On warm days, some are as refreshing as cold diet sodas that quench your thirst.
For people living with diabetes, the invention of diet soda was nothing but innovative. It doesn’t have the same great taste (according to some) without taking insulin for the sugar that is usually found in regular soda, worrying about cavities, or enduring stubborn hyperglycemia.
But is diet soda cracked? Are artificial sweeteners found in diet sodas useful or harmful?
In this article, you can research diet sodas, and better weigh the pros and cons and determine whether to incorporate them into your diet (and how you do it).
The history of diet soda
Modern soda, a sweet and soda drink, has been around for a very long time. This drink was invented in 1767 by a European named Joseph Priestley. He found a way to inject carbon dioxide into regular water and gave it the distinctive bubbles.
The formulation then became sweetened with syrup with different flavors, similar to Italian sodas today, and was actually sold at pharmacies.
People in the 1700s believed that flavorful soda could treat diseases such as gastrointestinal disorders and beliacches.
Diet sodas such as diet, diet coke, and tabs were not introduced until the 1950s and 1960s. The diet industry and American obsession with calorie counting has become extremely popular. Since then, diet sodas and drinks have become more popular and benefited people with diabetes.
problem
Diet soda can be a refreshing snack (you don’t need to take insulin!), but there is definitely a downside, especially if you drink lots of diet soda in a day.
Many diet sodas are full of artificial flavors, sweeteners and chemicals, such as aspartame and saccharin.
Many studies now link excessive consumption of dietary soda with increased incidence of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity and weight gain!
However, many studies studying the issue do not control for other risk factors, such as lack of physical activity and body mass index (BMI). This can confuse the data as people opting for diet sodas may already be trying to control their calorie intake (and therefore have a high BMI) or may already suffer from insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Furthermore, while some of these added chemicals may have high consumption rates, there are no research studies that clearly link cancer development to cancer consumption.
Does diet soda lead to weight gain?
There is no causal relationship between drinking diet soda and gaining weight immediately.
However, just like eating sugar, drinking diet soda can lead to insulin resistance, which leads to the development of weight gain, prediabetes and potentially type 2 diabetes.
A 2012 study showed that artificial sweeteners in diet soda could change the levels of dopamine in the brain, and thus could change the way the brain responds (and craves) to sweet tastes.
The artificial sweeteners found in diet soda are hundreds of times sweeter than real sugar. If you’re used to drinking diet soda (or cakes and cookies made with artificial sweeteners to save calories), your brain will naturally adapt to sweet levels and will start craving sweet foods as a result.
Equal (Aspartame) is 160-200 times sweeter than sugar, while Sweet’n’low (saccharin) is 300-500 times sweeter than natural sugar. Without that diet soda, you may eat more foods made with sugar, resulting in weight gain.
When you become obsessed with diet soda, naturally sweet foods like fruits may not be very appealing, and you may feel like you can barely eat foods like broccoli and kale. This allows many people to reach for more processed foods and simply fill new flavors.
Furthermore, drinking diet soda will let your brain know that you are doing something “healthy” and “reward” yourself by eating unhealthy foods along with it.
A 2014 study found that overweight and obese people who drank diet soda regularly eat 90-200 calories per day than those who drank regular sugar-sweet soda.
But for people with diabetes, diet soda can still be useful as they already need to realize that they are consuming anyway.
Other studies show
A 2014 Japanese study found that men who took diet soda were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who did not. The findings controlled for age, BMI, family history, and other lifestyle factors.
Additionally, a meta-analysis published in the UK Journal of Nutrition in 2014 revealed that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes increased by 13% for every 12 ounces of diet soda consumed in a day.
Finally, in a 2017 study of more than 2,000 people, researchers determined that drinking just one day of dietary soda per day triples the risk of stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.
What healthy part of diet soda is?
All of this data is persuasive, but if you live with diabetes and love it, you shouldn’t get away with drinking diet soda completely! Treatment really is important.
The Academy of Nutrition and Nutrition believes that artificial sweeteners are part of a healthy diet, especially for children, when replacing sugary soda with dietary soda.
This will significantly reduce your added sugar and calorie intake, but limit your consumption and stick to mostly regular water and seltzers (and of course, a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables).
If you’re obsessed with the hits of caffeine from your daily diet soda, try choosing black coffee or tea without adding chemicals or artificial sweeteners.
Diet soda is part of a healthy diet, but don’t forget to limit your intake.
Conclusion
Diet soda is very popular in the US and for good reason! It lacks both the sugar and calories found in regular soda, and tastes almost the same. For people with insulin-dependent diabetes, additional insulin doses are not required. This is incredible.
However, studies have shown that even moderate intake of dietary soda can lead to insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes, weight gain, and even diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease.
While it is important to be aware of these risks, it is also important to enjoy sugar-free options if you are managing chronic diseases like diabetes.
If you like diet soda, don’t stop drinking it completely. Enjoy moderately with plenty of water, fresh fruits, vegetables and a healthy diet of too many processed foods.
Be aware of developed insulin resistance and weight gain. Better yet, choose a healthier drink like slices of lemon, all-natural seltzer water, or water with unsweetened coffee or tea.
Diet soda is by no means a healthy drink, but when moderately enjoyed in a healthy lifestyle, it can be a fun and sometimes refreshing treat. cheers!
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