Posted on 01/18/2014 4:20:41 AM PST by ETL
A new study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health shows that overweight and obese adults who drank diet beverages took in more food calories on average than their counterparts who drank the sugary stuff.
"Although overweight and obese adults who drink diet soda eat a comparable amount of total calories as heavier adults who drink sugary beverages, they consume significantly more calories from solid food at both meals and snacks," lead study author Sara Bleich, associate professor in the Bloomberg School's Department of Health Policy and Management, said in a press release.
Researchers looked at information from the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which is a population-based survey that looks at the health and nutrition of U.S. adults. They looked particularly at diet beverage consumption, caloric intake and body weight.
Overall, diet soda consumption rates increased 17 percent from 1965 to today. Currently, about 20 percent of U.S. adults drink diet beverages.
Despite the calories they cut by sipping on diet drinks, researchers found adults who drank diet beverages ate more calories from solid food.
"The results of our study suggest that overweight and obese adults looking to lose or maintain their weight -- who have already made the switch from sugary to diet beverages -- may need to look carefully at other components of their solid-food diet, particularly sweet snacks, to potentially identify areas for modification," Bleich said.
The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health on Jan 16.
The researchers believe that the artificial sweeteners may activate more reward centers in the brain. This in turn affects a person's appetite, making the diet drinkers eat more food because they don’t think they are getting enough sugar in their bloodstreams.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
I stopped drinking diet soda completely...
A few months back wife and I went to go out and happened to stop at sandwich shop that did not have brewed tea for a beverage...
I opted for the diet pepsi, figured it would kill me to drink one diet soda...
I literally could not drink it for the nasty chemical taste it left in my mouth..
I couldn't believe I drank that crap for years and years...
BTW, feel much better, more mental clarity and have lost weight...
Yeah, I see the stone in your proximal left ureter. Millimeters vs centimeters is a big difference. Hahahaha.
LOL! Beat me to it.
I drink diet sodas and work with fat people who do as well. You’ve hit the nail on the head. Diet sodas give the fat people an excuse to eat more of the junk they like. It’s like they think they have a calorie budget and diet sodas give them more leeway to eat junk.
Agreed. But it might be more than just a mental thing. It could be, as the article mentions, that the body is 'tricked' into thinking it needs more sugar.
“The researchers believe that the artificial sweeteners may activate more reward centers in the brain. This in turn affects a person’s appetite, making the diet drinkers eat more food because they don’t think they are getting enough sugar in their bloodstreams.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/diet-soda-drinkers-consume-more-calories-study/
My experience decades ago was that I could go on a high protein diet and lose weight rapidly but could not stay on it long. I could go on a high carb diet with very minimal protein if any from meat, poultry, dairy etc. and lose weight that way. I could eat all the beans and rice, salads, corn bread and such that I wanted, even drinking iced tea sweetened with sugar and as much coffee as I wanted (I like coffee black, no cream or sweetener) and I would lose weight. As soon as I combined meat and potatoes I would blow up like a balloon.
Aspartame is a neurotoxin, and so is formaldehyde for that matter. I stopped the diet soft drinks about 2years ago. Sparking water was good enough replacement for me.
Stop eating pennies!
Then there are those folks that drink a Diet Coke...at the same time they eat a Snickers.
“I’ll have a Big Mac, Super-size Fries, a Cherry Pie, and a diet Coke, please.”
We used to joke at mcdonalds... “ I’ll have two Big Macs, a large fries, an apple pie, and a diet coke.”
We used an acid to clean diesel soot off the sides of aluminum trailers. Someone broke two bottles of coke and it accidently spilled on an aluminum two wheeled dolly. That thing was as clean as the day it was new. We used coke on the trailers. Shook the cans and sprayed it on the sides. Got a little expensive, but worked great.
I think some of the artificial sweeteners actually stimulate appetite by increasing insulin output without increasing blood sugar. Try having a bowl of cereal in the morning (or carbs in general) and then a diet coke before lunch. Wow - not good. I do not get the same effect from sucralose (diet rite, Jones Zilch etc). No soda is best but regular in moderation is better than many diet ones.
Oh, good grief. I drink water and I also drink diet soda; I don’t have a weight problem. Same for my husband. His family all drinks them, and they’re all thin.
I switched to water.
The study doesn’t imply that everyone who drinks diet soda, in whatever amounts, is going to gain weight. It obviously depends on a lot of other factors, such as body chemistry, metabolism, genetics, exercise or lack of, etc, etc.
Personally I think some folks just get a diet drink and decide to make up the calories (and then some) with food.
I drink diet sodas and don’t feel any more attracted to junk than when I drink tea or water. I think the diet sodas causing an increase in appetite is just an excuse.
But the body does have trigger mechanisms. And it could be the case that the substances in diet sodas fool it into thinking we need to eat more.
“I think some of the artificial sweeteners actually stimulate appetite by increasing insulin output without increasing blood sugar.”—IFly4Him
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“The researchers believe that the artificial sweeteners may activate more reward centers in the brain. This in turn affects a person’s appetite, making the diet drinkers eat more food because they don’t think they are getting enough sugar in their bloodstreams.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/diet-soda-drinkers-consume-more-calories-study/
I just don’t buy into the idea that diet drinks “trick” people into eating more. We’re all responsible for how much we choose to eat. I can tell when I’m full regardless of what I’m drinking.
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