Posted on 03/17/2015 4:10:24 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Older adults who drink diet soda may experience greater increases in their waist size over a decade than those who do not drink diet soda, according to a new study.
Researchers found that the average increase in waist circumference among the people in the study who drank diet soda daily was more than triple that of the people who did not drink diet soda. Among the people who drank diet soda only occasionally, the increase was more than double that of those who did not drink diet soda.
"The more people drank diet sodas, the more their waistlines expanded," said study author Sharon Fowler, a researcher at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
Over the nine-year study, the waist size of the people who didn't drink any soda increased by an average of 0.8 inches. The average increase was 1.83 inches among those who drank diet soda occasionally, and 3.16 inches among those who drank it daily, according to the study.
In the study, the researchers followed a total of 749 Mexican Americans and European Americans who were 65 or older when the study started. The researchers asked them about their diet soda intake, and measured their waist circumference, height and weight when the study began, and at three follow-up points during the study period. [5 Experts Answer: Is Diet Soda Bad For You?]
Increased belly fat, which is usually what causes increased waist circumference, may raise people's risk of cardiovascular disease and other health issues because it increases inflammation, Fowler said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
It's not the red meat, it's the bread that goes with it. Carbohydrates. People who drink diet drinks are usually trying to lose weight and generally are more likely to be eating carbs. . . and trading off the diet drink for more french fries.
There is no guarantee of correlation and causality in this study.
Agreed. I rarely drink diet soda. It’s the carbs that are a problem for me. When I was younger, I was fine, but as time passed I found that I had to change my diet.
Yeah, if you put the bones in concentrated phosphoric acid and wait days and days for the bones to dissolve. . . but by the time a diet drink goes into your STOMACH which has an acidic level far higher than any diet or sugared soda, it really doesn't mean much of anything that study found. That was totally bogus.
Your stomach acid, usually strong hydrochloric acid can be as low as Ph of 1. The phosphoric acid in a soda averages Ph of 2.5. The lower the Ph, the more acidic the fluid is. Ergo, your stomach fluid is far more acidic than is your soda.
By the time any phosphoric acid gets from your bowels and into your blood stream, it is just a source of phosphorus. . . a bone building block. Soda cannot dissolve living bone.
It's not the 16 calories in a teaspoon that's the problem. It's the 16 teaspoons in a 12 ounce can of regular cola that's the problem. 256 calories per can. . . times six or seven cans a day. That's about two extra meals of calories per day.
Not only that, it's fructose. . . the worst kind of sugar. Hardest to burn for energy. Easiest to turn in to fat.
“I resemble that remark.”
Ha ha! Me too.
Except sugar doesn't nourish.
I agree with the poster upthread who said that sugary drinks are too sweet. I can't stand them. I drink plenty of water, but I also like my diet Mt. Dew. And I'm not fat.
Even if it were true that diet drinks trigger hunger, the decision to eat or not rests with the individual; the drink itself doesn't bear blame.
There isn't enough material in artificial sweeteners to provide sustenance for any bacterial growth. Such bacteria would be overwhelmed by normal bacterial flora and fauna fed by regular sugars from carbohydrates. The amount in any soda is very minimal amounts. . . even in packets for sweetening coffee and tea most of the material is filler. Most artificial sweeteners are at least a thousand times sweeter than sugar.
The one exception would be the left-handed sugars, molecules identical to sugar but with structures built backwards, but they are completely non-digestible and pass through. Then there are the sugar alcohols which can give some gassy effects on some people. . . but not causing any weight gain.
“Ice water for me...about 6 big glasses full a day.”
I tried that one day. I could not get anything done because I was in the bathroom all day! ;-)
I bought a bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola at Big Lots, chilled it and had it over hard ice. It was so good, I haven’t had pop that tasted like that since I was a kid, I swear. And I tried that throwback Pepsi they did years back—not good, threw it back! Soda was king before the HFCS, made with sugar and came in 8-packs of 16oz. glass bottles. PITA lugging them, though...
BTTT
“A few years ago, I was drinking up to 6 diet sodas per day...quit cold turkey.”
I was drinking around 12-14 regular Mountain Dews for 10 years.
I started drinking diet Mountain Dew 2 years ago, and eating generally the same lost 10 pounds.
I switched to coke zero and lost another 26.
36 pounds in two years, and I like my wine and cheese. Jus not the dew.
I am convinced.
Also, I found out that my non-fat salad dressing has 11 carbs per serving, while regular dressing (blue cheese) had only 2.
I switched. I do not stay away from saturated fats. I stay away from hydrogelized ANYTHING and stay away from high carbs. My weight is steady, and I love having flavorful foods.
Butter. Eggs. Meat. Not a problem.
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