Is Diet Soda Healthy or Is Diet Soda Bad For You?

In the health and fitness industry, the topic of diet soda is a controversial one. Zero calories don’t always mean zero problems, and it begs the question, Is diet soda healthy? Is diet soda bad for you?

The questions go back and forth, questioning whether diet soda offers more benefit than it does harm.

Now, for some, diet soda is an easy write off because of the lack of benefits. I haven’t seen any claims by the soda industry on the health benefits of diet soda, so it’s rather pointless besides the satisfaction it gives to its drinkers.

For others, diet soda’s satisfaction allows them to enjoy soda without the calories and sugar, and that’s enough benefit for them.

What I want to present below is some research and opinion that will help you answer the questions for yourself.

Is diet soda good for you? Do diet soda’s ingredients answer the question?

There are numerous negative claims when it comes to diet soda, especially concerning the artificial sweetener aspartame, and the ingredient phosphoric acid.

However, when it comes to the research, there isn’t much. Research tells us that aspartame can be harmful in very large amounts that no one consumes, and another anecdotal evidence tells us that aspartame can result in headaches and migraines.

I personally haven’t seen any research (disregarding anecdotal evidence) showing that aspartame has negative side effects in the same amounts that people drink it in.

As far as phosphoric acid goes, there is research saying that colas are linked to low bone mineral density, such as this one, but it isn’t conclusive yet because of the lack of studies.

Is Diet Soda Healthy?

There are other ways of determining whether something is healthy or not. Finding out whether diet soda contributes to obesity or the accumulation of fat can help us make a decision faster and more efficiently.

But this is another problem area because there are plenty of diet soda drinkers out in the real world who isn’t fat by any means.

I’ve personally read plenty of content by bodybuilders and figure athletes who claim that diet soda is a life-saver when they are dieting down (not that I recommend this).

And contrary to all of that, there is research that shows diet soda may indirectly contribute to higher weight and fat accumulation.

For instance, this study claims that of the people followed, the more diet sodas consumed, the higher the chances of becoming overweight and obese were.

Another study claims that despite similar eating patterns, those who drink diet soda were again, more likely to gain weight.

Most studies I went over stated that diet soda always lead to the increase in chance of becoming overweight or obese.

How Could Diet Soda Makes You Fat?

When it comes to the realm of indirect causes, the lists can go on forever. However, the most common reasons I’ve read throughout my research are as follows:

• Diet soda is used as justification for consuming more food, “I ordered a diet soda, so now I can eat a large fry”
• Diet soda increases cravings by satisfying a want for the taste of sugar.
• Diet soda, when used to satisfy a craving, only puts off that craving for a short period, making you even more hungry when you do eat, so you eat more food.
• For many people, soda, diet or not, is associated with poor-quality foods, which could increase the chance that you turn to those foods when drinking diet soda or soda.

There were a couple more, related to diet soda and whether or not it could cause insulin fluctuations, but these claims weren’t popular and were rarely backed up with research.

In my opinion, there’s enough research to be at-least minimizes your intake of diet soda. I haven’t seen any health benefits, so no; I don’t think diet soda is healthy.

The small amount of research and large amount of claim’s points in the direction that diet soda can increase cravings and increase chances of obesity and becoming overweight.

However, this research isn’t claiming that the diet soda itself is adding pounds, but rather than the decisions made after drinking a diet soda may be affected.

I believe the choice is yours, if diet soda appears to offer more risks than it does benefits, drop it. If you think diet soda and the satisfaction, it brings you are worth the risk, choose to minimize or choose to maintain.

Guest Post: This article was published as part of the Guest Post Series. Guest posts come from leading experts in weight loss, health, and fitness. The series tries to bring a diverse range of perspectives on the critical issues of our time. The views expressed in this article are solely that of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of WeightLoss7.Net.