Stop Drinking Diet Soda....Now

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The loss control department at work sent this out (how ironic).

Quote:
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/st...-192600358.html

Yet another study confirms what people have been saying for ages: Stop drinking diet soda. Like, right now. Drinking just one 12-ounce can of an artificially sweetened fizzy drink per week can increase your risk of Type 2 diabetes by 33 percent, French researchers found. And given that most people don't stop at a single weekly serving, your real risk for diabetes could actually be much higher.

Diet Soda May Increase Risk of Depression

The study, which was announced Thursday and will be published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was conducted by France's National Institute of Health and Medical Research and covered 66,118 middle-aged women whose dietary habits and health were tracked from 1993 to 2007.

Diet Soda May Be Making You Fat

The results were unexpected. Though it's well-known that people who consume a lot of sugar are more likely to develop diabetes, the researchers found that participants who drank "light" or "diet" soft drinks had a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes than those who drank regular, sugar-filled sodas. Those who drank 100 percent natural squeezed fruit juices instead had no additional risk.

Women who choose artificially flavored soft drinks usually drink twice as many of them as women who choose regular soda or juice—2.8 glasses per week compared to 1.6 glasses. "Yet when an equal quantity is consumed, the risk of contracting diabetes is higher for 'light' or 'diet' drinks than for 'non-light' or 'non-diet' drinks," the researchers, epidemiologists Francoise Clavel-Chapelon and Guy [censored], said in a statement. Women who drank up to 500 milliliters (about 12 ounces) of artificially sweetened beverages per week were 33 percent more likely to develop the disease, and women who drank about 600 milliliters (about 20 ounces) per week had a 66 percent increase in risk.

Drinking sweetened beverages increases the risk of becoming overweight, which is itself a risk factor in developing diabetes. But the study didn't find that the results were the same even among overweight women. So how can artificially sweetened drinks be making the problem worse if they're fat- and calorie-free?

"With respect, in particular, to 'light' or 'diet' drinks, the relationship with diabetes can be explained partially by a greater craving for sugar in general by female consumers of this type of soft drink," the researchers explained. "Furthermore, aspartame, one of the main artificial sweeteners used today, causes an increase in glycaemia and consequently a rise in the insulin level in comparison to that produced by sucrose."

Translation: Drinking artificially sweetened drinks makes you crave other sweet things (hello, chocolate!). And your body reacts to aspartame—also known as NutraSweet and Equal—much in the same way that it reacts to plain old sugar.

According to the American Diabetes Association, about 25.8 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes—about 8.3 percent of the population. The disease is the leading cause of new cases of blindness in people age 20 and older, and can also cause heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, kidney disease, and damage to the nervous system. Type 2 diabetes—which can be controlled by diet and exercise rather than a daily insulin injection—is the most common form of diabetes in the United States.

The study's authors cautioned that more research was needed in order to prove a true causal link between diet sodas and Type 2 diabetes. "Information on beverage consumption was not updated during the follow-up, and dietary habits may have changed over time," they admitted in their report. "We cannot rule out that factors other than ASB [artificially sweetened beverages] are responsible for the association with diabetes."
 
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I'd guess that its the overweight, depressed women who drink the diet soda hoping that it will magically make them loose weight and then feel better.
 
Every year there's an article that says "don't consume artificial sweetener" and then a month later another article says "okay to consume artificial sweetener". Borderline fearmongering. I don't pay attention to this sort of stuff.

The same thing was said about wine, chocolate, eggs, red meat, cheese, etc. for the last 20 years.
 
The title should read "Stop Drinking Diet Soda...if you're a female" and I have doubt about this study, but I don't think I can clearly articulate my thoughts right now so I'll come back later.
 
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I read a story a few years ago about artificial sweetener effects on lab rats. All I have to say... good thing I'm not a lab rat! I'd be screwed!
 
The study's authors cautioned that more research was needed in order to prove a true causal link between diet sodas and Type 2 diabetes. "Information on beverage consumption was not updated during the follow-up, and dietary habits may have changed over time," they admitted in their report. "We cannot rule out that factors other than ASB [artificially sweetened beverages] are responsible for the association with diabetes."

Sounds to me like the 'research' is inconclusive at this point.

What's also not said, is for those with diabetes already, type one or two, drinking diet drinks has no effect on blood sugar, which is a good thing as the following link points out. Was watching D Life on the tube awhile back and diet drinks was one thing that was definitely on the ok list.

What's so bad about diet drinks?
 
Ironically the only sweetener that man has ever found that we know beyond a doubt is not dangerous (so long as it is used in moderation) is plain old sugar.

People consume tons of artificial chemicals as alternatives to their over consumption of otherwise healthy traditional foods. We have been conditioned by the diet industry (and it is an industry) to believe that these foods are pure poison when in fact the opposite seems to be true. Give me butter and sugar over butter flavored spread and aspartame any day.

If people just metered their consumption of sugar and such they could enjoy tasty foods and beverages in the moderation in which they were intended to be enjoyed.
 
Well,since Diet drinks have been around since the 1960s (remember TAB?),I guess they have been killing people for more than 50 years now....
 
My grandparents drank mostly "ice water." By the 80's most were drinking sodas as their primary beverage.

They still died, though. Pick your poison.
 
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Originally Posted By: dparm
Every year there's an article that says "don't consume artificial sweetener" and then a month later another article says "okay to consume artificial sweetener". Borderline fearmongering. I don't pay attention to this sort of stuff.


I agree. Its fearmongering.

I drink WAY TOO MUCH diet Coke. Knock down a 2 liter (or more) every day. At 49, I cannot say its caused any problems at all. My blood sugar is near perfect, I have perfect teeth, etc.

Then again, I eat pretty well and work out like a maniac. In fact I am an ex-collegiate power lifter. IMHO, my 12 hr. rotating shift work is far more detrimental to my health than diet Cokes.
 
I drink a ton of diet soda. My doctor could not be happier with my blood chemistry. Almost 60 yr old. There is no question that something sweet makes one crave more sweets. That could be more diet soda or real sweets. I pretty much avoid sweets in my house. I also wait 30 minutes or so after drinking soda before I brush my teeth as I believe it does soften the enamel for a short period of time. So does a bunch of other foods like anything citric. Drinking soda through a straw would eliminate much of the soda touching ones teeth.
 
I am tired of diet soda but have been drinking it for 20 years and never had elevated blood sugar. My family suffers from obesity and TypeII diabetes. They are overweight and eat lots of sugar. I eat almost none.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Quote:
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/st...-192600358.html

"We cannot rule out that factors other than ASB [artificially sweetened beverages] are responsible for the association with diabetes."

It's simple: Fat people drink diet beverages, then decide that they've saved enough calories that they can indulge in more of other foods. Then they end up consuming MORE calories of the "other foods" than they would if they had knowingly consumed high-calorie beverages.

This phenomenon is known as "moral hazard". Google it.
 
Originally Posted By: m6pwr
Several years ago the University of Nantes (France) did a study that involved a huge number of subjects (maybe 500,000+) and found that for optimum health a person should consume one bottle of wine a day.


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