The Dangers of Diet Soda

Diet Soda is Everywhere

Over the years, diet sodas have become more and more readily available, offering an alternative to high-calorie sodas. It has become convenient to find your popular diet sodas such as Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi, but now you can find Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet Mtn. Dew, and any other diet soda that you may love. While it is nice to have a no-calorie option, make sure you compare the health risks that may be associated with the artificial sweeteners they contain. Just because a soda is diet, definitely doesn’t make it good for you and it may not be a safe alternative.

While diet soda does not contain sugar or high fructose corn syrup, they do contain harmful artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, or saccharin. Diet sodas can be a nice short-term alternative to help you lose weight while still satisfying your soda craving, but studies have shown that long term exposure to artificial sweeteners can lead to depression, Alzheimer’s, premature birth, weight gain, cancer, and many more harmful side effects. Another study did show that even though your body is getting an artificial sweetener, it doesn’t curb the craving for sugar, so your body will start to crave sugar or sugary foods. When you consume sugar, your brain experiences a ‘food reward’. However, artificial sweeteners do not provide these ‘food rewards’. This can lead to over eating or over indulging in your sugar craving, causing weight gain down the road.

A lot of artificial sweeteners are sweeter than sugar, meaning companies can use more for less, and your taste receptors notice this sweetness as well. When your body receives the extra sweet taste, your pancreas will create insulin. Due to the amount of sweetness, this causes your body to create an unnecessary amount of insulin which it doesn’t need. With the excess of insulin in your blood stream, your body starts storing fat, making it very hard to lose weight and metabolize fat when needed.

Alternatives to Diet Soda

Of course, water is always the best drink to consume. Your body needs this liquid to survive. If you’re not a fan of plain water, try putting a pitcher of water in the fridge. You can add in slices of cucumbers, lemons, or even mint to give it a pleasant taste. If you are craving something bubbly, try a no-calorie, all-natural flavored sparkling water or sparkling water with flavored Stevia, there are many stevia options which is allowed on the HCG Diet. It is an all natural sweetener and a safe alternative to high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners.

What are some alternative to diet soda that you use?