Joe asks:
What’s your stance on diet soda? I can’t stand sugar sodas — too sweet for me. But I really enjoy diet sodas. They’re just sweet enough and there’s no calorie count. Am I wrong to think that diet soda is guilt free?
I should disclose before saying anything else that, while I don’t keep diet pop (sorry, I say pop, I’m a Midwestern girl) in my house, I do drink it a few times a week. It’s one of my guilty pleasures. Why is it still guilty if it’s calorie-free? Here are a few reasons:
- The Mayo Clinic says drinking diet soda has been linked to obesity and other health problems, even though the artificial sweeteners and other chemicals used in it are safe for most people.
- The New York Times says that researchers have found a correlation between drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome (which can in turn lead to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other bad, bad things).
- WebMD says that your risk of being overweight increases by 41% for each can of diet soda you drink per day, although they clarify that most likely, something linked to diet soda causes the weight gain, rather than the soda itself.
- Wired says that artificial sweeteners could make you gain more weight since fake sugar doesn’t affect your level of satiation as much as real sugar.
Even if you don’t trust any of these reputable sources, you have to admit that diet soda is pretty much chemicals in a bottle. The ingredient list on my Diet Mountain Dew (ugh, I know, I’m trying to stop drinking it) says it contains, among other things: potassium cirate, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, gum arabic, sodium benzoate, brominated vegetable oil (GROSS), and cirtus pectin. I know some of that stuff isn’t necessarily bad for you, I just don’t really need to be putting all of it in my body.
Bottom line: if you love diet pop too much to quit, and you drink it in moderation, you’re okay. If you’re guzzling more than 20 ounces of it per day, it might be time to think about weaning yourself down. I probably drink 20 ounces 2-3 times a week, which I’m not entirely proud of, but there are definitely worse things I could drink. Just because of this post, I’m going to make a conscientious effort to cut way, way back.
