Shocking!! The Top 38 Diet Sodas—Ranked for Health

[mfcorey1]

What if I told you that the most popular weight-loss product in America was scientifically proven to actually make you fatter?
It’s true. The name of that product: Diet soda.
In fact, daily diet soda drinkers grow 2 ½ more inches of belly fat each decade than those who don’t drink the stuff, according to a recent study. Even if you’re consuming fewer calories, you may still gain weight thanks to diet soda.
“Diet drinks cause insulin to be released in your gut because their artificial sweeteners are sweet like sugar, and that actually prevents weight loss,” Miriam Jacobson, RD, CDN, told us. “Insulin is your body’s primary fat-storage hormone, so it will have the body hold onto any extra fat.”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/weightloss/the-top-38-diet-sodas%E2%80%94ranked-for-health/ss-BBmxvO4?ocid=mailsignout

[Ed Suspicious]

1. I have consumed so much Diet Mountain Dew in my lifetime. I used to think that

if I was going to drink soda at least it was low in calories and wouldn't spike my blood sugar. I would love to join a class action suit against these profferers of poison.

[Warpy]

2. I think you've got that backwards

They start with the worst and end up with the best. The worst are all sugary and packed with caffeine. The best are sugar fee with no caffeine.

[murielm99]

3. I seldom drink any kind of pop.

We did not have it much when I was growing up, so I never developed a fondness for it. Neither did my husband. When I go to the convenience store and see people buying those huge cups of pop, I can't believe it.

My kids always whined about wanting pop. I tried to keep their consumption down. Only my son still drinks it. He went on Weight Watchers, and now he has given it up.

[Marr]

4. Last I read, the claim that diet sodas cause the body to release more insulin was unproven.

The doctor there states it as fact, but as far as I know, it's still just a guess; an answer to the question of 'why do people who drink diet sodas tend to be a bit fatter than people who don't drink any soda at all?'.

Personally, I think the answer is 'because diet soda drinkers tend to be people who are trying to lose weight'. There could be something to the insulin speculation as well, of course, but even if that's true, it doesn't explain obesity. You'd be talking about a couple of extra pounds-- not the morbid obesity we see running rampant today. To be really overweight (barring a few rare conditions or drugs), you have to be simply eating way too much.

[GliderGuider]

5. I attended the Canadian equivalent of a TED talk a few years ago

One speaker was a biology researcher who did a lot of work with rats. He told us that when the reats needed to be fattened rapidly the researchers mixed aspartame with their chow. He didn't speculate on the mechanism, but IMO there are two likely reasons. One is that aspartame stimulates the release of insulin, but the other is more prosaic - the sweetness stimulates the appetite and causes the rat-human to eat other fattening foods.

I've seen the effect myself. When I was on a calorie-restricted diet and drinking those demon drinks it was almost impossible to lose weight, and I tended to gain easily. Now I'm on a permanent diet that's mostly meat and water, I have no problem with weight control at all.

[GreatGazoo]

8. research on data from the Harvard Nurse Study pointed to two mechanisms for weight gain

in the first phase, when you begin drinking diet sodas, the body responds with insulin and prepares to digest calories from fructose or sucrose. The sugars aren't there so you are left hungrier than when you started. Hungry for sugar specifically.

In the 2nd phase the body errantly "learns" that sweet foods have no calories and stunts the satiation mechanism for ALL sweet foods.

Others found decline in kidney function:
http://cjasn.asnjournals.org/content/6/1/160.full

[GliderGuider]

11. Thanks! nt

[malaise]

6. I drank one diet soda in my entire life

It tasted so bad I never had another. I used to drink sodas but gave them up in general decades ago. At most I drink two or three sodas a year

[dsc]

7. I used to think was complete bunk but now I am a bit less skeptical

Clearly some of the correlation is that people who need to lose weight tend to favor diet soda but I do think there is some amount in the other direction. I have been on a low carb diet and also cut out diet soda for the most part. The one week I brought diet soda back I gained weight while drinking it while otherwise being faithful to my regime. I stopped the soda and the weight loss started again.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

9. I've been drinking diet soda since I was a kid

and I've never been overweight. These days I drink more seltzer, but if I have soda I still drink diet because I think the regular soda tastes too sweet. I'd only drink something like diet coke, pepsi, dr. pepper or moxie. I can't stand any of the fruity flavored sodas or mtn dew. Anyhow, just saying it drinking diet soda doesn't necessarily make you fatter. Perhaps they key thing is not drinking a whole lot of the stuff, because I don't. I probably have one diet soda drink every couple of weeks of so.

[Nye Bevan]

10. I like to squeeze a couple of oranges and mix the juice with seltzer and plenty of ice.

Delicious, refreshing, and healthy.