Americans drink an average of 27 ounces, or more than two cans of diet soda daily, according to MSNBC. People drink these sodas as a way to satisfy an urge for sweets, while cutting back on calories. Unfortunately, the notion that diet sodas are good for diets may be a myth, and those who drink it with the hopes of weight loss will be sorely disappointed.
Insulin Release and Fat Burning
Diet sodas can actually cause weight gain over time, according to eMax Health, because the sweet taste causes an insulin spike that makes you hungry. When you drink something sweet, your pancreas releases insulin to help the sugary substance process. Insulin releases can inhibit the workings of a fat burning hormone known as HSL or hormone sensitive lipase, which in turn, can increase your appetite and lead to weight gain.
Feeling of Fullness
The artificial sweeteners in diet sodas interfere with your body's ability to feel "full," according to eMax Health's report of findings by Perdue University Professor Terry Davidson and associate professor Susan Withers, published in the "International Journal of Obesity." Their study indicated that "mouth feel" plays a big role in your body's natural ability to track calories, and that diet sodas throw this tracking device off. As a result, diet soda drinkers tend to overeat without being conscious of it.
A Mental Game
Others theorize that diet soda consumption is all part of a mental game, says an article on the CBS News website, whereby consumers think it is acceptable to eat more because you are drinking a diet soda. This is a fallacy -- a diet product won't help you lose weight when you are taking in too many calories from other foods.
A Craving Shift
Others go further, suggesting that drinking diet soda makes you crave more high-calorie sweet foods and thus results in weight gain. According to MSNBC's report about the work of Dr. David Ludwig, director of the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Boston's Children's Hospital, animal studies show evidence of this.
Research Findings
Substituting a diet soda for a sugary one can help lower your caloric intake, but evidence presented to the American Diabetes Association by University of Texas at San Antonio Epidemiologist Sharon Fowler suggests that the more sodas with artificial sweeteners a person drinks, the more weight he is likely to gain. Fowler's findings indicated that those who drank three or more servings of diet soda a day were at twice the risk for weight gain over seven to eight years, compared to those who skipped the diet drinks. Moreover, those who drank just one diet drink a day were more likely to have a thicker waist -- a condition linked with diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
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