Diet drinks have one clear advantage over regular drinks -- they contain no calories and no sugar. If you're trying to lose weight, losing that sugar can have a big impact on the scale. However, diet drinks are not necessarily any better, as they may have some effects in your health. They also contain no nutrition, so even if you're not consuming calories, you also won't be getting any vitamins out of a diet drink.
Types of Sweeteners
Diet drinks are usually sweetened with aspartame. Before 1983 and the approval of aspartame, diet drinks were often sweetened with saccharine. Some diet drinks use Splenda as a sweetener. Splenda is made from natural sugar, so its flavor is closer to real sugar than other artificial sweeteners. Although Coca-Cola sells a Splenda line of diet drinks, this sweetener is more commonly used in juices and sport drinks.
Sugar vs. Sugar Substitute
Sugar and artificial sweeteners are radically different in a number of ways. Aspartame, the sweetener in diet soda, is safe for people with diabetes, since it doesn't raise blood sugar. It also doesn't cause cavities as sugar does. Finally, sweeteners have close to zero calories. While a regular can of soda contains about 130 calories from sugar, a diet can contains zero. The same is true of other diet drinks, such as juices and energy drinks.
Calories
While aspartame and saccharin contain no calories, Splenda does have some. In the US, products that contain less than 5 calories per serving can be marketed as "calorie-free." In the case of Splenda, a single serving packet contains 4 calories or 0.9 g of carbs. People in a low-carb diet should be careful when choosing diet drinks and opt for those that contain aspartame instead.
Dangers
Although sugar substitutes contain no calories, they might affect your hunger levels. According to a study conducted at Purdue University in 2008, sweeteners affect the hunger center of the brain, causing your metabolism to drop and your cravings to soar. Aspartame has also been linked to a number of health issues. While the FDA claims that aspartame is perfectly safe, medical experts, like nutritionist Dr. Janet Starr Hull, disagree. Hull believes aspartame can cause everything from migraines and vision problems to memory loss, depression and anxiety.
References
- "Scientific American"; Sweeteners Linked to Weight Gain; Lisa Stein; February 2008
- Sweet Poison: Aspartame Side Effects
- Women to Women: Diet Soda --- How Healthy Is It?
- MayoClinic.com: Artificial Sweeteners
- New York Times: Coke Beginning Aspartame Use
- Low Carb Freedom: Splenda's Real Nutritional Information
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