There Went My Reason

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

08 Jan 2007 02:30 PM

You know the moment I typed that title, I actually looked to the right as though I could honestly see my reason trotting off into the sunset with a snicker, a giggle and a guffaw. What has me doing this? Well, if you caught the Early Show the other day, you'd know that there's a new line of thinking out there - diet sodas, the ones we can drink because they have 0 calories - are actually helping people to gain weight rather than helping them to lose weight.

Excuse Me, I Need to Bang My Head on the Wall

We drink diet soda in part to make a healthier choice - to avoid extra calories and to keep our weight under control and now they are saying that instead of helping us - it's quite possibly hurting us? What's next - water is to blame for weight gain?

Yes, I know, I'm being a bit melodramatic here, but this is just disheartening. Studies were done at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio demonstrated that the more diet soft drinks a person drank, the more weight they gained. Nutritionists agreed with the findings because one of the recommendations for obese individuals trying to lose weight is to switch from regular soda to diet soda - but instead of seeing any difference in their weight loss, there was either none or they actually gained some weight.

What's Up With That?

After all the bad news, you'd hope there was at least a really good explanation - instead, all we have are theories. One theory suggests that people who drink diet soda may actually eat more because subconsciously, they think they can because their soda is calorie free. Other theories speculate that physiology is playing its part. Drinking anything but water can actually stimulate hunger - though that is still just a theory.

So - is diet soda really just a pretty pop culture fairy tale we've been telling ourselves for the last couple of decades? Did I make the transition from drinking regular soda to diet soda for no reason? Did I actually spend several weeks acclimating myself to the nasty aftertaste?

Some nutritionists think that the flaw in diet soda is the same with any diet craze that sweeps the nation. When we went fat-free, we ate everything we could that was fat free. When we went low carb, we overate on anything that was carb free. Now, the same can be said of diet soft drinks. We actually do the math in our heads and say, hey, I drank 5 diet soft drinks today, that's 500 calories I didn't consume, so I can have that extra helping of French fries.

So, Now What?

Well, at the moment - there's still research ongoing. The experts don't know of the diet soda phenomenon is limited to certain kinds of artificial sweeteners or a drawback of all of them. They don't know exactly why you don't lose weight, but they are still testing their theories. In the meanwhile, if you really want to drop those extra pounds and you're not going to wait another few years for the researchers to tell you what is safe or not - skip the soda all together.

Drink water. Drink coffee. Drink juice. Drink tea. And don't overindulge. Diet products can only help you if you are watching what you consume while increasing your output of activity. Still - I don't like water that much and I have cut back on the actual sugar I put in my coffee and tea, but I'm going to miss enjoying the cheap thrill of the empty calorie in the Diet Coke with Lime.

Oh well, life is full of disappointments, isn't it?

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Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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Julie Gentry (5915) 08 Jan 2007 10:18 PM

Diet sodas contain aspartame, which is really hard on your liver. Guess what the fat-burning organ is? Yep, the liver. Besides, they taste nasty ;-).