can be used with your faucet filter system.
5. Drink tea. Herbal, fruit, green, white and red teas are generally considered to be better for you than black teas (or coffee, for that matter) because they contain little or no caffeine. And there are countless flavors of these teas to choose from. Start with the selection at your local market or health food store. If you're interested in pursuing more exotic flavors and sophisticated teas, start researching the vast array of specialty teas that come from all parts of the globe.
6. Try bouillons, broths, and consommés. If your palate leans toward the savory, you may pass on tea and start sipping one of these hot and savory liquids instead. Choose low-fat and low-sodium versions for maximum health benefits. Because soup is water-based, a cup of hot soup will count toward your daily water consumption.
7. Make it bubbly. Many people prefer sparkling to still water. If plain 'ol water just isn't inspiring to you, try a naturally effervescent mineral water, which will give you the added benefit of minerals. Or try bubbly seltzer, a carbonated water. You can add any of the above flavor ideas to your seltzer, or look for naturally flavored seltzers at your local market. If you become a seltzer devotee, you might want to consider getting a seltzer maker for your home.
Blackdoctor.org granted permission to reprint this article.
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