In 2005, Americans bought 10.2 billion cases of all forms of soda, or about 828 eight-ounce servings a year per person, according to "Beverage Digest. " Although there don't appear to be many side effects from the occasional consumption of diet drinks, constant use can lead to a host of serious health problems.
Artificial Sweetener Dangers
According to Dr. Janet Hull, author of "Sweet Poison," each of the various artificial sweeteners used in diet soda comes with various drawbacks and potential side effects. Acesulfame K can aggravate reactive hypoglycemia and has been linked to tumors in lab studies. The National Toxicology Program (NTP) removed saccharin from the list of potential carcinogens in 1997, but it belongs to a class known as sulfonamides, which can cause allergic reactions in people who can't tolerate sulfa drugs. Dr. H.J. Roberts has written extensively about what he calls "aspartame disease," reporting that by 1998, products with aspartame were the cause of 80 percent of complaints to the FDA about food additives. Finally, sucralose contains chlorine, a known carcinogen, and has been linked to side effects such as bloating, diarrhea and nausea.
Obesity
It may sound counterintuitive, but research has shown that drinking diet sodas can actually lead to obesity. Sharon P. Fowler and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio found that for each can of diet drink consumed daily, the obesity risk rose by 41 percent. This process is not yet clearly understood, but preliminary evidence indicates artificial sweeteners signal the brain that calories are actually being consumed, but when they aren't, it prompts overeating to compensate.
Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is the term for cluster of risk factors linked to the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure, low levels of heart-protecting HDL cholesterol, and excessive waist circumference. The Framingham Heart Study, which has been following 6,000 participants since 1948, found that people who consumed more than one soft drink of any kind each day, even diet, were 44 percent more likely to develop metabolic syndrome. Another study by Dr. Ramachandran Vasan at Boston University School of Medicine found that diet sodas in particular were associated with an increased rate of metabolic syndrome.
Bone Density Loss
Research published in the "Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine" in 2000 showed that among physically active girls, cola beverages were strongly associated with an increased risk of bone fractures. Other studies looking into the effect of sodas upon bone loss in older women found a direct correlation between consumption and the amount of bone density loss. Studies at Washington State University and other institutions showed that the culprit is caffeine (in those drinks that have the ingredient) and phosphoric acid, both of which leach calcium out of the bones. Three or more colas a week lead to significant bone-density loss in women, and one cola per day lead to even more dramatic loss.
Kidney Disease
The National Nurses' Health Study and Dr. Julie Lin of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found a link between consumption of artificially sweetened drinks and kidney disease. Two or more daily servings of diet sodas led to a twofold increased risk of faster kidney function decline.
Digestion and Malnutrition
When people consume large quantities of diet sodas, they often decrease their intake of healthy beverages, such as milk, that prevent diseases like diabetes. Also, caffeinated sodas drain calcium from the bones, and caffeine is a diuretic that causes an increase in urine volume, washing minerals out of the body before they can be properly absorbed. In addition, sodas are also often linked to digestive diseases like acid reflux, GERD, ulcers and hiatal hernias.
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