Can Diet Soft Drinks Increase Weight?

Not only is regular soda crappy but we have more bad news for diet soda drinkers: Other than the fact that aspartame or artificial sweeteners are always bombarded due to their unhealthy detrimental side effects, data presented recently at the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) that diet drinks may actually contribute to weight gain and that the artificial sweeteners in them could potentially contribute Type 2 diabetes!

The study conducted in San Antonio aimed to track any association between diet soda drinking and body fat by following participants up for 10 consecutive years.

So what actually happened?

Diet soda drinkers’ waist lines expanded 70 % more than non drinkers over those 10 years. More interestingly, among frequent diet soda drinkers, those who tended to consume 2  or more diet sodas/day >> waistline growth was 500% greater!

Note that excess weight, especially that around your belly, is a risk factor for many diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
 

Why?

The brain is actually wired to expect a big load of calories when foods taste sweet or fatty. But when you decide to consume diet foods, this confuses the brain because your body hasn't received any of the energy it expected! Therefore, using artificial sweeteners, may lead to even more eating and weight gain, perhaps in part because it triggers the body to start storing more calories as fat! Your brain and body are both deceived by the taste your tongue senses, and when they realized they've been hoaxed and no energy was in fact consumed, they turn on their fat storage mode! Not good news for us!

Another reason is psychological. When people have their diet soft drink, it becomes a free pass to indulge in fatty/greasy/sugary/salty foods

So maybe, just maybeee, your diet soft drink is not serving you well?
Reference: Healthland.time.com