Diet Soda: Friend or Foe?

Watching your waist line? Chances are you’ve followed the advice of countless fitness and health magazines and switched from regular Coke to Diet. I know I have! So I am shocked, not to mention seriously annoyed, that researches continue to come up with more and more research showing that people who drink one or more soft drinks a day have a 31 percent greater risk of becoming obese! How can this be? It’s diet soda. Well, scientists aren’t sure, but they say one possibility is that since diet soda is sweet, you may develop a preference for sweet foods as well, which tend to be higher in calories. Also, on average, soda drinkers tend to eat more calories, consume more saturated fat, and exercise less. Another theory is that the substance that gives soda its caramel color promotes resistance to insulin, which is needed to process calories. Yikes! Unfortunately for many, including Victoria Beckham, Bill Clinton, and Elton John diet coke has become an addiction. Are you a diet soda junkie? Check out one woman’s blog on how she went from drinking 250 ounces of diet coke a day to 32. Maybe it will inspire you to quit your sweet little addiction!