We often think that to avoid the ‘greater evil’ of a regular cold drink, we can just choose one with little or no sugar. However, research shows that this is also not a good option.
1. Less craving for sugar
Because most diet sodas use aspartame as a substitute for real sugar, you would think that the drinks do not affect your sugar cravings.
Wrong. Aspartame actually makes you crave sugar, because the artificial sweetness raises your insulin levels. As diet and fitness expert Dr. Melina Jampolis explains: “The taste of sweet causes the release of insulin, which lowers blood sugar, and if no carbohydrates are consumed, this leads to a drop in blood sugar, triggering hunger and sugar cravings.”
2. Overall less hunger for food
Sugar is not the only thing diet soda can make you crave. It actually makes you crave a lot more.
According to nutritionist Isabel Smith: “Artificial sweeteners affect our satiety. Our bodies have evolved to expect a large amount of calories when we consume something extraordinarily sweet, and those artificial sweeteners are 400 to 8000 times sweeter than sugar.”
She continues: “The muscles in your stomach relax so you can eat food, and hormones are released. With artificial sweeteners, your body says, ‘Wait a minute, you said you were going to give me all this calorie-rich food. It can really send some people looking for more food, out of lack of satisfaction.”
In the end, when your body doesn’t get what it expected, it turns to other options – namely, looking for calorie-rich food it can give you what it’s looking for.
3. You can really lose weight
The switch from regular soda to diet soda is usually made with weight loss in mind. But due to bloating and the aforementioned cravings, drinking diet soda can make it very difficult to effectively lose weight. Studies have shown that diet soda can lead to an increase in metabolic syndrome, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes, so it is probably better to completely stop drinking soda.
4. You taste more food
The artificial sweeteners in diet soda overwhelm your taste buds over time, so they can no longer appreciate the full range of flavors they used to.
As a result, you will notice a change in your taste buds after you quit diet soda, and you will see how sweet things really are. If that’s not motivation, then I don’t know what is.
5. Your immune system can improve
Researchers now believe that diet soda not only affects your cravings and sugar intake, but also manipulates your metabolism.
According to Isabel Smith, diet soda can affect “healthy gut bacteria” and change how your body processes everything from blood sugar to your immune system.
6. Stronger bones
It is unclear why, but studies have shown that even one diet soda a day can increase your risk of a hip fracture by 14%.
There is a correlation between people who drink a lot of soda and lower bone density, which could mean that you get healthier bones if you stop drinking soda!
7. You get less drunk quickly
This one is only for people who use diet soda as a mixer with alcoholic drinks.
If you do, you may get drunk faster than friends who do not. This is because diet soda passes through your system faster than regular soda, leaving only the alcohol behind, which in turn increases your blood alcohol level.
Switching to other alternatives can mean you can party longer… and that’s never been a bad thing.
8. Healthier kidneys
It goes without saying that optimal kidney function is important. That’s why it’s good to warn you that the ingredients in diet soda make it quite difficult for your kidneys.
If your kidneys are no longer busy sorting all those complex ingredients, your body should be able to clean toxins and stabilize blood sugar more efficiently.
Well, that certainly opened my eyes a bit. If you regularly drink diet soda, why not try it out to test the effects on your body? If that seems impossible, see if you can reduce the amount you drink, with the aim of eventually quitting for good.
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