Soda Pop Weight Gain Diet

Although it's not healthy to use soda pop as a method for weight gain, it can be effective. Soda adds calories to a person's daily total without adding essential nutrients, and cumulatively consuming more calories than the body uses will result in weight gain. Even diet sodas, which are calorie-free, may have similar effects.

Features

On what can be colloquially termed a "soda pop diet," dieters regularly drink soda, either diet or conventional varieties, and gain weight over time. The weight gain may be intentional or unintentional. Usually, dieters don't use sodas as meal replacements but rather drink them in addition to the normal meals and snacks they eat every day.

Function

It's logical to see why drinking regular soda can cause people to gain weight. Consuming extra calories over time adds up to extra pounds on the scale, and since soda contains calories, a person who sticks to a normal diet but adds a can or two of soda every day will gradually put on weight. The theory behind the correlation between diet soda and weight gain is not as clear. According to a 2010 article in the Yale University Journal of Biology and Medicine, graduate student Qian Yang writes that artificial sweeteners such as those found in diet beverages may contribute to weight gain and do not result in weight loss when used as a single strategy.

Nutrition

According to the Coca-Cola Company, one 12-oz. can of regular Coca-Cola constitutes a single serving and contains 140 calories, 39 g carbohydrates and 39 g sugar. The beverage is free of fat, sodium and protein and also contains no vitamins, minerals or beneficial nutrients. That information means that almost all of the calories in a soft drink come from simple carbohydrates and sugars; thus, it can be easy to gain weight from drinking sodas because they add calories without the nutrients that make a person feel full or satisfied.

Considerations

A healthy diet of any kind should include a balance of nutrients, including complex carbohydrates, lean proteins and unsaturated fats. As soda contains none of those beneficial nutrients, it's not a healthy diet food and not a safe way to gain weight. Dr. Melina Jampolis, CNN's physician nutrition specialist, recommends that people who want to gain weight do so with nutritious foods that are likely to add muscle and not just fat. Soda is likely to add only the latter.

Prevention/Solution

To gain weight in a healthy way, eat a balanced, nutritious diet of calorie-dense foods. The University of Los Angeles's Student Nutrition Action Committee suggests drinking shakes, milk, 100 percent juice and other healthy beverages instead of soda. MayoClinic.com also urges underweight people to eat more frequently and choose foods that are rich in calories as well as vitamins, minerals and nutrients.