Diet Sodas Ruins "Diets": Study Links Zero Calorie Beverages to Long-term Weight Gain

People who drank diet sodas increased their abdominal fat over nine years, compared to those who didn't, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Data was collected and analysed from 749 people aged 65 years or older. After every year, they were asked to document the number of diet soda cans they consumed everyday, and how many of these were diet or regular.

Ironically, even after factoring related diseases such as diabetes, smoking and physical activity, the study found that people who did not consume diet soda increased 0.8 inches around their waists, but people who drank it everyday increased their weight by 3.2 inches. Those who drank only occasionally increased by just about 1.8 inches, according to time.com.

The waist is the wrong place for weight gain, as it pads visceral fat from inside, and is linked with higher rates of cardiovascular disease, inflammation and Type 2 diabetes.

Diet colas shoot up belly fat and contribute to metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases, according to sciencedaily.

"Regular sugar has calorific consequences," says the study's senior author Dr. Helen Hazuda, professor of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. It brings in a feeling of 'satiety' or a sense of fullness or satisfaction.

"Your body is used to knowing that a sweet taste means you are ingesting energy in the form of calories that, if you don't burn them off, is going to convert to fat," she says. However, artificial sweeteners tend to "confuse our bodies and weaken the link in our brains between sweetness and calories." It leads to increased weight and more yearning for weight gain.

A recent study in mice showed that artificial sweeteners may affect the gut bacteria of mice, exposing them to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, leading to weight gain. More research shows that artificial sweeteners brings down the appetite-regulating hormone leptin, which is a hormone inhibiting hunger.

However, these findings were countered by the Calorie Control Council, which represents the reduced-calorie food and beverage industry, including alternative sweeteners. "The use of low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs) in weight management has been shown to be beneficial," the group said. "While approaches to treat obesity in older individuals is controversial, diet modifications can be a successful part of a weight-management program for older adults."

The increase in weight was proportionately more in those who were overweight. "People who are already at cardiometabolic risk because they have higher BMIs are really in double or triple jeopardy," Hazuda says. "When they think they're doing something good by drinking artificially sweetened beverages, it's actually totally counterproductive."