So you’re drinking diet soda to help cut the calories, maybe take an inch or so off your waist. It took you a while to get use to the taste and now you think you’re doing your body good by cutting out some sugar calories. That’s the theory anyway. Too bad it’s wrong.
There are numerous references pointing to this dating back to the mid-1980s, the most recent published in the March 17th 2015 on-line edition of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Volume 63, Issue 4: Diet Soda Intake Is Associated with Long-Term Increases in Waist Circumference in a Biethnic Cohort of Older Adults: The San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging
Over the course of 9 years, the study followed senior citizens 65 and older. Taking into account factors such as smoking, exercise and diabetes, the study found a “striking dose-response relationship” between consuming diet soda and waist circumference. Over the 9-year course of the study, they found:
Increased waist circumference in adults years 65+ consumption of diet soda
Never Drank Diet SodaOccasionally Drank Diet SodaDaily Diet Soda Drinkers↑ 0.8 inches↑ 1.83 inches↑ 3.2 inches
Think it’s just the geriatric population? These findings are further supported by a2005 study published by the American College of Nutrition where 166 school children were followed for 2 years and found to have higher BMI (Body Mass Index) after increasing their consumption of diet soda. “Diet soda consumption was the only type of beverage associated with year 2 BMI Z-score”. A BMI Z-score reflects an extensive series of transformations of the original weight and height data for a child.
No matter what your age, eliminating soda with artificial sweeteners is a necessary life style change you should strongly consider for losing weight, preventing weight gain and for improving your health. When it comes to diet soda, Just Don’t Do It!
Yours in Health
Dr. Todd M. Narson
References:
1. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Volume 63, Issue 4: Diet Soda Intake Is Associated with Long-Term Increases in Waist Circumference in a Biethnic Cohort of Older Adults: The San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging
2. J Am Coll Nutr. 2005 Apr;24(2):93-8. Beverage consumption patterns in elementary school aged children across a two-year period.
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