Will DIET sodas cause me to gain weight?

banana_milk

No, it is not physically possible to gain fat from a zero-calorie beverage.

Pearlyladybug

Yes
MD



June 13, 2005 -- People who drink diet soft drinks don't lose weight. In fact, they gain weight, a new study shows.

The findings come from eight years of data collected by Sharon P. Fowler, MPH, and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio. Fowler reported the data at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in San Diego.

"What didn't surprise us was that total soft drink use was linked to overweight and obesity," Fowler tells WebMD. "What was surprising was when we looked at people only drinking diet soft drinks, their risk of obesity was even higher."

In fact, when the researchers took a closer look at their data, they found that nearly all the obesity risk from soft drinks came from diet sodas.

"There was a 41% increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day," Fowler says.

More Diet Drinks, More Weight Gain

Fowler's team looked at seven to eight years of data on 1,550 Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white Americans aged 25 to 64. Of the 622 study participants who were of normal weight at the beginning of the study, about a third became overweight or obese.

For regular soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:
26% for up to 1/2 can each day
30.4% for 1/2 to one can each day
32.8% for 1 to 2 cans each day
47.2% for more than 2 cans each day.

For diet soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:
36.5% for up to 1/2 can each day
37.5% for 1/2 to one can each day
54.5% for 1 to 2 cans each day
57.1% for more than 2 cans each day.

For each can of diet soft drink consumed each day, a person's risk of obesity went up 41%.

Diet Soda No Smoking Gun

Fowler is quick to note that a study of this kind does not prove that diet soda causes obesity. More likely, she says, it shows that something linked to diet soda drinking is also linked to obesity.

"One possible part of the explanation is that people who see they are beginning to gain weight may be more likely to switch from regular to diet soda," Fowler suggests. "But despite their switching, their weight may continue to grow for other reasons. So diet soft-drink use is a marker for overweight and obesity."

Why? Nutrition expert Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, puts it in a nutshell.

"You have to look at what's on your plate, not just what's in your glass," Bonci tells WebMD.

People often mistake diet drinks for diets, says Bonci, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and nutrition consultant to college and professional sports teams and to the Pittsburgh Ballet.

"A lot of people say, 'I am drinking a diet soft drink because that is better for me. But soft drinks by themselves are not the root of America's obesity problem," she says. "You can't go into a fast-food restaurant and say, 'Oh, it's OK because I had diet soda.' If you don't do anything else but switch to a diet soft drink, you are not going to lose weight."

Non of this says anything about causing weight gain, people who drink it are over weight...because they eat 10 big macs with it!

"You have to look at what's on your plate, not just what's in your glass,"

If your going to copy in paste useless info of the internet at lest make it relevant.

SweetCheekszx0

I pay attention to what's on my plate... Insinuating I didn't is idiotic and so was insisting it doesn't cause ANYONE to crave sweets. I don't need to medically back my opinion up I was speaking from personal experience ... Ever learn to hear an opinion ? Or do they always have a habit of smacking you right in the face?

Pearlyladybug

I pay attention to what's on my plate... Insinuating I didn't is idiotic and so was insisting it doesn't cause ANYONE to crave sweets. I don't need to medically back my opinion up I was speaking from personal experience ... Ever learn to hear an opinion ? Or do they always have a habit of smacking you right in the face?

She clearly said I'm not talking about cravings etc.

Also the pay attention to whats on your plate wasn't even pointed or had anything to do with you.

DatMurse

I pay attention to what's on my plate... Insinuating I didn't is idiotic and so was insisting it doesn't cause ANYONE to crave sweets. I don't need to medically back my opinion up I was speaking from personal experience ... Ever learn to hear an opinion ? Or do they always have a habit of smacking you right in the face?

Yo dawg I herd you were mad so I put some Xanax in yo ice cream, so you can chill while you chill

Pearlyladybug

I pay attention to what's on my plate... Insinuating I didn't is idiotic and so was insisting it doesn't cause ANYONE to crave sweets. I don't need to medically back my opinion up I was speaking from personal experience ... Ever learn to hear an opinion ? Or do they always have a habit of smacking you right in the face?

Yo dawg I herd you were mad so I put some Xanax in yo ice cream, so you can chill while you chill

:laugh:

silencomortis

I lost 60lbs in 5 months in 2012 and i drank diet soda every day. Those anti diet soda studies are farfetched surveys. Diet soda kept me sane as i resisted far worse foods.

Every nutritionist and doctor agrees that our greatest dietary risk is
1. Trans Fat
2. Sugar (almost singlehandedly responsible for 80% of the heart disease and diabetes cases in the US)

and diet soda has neither of those. I'm sure it's not healthy, but most of us have far bigger fish to fry, considering like 80% of americans are overweight.

Do whatever u want tho. It's just 2 cents coming from a guy who transformed his life and amazed everyone around him. I can supply before and after pics if u like.