Great article about diet pop !
sweetsarahj
Posts: 701 Member
http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/article/1016552--want-to-lose-weight-skip-the-diet-pop-new-study-suggests?bn=1
If you’re trying to lose weight, switching to diet pop might actually cause the opposite of the desired effect, new research suggests.
In a massive study spanning nearly 10 years and involving almost 500 participants, epidemiologists at the University of Texas’s School of Medicine in San Antonio found that drinking diet soda was associated with an increased waist circumference.
In fact, over the course of the study’s time span, people who consumed diet soft drinks experienced a 70 per cent increase in waist circumference compared to those who did not.
Moreover, those study participants who said they drank two or more cans of diet soda every day saw their waist circumferences increase as much as 500 per cent compared to those who avoided the sweet drinks.
The researchers point out that their findings don’t conclusively point to a definitive cause-and-effect relationship between drinking diet pop and weight gain — merely that those who drink diet sodas tend to see increased waist circumference over time.
“I’m pretty convinced that there’s enough evidence to suggest that using an alternative is wise,” said Helen Hazuda, professor and chief of clinical epidemiology in the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio School of Medicine.
Hazuda and her team began their research by assessing data from 474 Mexican Americans and European Americans in the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging. They measured height, weight, waist circumference, and diet-soda intake. They then conducted three follow-up exams over the last decade. Even when adjustments are made for diabetes status, sex, ethnicity, years of education, physical-activity level, neighborhood-income level, age and smoking status, the results still stand.
“That gives us more confidence that maybe there’s something more causal going on,” Hazuda told the Star. “It is consistent with what some other large population-based studies have found.”
She did point to a number of factors that could have contributed to the weight gain, however. One is that some artificial sweeteners commonly found in diet soda are sweeter than sugar.
“Because they’re so sweet – as much as 180 times sweeter than sugar – they actually lead you to the point of craving even sweeter things, and these might be things that aren’t good for you,” she noted.
Hazuda also surmised that people may believe they can eat more because they are taking in fewer calories by drinking diet soda.
“They overcompensate, not realizing that they weren’t accomplishing much savings by drinking the diet-soda waters,” she said.
Regardless of what caused the weight gain, Hazuda says if you want to lose weight, just avoid diet sodas altogether.
“Given the evidence we have right now, the healthiest choice would be not to drink the diet soda,” she said. “If you can drink water instead, that might be a very good alternative.”
If you’re trying to lose weight, switching to diet pop might actually cause the opposite of the desired effect, new research suggests.
In a massive study spanning nearly 10 years and involving almost 500 participants, epidemiologists at the University of Texas’s School of Medicine in San Antonio found that drinking diet soda was associated with an increased waist circumference.
In fact, over the course of the study’s time span, people who consumed diet soft drinks experienced a 70 per cent increase in waist circumference compared to those who did not.
Moreover, those study participants who said they drank two or more cans of diet soda every day saw their waist circumferences increase as much as 500 per cent compared to those who avoided the sweet drinks.
The researchers point out that their findings don’t conclusively point to a definitive cause-and-effect relationship between drinking diet pop and weight gain — merely that those who drink diet sodas tend to see increased waist circumference over time.
“I’m pretty convinced that there’s enough evidence to suggest that using an alternative is wise,” said Helen Hazuda, professor and chief of clinical epidemiology in the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio School of Medicine.
Hazuda and her team began their research by assessing data from 474 Mexican Americans and European Americans in the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging. They measured height, weight, waist circumference, and diet-soda intake. They then conducted three follow-up exams over the last decade. Even when adjustments are made for diabetes status, sex, ethnicity, years of education, physical-activity level, neighborhood-income level, age and smoking status, the results still stand.
“That gives us more confidence that maybe there’s something more causal going on,” Hazuda told the Star. “It is consistent with what some other large population-based studies have found.”
She did point to a number of factors that could have contributed to the weight gain, however. One is that some artificial sweeteners commonly found in diet soda are sweeter than sugar.
“Because they’re so sweet – as much as 180 times sweeter than sugar – they actually lead you to the point of craving even sweeter things, and these might be things that aren’t good for you,” she noted.
Hazuda also surmised that people may believe they can eat more because they are taking in fewer calories by drinking diet soda.
“They overcompensate, not realizing that they weren’t accomplishing much savings by drinking the diet-soda waters,” she said.
Regardless of what caused the weight gain, Hazuda says if you want to lose weight, just avoid diet sodas altogether.
“Given the evidence we have right now, the healthiest choice would be not to drink the diet soda,” she said. “If you can drink water instead, that might be a very good alternative.”
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Replies
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I find a lot of people misinterpret these articles. This article is talking about people who have diet pop every single day, maybe even more than once a day. The artificial sweeteners just mess up your body & trick your body into gaining weight. However, if you are on a major calorie watch & you are REALLY wanting a pop, or maybe you're out @ the bar & don't want to do too much caloric damage, a diet pop or two won't hurt you. Just make sure it's OCCASIONAL!0
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so… a study was done that measured waist circumferences of people drinking diet soda, who weren't on diets, in a country with a continuously growing obesity rate… and their waist circumferences increased…
am i the ONLY one that sees something wrong with this?0 -
"Hazuda also surmised that people may believe they can eat more because they are taking in fewer calories by drinking diet soda."
I think this is more likely the trouble with 'diet' anything.0 -
I'd be curious to see the relationship between waistline and total calories consumed...the simplest explanation is that comment about people drinking diet soda choosing to eat more without realizing it. What is it Gabriel Iglesias said? "I drink diet soda so I can eat regular cake!" (For the record, I love Gabriel.)
The problem with these types of media articles is that they take a single study (which by itself is NEVER definitive in science without ample replication) and draw a false conclusion (in this case diet soda itself causes growth in waist lines). Drinking diet soda does not cause waist lines to grow; excess consumption of it, however, may be linked to other behaviors that do cause waist lines to grow. Be careful about how much you read into media articles on scientific topics...they are very rarely reliable in their interpretation of the data.0 -
Diet sodas do other harmful things to your body too. They cause migraine headaches, osteoperosis, raise your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and weight gain.. these are just a few... Diet soda's are almost as bad as regular sodas0
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You just opened THAT can of worms[pop].......Everyone duck...........
personally I avoid them, but that's because I KNOW for a fact they trigger migraines for me. And one of the men who was on the engineering team who developed aspartame would not ALLOW his family to consume it- yeah, that was enough for me.0 -
"Hazuda also surmised that people may believe they can eat more because they are taking in fewer calories by drinking diet soda."
I think this is more likely the trouble with 'diet' anything.
Ya it is! There have been studies done that show people who eat more "low fat" & "fat free" etc foods actually gain weight over the years because they generally eat twice as much!0 -
"Hazuda also surmised that people may believe they can eat more because they are taking in fewer calories by drinking diet soda."
I think this is more likely the trouble with 'diet' anything.
Yup.
Brb, going to get 2 big macs, 1 large fries, 1 20 pc nuggets and a diet coke.0 -
I think this is a conspiracy started by Evian to topple Coca Cola and Pepsi.......0
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In my opinion, I think people who drink diet soda just live unhealthier lives than people who drink water. Diet soda has 0 calories, so if you're only drinking that everyday and following a healthy diet, you're not going to gain weight. It's impossible. However, the fake sugar can make you crave sweeter things, and therefore eat more. Consequently the weight gain is from DIET, not from DIET SODA.
This study should have been controlled for lifestyle and diet, not just seeing if people who drank diet soda gained weight. Because if it was, I'd bet a lot of money that people who excercise, eat right, and generally live healthy lifes don't drink diet soda. And that those who don't excercise, eat unhealthy, and generally live unhealthy lives do drink diet soda.
Plus, like the article pointed out, people who drink diet soda tend to think they can eat more because it's 0 calories, and then they overcompensate.0 -
Diet sodas do other harmful things to your body too. They cause migraine headaches, osteoperosis, raise your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and weight gain.. these are just a few... Diet soda's are almost as bad as regular sodas
I read an article a couple years ago about a woman who drank several diet pops every day for years. Out of nowhere she started declining & the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. She appeared to have MS, but tests all came back negative. She got a phone call from her sister to stop drinking diet pop, she did immediately.....and she COMPLETELY RECOVERED! She had aspartame overdose!!!0 -
I'd be curious to see the relationship between waistline and total calories consumed...the simplest explanation is that comment about people drinking diet soda choosing to eat more without realizing it. What is it Gabriel Iglesias said? "I drink diet soda so I can eat regular cake!" (For the record, I love Gabriel.)
The problem with these types of media articles is that they take a single study (which by itself is NEVER definitive in science without ample replication) and draw a false conclusion (in this case diet soda itself causes growth in waist lines). Drinking diet soda does not cause waist lines to grow; excess consumption of it, however, may be linked to other behaviors that do cause waist lines to grow. Be careful about how much you read into media articles on scientific topics...they are very rarely reliable in their interpretation of the data.
Took the (better phrased) words right out of my mouth.0 -
You just opened THAT can of worms[pop].......Everyone duck...........
personally I avoid them, but that's because I KNOW for a fact they trigger migraines for me. And one of the men who was on the engineering team who developed aspartame would not ALLOW his family to consume it- yeah, that was enough for me.
How did you get that information? Did you research aspartame?0 -
so… a study was done that measured waist circumferences of people drinking diet soda, who weren't on diets, in a country with a continuously growing obesity rate… and their waist circumferences increased…
am i the ONLY one that sees something wrong with this?
Exactly--poorly done study that is putting forth an unsupported conclusion. Here's the deal--people who are drinking diet sodas often recognize that they are heavy and so make the switch to diet without switching around anything ELSE in their life. And so they gain, even though they're drinking diet sodas. It's not the diet soda causing the gain, it's the rest of the food intake. You know you've seen it--a diet coke, a triple whopper, a large fry, and an order of jalapeno poppers. That waist is going to expand whether that soda is diet or not.
Like everyone else I know, I lose on diet sodas, and I gain on diet sodas. Depends upon what else I'm consuming and how much I'm moving.
Kris0 -
Hazuda also surmised that people may believe they can eat more because they are taking in fewer calories by drinking diet soda.
^That's the likely culprit, not the pop itself. People lack self control and think they can offset bad eating habits by drinking diet pop. I'd like to see a "study" where they control the caloric intakes and food type intakes of a group that does/doesn't consume diet pop at the same time. Every study I've seen so far has been complete agenda bs.0 -
Here we go again...0
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ASPARTAME IS NOT SAFE. If you look up the dangers of it, i don't think you would drink it. I wouldn't drink diet anything. I understdand some people perfer diet drinks, which is up to the indivual. Me personally, no, will not drink it. I actually gave up all soda products over 12 years ago. I don't miss it and I don't crave it. I got my husband off soda as well. here is a link to the info on dangers of aspartame.
I am not here to judeg anyone or tell them you can have this and can't have that. just wanted to share some side affects of the harmful stuff.
performed testing to determine if Aspartame is possibly linked to side-effects and physical symptoms such as sudden memory loss, dizziness and gradual loss of vision - which can potentially lead to disorders such as multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, mood swings and malignant brain tumors
Read more: http://www.righthealth.com/topic/Aspartame_Dangers/overview/uc_kosmixarticles#ixzz1Qg8TxQX20 -
so… a study was done that measured waist circumferences of people drinking diet soda, who weren't on diets, in a country with a continuously growing obesity rate… and their waist circumferences increased…
am i the ONLY one that sees something wrong with this?
Hear Hear! :-)0 -
Here we go again...
You will be assimilated....resistance is Futile! Join the Dark Side! It is your DEStiny......Mouahahahahahaha!0 -
I used to work at a sandwich shop, and always laughed when people would come in, order a foot-long double-meat turkey, bacon, salami, ham and cheese (our best-selling sandwich), with extra mayonnaise/mustard, a bag of chips, and then a diet Coke. The sandwich alone was over 800 calories, and the chips were about 200. Getting a diet soda might have save them another 200 calories, but seriously, 1000 calories with food alone isn't going to be offset with that diet Coke. Might as well get a regular Coke and make a day of it.0
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"Hazuda also surmised that people may believe they can eat more because they are taking in fewer calories by drinking diet soda."
I think this is more likely the trouble with 'diet' anything.
Yup.
Brb, going to get 2 big macs, 1 large fries, 1 20 pc nuggets and a diet coke.
Mmmm....120 piece nuggets..... ;-)0 -
People need to stop taking these things as personal attacks. It IS an interesting article. I didn't see the OP trying to force anything on anyone. Jeez0
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Grabs the popcorn and a diet coke - Ok I lied, I don't drink diet coke.0
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Diet pop did not make me fat. I made me fat. Along with the bacon cheeseburgers......0
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I saw a study once that showed a a direct correlation between eating, drinking, sleeping and living. All ended up with the participants death. I think this needs to be investigated more.
As for the aspartame studies, more recent ones have found problems in their findings. Nothing wrong with having ALL the information.0 -
It seems to me that they're taking this data and skewing it to meet some kind of agenda. There doesn't seem to be any sort of context that makes real sense. They don't compare this group of diet soda drinkers against any other group, water-only drinkers or full sugared soda drinkers. I'd like to see this same study conducted against a group of people who drink full sugared soda. I'll bet they'd get the same results: people's waistlines would be getting larger. People who don't drink soda at all possibly would have better results, but as a whole, that group of people is more health conscious anyway, so again, the data is skewed.
A DJ on the radio this morning said "I read that people who drink diet sodas get fat. Maybe they should just be drinking regular soda instead." He was serious. I changed the station.0 -
I can't speak for everyone, but I quit drinking diet sodas two months ago. I no longer have cravings for snack foods and sweets, and my stomach pains and cramps are gone entirely. I no longer feel bloated, and I sleep like a rock now.
I didn't gain my weight because of sodas, but they sure didn't help.0 -
Just piping up to say, I do live a healthy lifestyle with calorie monitoring and exercise, and.........gasp.......I drink at least 2 and as many as 5 coke zero's a day. In addition to my water.
It hasn't stopped my progress or harmed me in any way.0 -
bump0
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I think this is a conspiracy started by Evian to topple Coca Cola and Pepsi.......
I think Coke already owns Evian.....lol!0
This discussion has been closed.
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