Diet Cola & Weight Loss

Diet soft drinks are simply those that contain no natural sugars, and have no calories. The very fist diet soda was called No-Cal, and it was launched in Brooklyn, New York in 1953. Within months the company showed millions of dollars in profits, inspiring Royal Crown Cola to launch the first diet cola drink -- Diet Rite Cola -- in 1961. Pepsi and Coca Cola quickly followed with diet colas of their own, though neither company put their brand name on their first efforts. Unfortunately, zero-calorie colas are not the weight loss aid they're advertised to be.

Theory/Speculation

Saccharine was developed as a substitute for sugar in 1879. Its use as a diet aid did not grow in popularity until after World War II, when the American public became more health conscious. At that time, counting calories was the accepted method of weight loss, so calorie-free colas were a great boon to dieters -- except that it didn't turn out that way. According to preliminary studies done in San Antonio, Texas, and other places, people who drink diet sodas are more likely to become obese.

Identification

Diet colas contain artificial sweeteners, which mimic the way sugar tastes on your tongue. Their purpose is to satisfy your cravings for sweet things without having to worry about calories. Saccharine was the first artificial sweetener, according to dietitian Nedra Christenson at Utah State University Cooperative Extension. Aspartame and cyclamates are also of that generation of sweeteners, though cyclamates were banned in 1970 after animal studies linked them to certain cancers. The next generation of sweeteners includes acesulfate-k, sucralose, alitame and neotame. The link between artificial sweeteners and weight gain in diet colas is being studied, but is not well understood.

Effects

One theory as to why people drinking diet sodas gain weight, according to a 2008 study published in "Neuroimage," is that your brain responds differently to sugar than to sucralose, which was the sweetener studied. Studies of brain images taken before and after consuming sugar and sucralose showed that the brain's "food reward" section recognized sugar, the way you consciously recognize that a craving has been satisfied. The brains of the people studied did not react at all to the sucralose, meaning that it would still be sending out those cravings. Another theory, reported in UAB Magazine, is that there is a second set of "taste buds" in the intestinal tract, responsible for sending out signals telling you that you've had enough to eat. These sensors don't recognize artificial sweeteners, so when you drink a diet soda, and they don't get any calories, they signal hunger. Many more studies are needed, but if drinking a diet cola triggers hunger pangs, you are more likely to take in more calories than you need at the next meal.

Warnings

Aside from apparent interference with weight loss, there are other risk factors associated with drinking diet sodas. According to researchers at Boston University, consuming diet sodas, including colas, causes a high risk of metabolic syndrome, which is a group of conditions that can lead to heart disease. Among the factors contributing to heart disease are high fasting blood sugar levels, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, carrying excess fat around the waist, and low levels of HDL, which are the good cholesterol that helps keep your arteries clear. It is harder for an unhealthy body to lose weight, because it is not functioning efficiently, and you have less energy.

Conclusion

Many more studies are needed before the link between diet colas and weight gain are understood, but it is clear that if you are looking to lose weight, drinking diet colas is not going to help you. Cutting back on your caloric intake is hard enough without a diet cola telling you that you're hungry, or that you haven't actually had anything sweet.