Because you asked
Ok, I actualy did some research into this for a presentation and this is what I found:
According to a study by researchers at the University of Texas San Antonio, middle-aged adults who drink diet soft drinks may be drastically increasing their risks of gaining weight later on.
The study monitored the weight and soda-drinking habits of more than 600 normal-weight patients aged 25-64. When researchers followed up on the patients some eight years later, they discovered:
- Participants were 65 percent more likely to be overweight if they consumed one diet soda a day compared to if they drank none.
- Two or more low- or no-calorie soft drinks raised the odds of becoming obese or overweight even higher.
- Those who drank diet soda had a greater chance of becoming overweight than participants who drank regular soda.
Obviously, low calorie sweetners do not make you fat but they do make it easier for you to become fat.
Studies at Purdue University (in National Institute of Child Health and Development, National Institute of Disease and Kidney Disorders) determined that artificial sweetners may trick the brain and disrupt the body’s natural ability to count calories based on a foods’ sweetness.
A 2004 study in the International Journal of Obesity suggests that when we offer our bodies sweet diet drinks but give them no calories, they crave real sugar even more. Substitutes may not signal the same satiety (fullness) hormones as sugar, making it easier to overeat because with artificial sweeteners you never feel full.
The theory is that without thinking about it, the body learns to use sweetness and viscosity (thickness/stickiness) to determine how much food is required to meet its caloric needs. However, artificial sweetners disrupt the body’s natural ability to count calories based on a food’s sweetness. Something very sweet doesn’t fill you up like it should.
Other theories:
A person who drinks a diet soda may feel it's acceptable to make up for those calories with another high-calorie food (We've all heard "I’ll have the #5, super-sized, with a diet coke.").
Although the tongue is temporarily satisfied by the sweet taste of diet soda, the brain isn't similarly fooled and still craves calories for energy.
Artificial sweetners may stimulate your appetite causing you to eat more than you otherwise might.
This isn’t permission to go drink a 6 pack of regular coke and eat a Pixie Stick.
If you get more than 15 percent of your calories from foods and drinks with added sugar (versus naturally sweet foods like fruit), you increase your chances of mood swings, cavities, even grogginess: A recent study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that downing an energy drink containing 42 grams of sugar left subjects sleepier and less alert than if they hadn't had any sugar at all.
"What is safe to drink?" The answer, of course, is water.
An occasional Diet Pepsi is probably harmless, but be aware of what you’re body is telling you. If every time you have a diet soda you have a craving for a Snickers, be aware of that.
A lot of the time just being aware of what you are feeling and doing is enough to help you change your response.
