Is diet soda healthier than regular soda

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01/6Diet soda vs Regular soda

In today's time, when weight loss and achieving a particular body size has become an obsession, switching to 'diet foods' is gaining popularity like wildfire. One such food item that most of 'diet conscious' people opt for is diet soda. But is diet soda actually good for your health? Is it better than regular soda in all aspects? Which one is safer to consume? Well to be frank, neither diet soda nor the regular is good for you, as each come with its own pros and cons.

02/6Diet sodas

Well, anything with the word diet on it becomes instantly healthy in our minds, and that is why someone would prefer diet soda over the regular ones. The popularity of diet sodas lie solely in its marketing. All types of diet sodas, get their flavouring from artificial sweeteners and not actual sugar. And that’s the only so-called healthy factor of diet coke! Some also prefer diet soda because it fails to leave the residue on their teeth that regular soda does.

03/6Should you prefer diet soda?

The calorie free aspect may sound exciting, but don’t get fooled by its fake advertising. According to studies, it is seen that diet soda actually led to weight gain, instead of loss in many cases. The artificial sweeteners leave people with unsatisfied sugar cravings, this leads to over eating later in the day. Diet sodas have been proven to be unhealthy and wreak havoc on the human body time and again by health experts. Apart from weight gain, people who drank diet soda are more likely to fall prey to heart diseases. Drinking just one diet soda per day puts you at a 36 percent higher risk of developing high blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol.

04/6Adverse effects on health

Soda is said to be one of the largest contributors to the current “obesity epidemic” in the US. Drinking soda has even been linked to an increased chance of having asthma. It is said that consumption of just one can of regular soda a day can increase the risk of heart attack to 20%.

05/6Why do most people prefer regular soda over diet soda?

One of the main reasons why some of us still stick to regular coke is because it tastes great without the strange aftertaste found in diet sodas. It is also the preferred soda choice for people who want to avoid drinking the artificial sugar substitutes found in diet sodas.

06/6In a nutshell

Thus, at the end of the day, it cannot be conclusively said that one is better than the other, as each has its own pros and cons. Regardless of which one you choose, you need to keep in mind that none of them is good for your health. Soda, itself, is not good for your heart, and it would be better if one avoid it as much as they can or have it occasionally.

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So you finally kicked your regular soda habit, but now you find yourself reaching for cans of the diet soft drink variety. Trouble is – diet soda as a replacement for regular soda – is a whole new problem.

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“Switching from regular to diet soda may offer a short term cut in calories, but your body won’t be fooled for long,” says registered dietitian Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, LD. “Research suggests that your body reacts to certain nonnutritive foods, including the artificial sweeteners in diet soda, in ways that may actually harm your health.”

Here are three reasons why Kirkpatrick says it’s important to ditch the diet drink altogether:

1. Diet soda is associated with weight gain

Some research suggests that the brain reacts to artificial sweeteners much like it does to sugary sweets. Ingesting them frequently may result in an increased desire for high-calorie foods such as sugary treats, putting you at a greater risk of weight gain and binge eating all the cookies in the break room.

Another study found that overweight individuals who switched to diet soda were more likely to consume more calories in food than overweight individuals who drank regular soda. Those who drank diet soda even had a higher BMI than their counterparts.

2. Diet soda may cause insulin confusion

The brain normally associates “sweet” with calories. In the realm of human physiology, that’s a good thing. It drives your body to release insulin as sugar’s chaperone to the cells to create fuel. In the past, people assumed this process could not occur when we consumed artificial sweeteners because calories don’t follow the sweet flavor.

But, one study found the process could very well happen. In the study, individuals who consumed a specific artificial sweetener (sucralose) had increases in both insulin and blood glucose levels. Frequent rises in insulin have been linked to insulin resistance and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Some research has even associated artificially sweetened sodas with increased risk of stroke.

3. Diet soda may change your brain’s reaction to sweetness

Some research suggests that those who drink diet soda have higher activity in the area of the brain associated with the desire to consume foods high in fat and sugar. So those who drink diet soda seem to alter the brain’s sweet-sensing reward center. This means that diet soda could potentially change how the brain reacts to cravings for high-calorie foods.

So is it better to just drink regular soda?

Not so fast. There is abundant data that tells us that sugar (even when it’s “real”) is not necessarily a sweeter alternative, at least when health is concerned.

If you crave caffeine (in moderation), you are likely better off with plain coffee or tea. If you’re looking for flavor in a drink, try freezing raspberries, cucumber, mint, lemon or lime in ice cubes to add a hint of sweetness. You can even use fruit in soda water to recreate soda’s bubbly appeal.

Quitting a habit is never easy, but experts recommend that kicking soda all the way out of your diet can have profound effects on both your weight and your health.

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