Hello there, beloved viewer.
How often do you drink diet soda?
Coke, Pepsi, whatever. It all counts.
Over 20% of the U.S. population has at least two diet drinks a day,
and apparently to many people’s dismay.
For years, we’ve been told that diet soda is actually worse than regular.
But that’s not entirely true.
While it may not be the healthiest choice on the menu, there are many
myths about diet soda that have been passed off as real facts.
Let’s discuss 4 Myths You’ve Bought About Diet Soda.
Does it really help you lose weight?
Can it really cause diabetes?
What about cancer?
We’re talking all of that AND more…
First myth...
Diet Soda Causes Cancer
Since this may be the most pressing topic in today’s video, we’ll get it out of the way first.
To put it simply, there is no strong scientific link between diet soda and cancer.
To talk about why this myth exists in the first place, we must first talk about aspartame.
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener used as a replacement for sugar in diet products.
It was long believed that long-term consumption of aspartame would
increase the risk of cancers including leukemia, lymphoma and brain cancer.
This suspicion gained traction through the 80’s and early 90’s,
with the internet gaining more and more prevalence.
Since the birth of this rumour, aspartame has become among the
most thoroughly researched ingredients ever, with scientists conducting countless studies.
For example, in the mid-90’s it was common belief that aspartame was responsible for brain tumours.
After research, it was found that most of these tumors were found in people aged 70 and older,
a demographic that had not been exposed to high amounts of aspartame.
It was also discovered that the tumors had also
began 8 years before aspartame had been an approved substance.
While this would point towards aspartame being rather harmless, a study in 2012 concluded
that there was a slight increase in lymphoma and myeloma, there was no increase in women.
With that said, researchers also found the same increase with people who drank regular soda.
In a 2015 review of almost 600,000 people,
it was concluded that there is no official link between diet drinks and cancer.
So if this is something you have always feared, you can probably sleep soundly.
Unless you’re also concerned about weight loss. In that case, strap in...
Diet Soda Helps You Lose Weight
For those of you looking to lose weight,
cutting sugary coke out of your diet can be a huge leg up in the fight for a skinnier frame.
But replacing your soda with a diet drink?
Think again.
To all you diet drink companies, we’ve got to hand it to you.
You’ve certainly done a great job in convincing people that
their diet isn’t complete without your product.
People seem to believe that a product with the word “diet”
in front automatically means pounds shed.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Within minutes of your first sip,
the artificial sweetener in the diet soda will send a signal to your pancreas.
Confusing the sweetener for sugar, the organ will produce insulin and
begin storing it as fat, causing you to gain weight and instead of lose it.
Did you know that Aspartame can be 200-times sweeter than actual sugar?
If you drink diet sodas on the regular,
your taste buds will grow accustomed to these sweeteners and begin to crave more.
So in turn, drinking diet soda can have the opposite effect of what you set out to do.
Studies show that people who have diet drinks
on the regular consume about 200 more calories a day than those who do not.
Who knew that a drink with no sugar could cause such harm.
If you think we’re out of the woods, wait until our next point…
First, are you concerned about your sugar intake?
Check out our video on 7 Natural Sweeteners That Are Much Better For You Than Sugar…
Also, are you looking to clear your face of acne or dry skin?
Have a look at our clip about Removing Wrinkles with An Anti-Aging Banana Face Mask.
Now let’s continue with our list of 4 Myths You’ve Heard About Diet Soda...
Diet Soda Causes Diabetes
While many diet coke enthusiasts turn to the drink to escape the clutches of sugary beverages,
it has long been rumoured to increase the risk of diabetes.
Remember how we talked about the triggering of insulin?
Well a number of studies initially reported that the artificial sweetener
in diet sodas actually double your chances of developing diabetes and heart disease.
After thorough research, scientists had reason to believe that this was true.
Unfortunately, due to lack of concrete evidence,
there is still no proven link between diet beverages and diabetes.
As a result, scientists are kind of left scratching their heads.
Does it cause diabetes, or doesn’t it?
The madness!
It comes down to a questionnaire put between 2000 and 2002,
where subjects were asked to detail their food frequency.
During the study, many people were revealed to be suffering from Type 2 Diabetes.
Scientists noticed that those who drank diet soda were 36% more likely to have
metabolic syndrome and 67% more susceptible to Type 2 diabetes.
This is much greater than for those who did not drink diet soda.
But here’s the kicker.
For Type 2 Diabetes, other elements of peoples diets were also factored in.
Diet coke was not the soul culprit.
The two were independent from each other.
So while it can be suspected that diet coke’s artificial
sweetening can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, there is no true evidence.
Now sugary drinks on the other hand, that has been linked to increase diabetes.
So either you steer clear of coke, or you at least know the risks!
Diet Coke is Highly Addictive
Move over coffee, there’s a new irresistible drink in town!
For a while, it has been said that people can easily be hooked onto diet coke.
And much of the research supports this claim!
In order to talk about this further, we must first break down a few more of its ingredients.
Like for instance, caffeine.
Due to excess sugar, it’s conceivable that regular coke would keep you wired longer than diet.
Boy are you wrong!
Diet coke actually contains about 10 more mg of caffeine.
This makes for a grand total of 42 mg in just a single can.
While health experts recommend no more than 400 mg of caffeine per day,
drinking as much as 100 mg within 24 hours is enough to develop an addiction.
Remember how we mentioned that aspartame can cause you to crave more sweetness?
Well this also plays into your urge to drink more diet soda.
When you consume aspartame, your brain chemistry gets messed around.
When combined with caffeine,
aspartame is said to give you a high that is similar to that of drugs like cocaine.
Do you drink a lot of diet coke?
Are you considering quitting?
Let us know in the comment section…