Should We Be Drinking Diet Drinks?

Over the last 10 years I have noticed that a lot of the people who come to me for help to lose weight have a few things in common and one of those things is drinking diet drinks. Of course, they are shocked when I suggest that diet drinks are not helping them in reaching their weight loss goals and struggle to believe that a fat free, sugar free, calorie free drink could possibly be doing them more harm than good.

As someone who promotes consuming foods and drinks  as"near to nature" as possible in order to maintain a healthy diet I believe that diet drinks are a long way from nature and so should be avoided. This would include all drinks with aspartame, a man made sweetener. (Now try finding orange squash or other fruit squash drinks without aspartame in them - it's not that easy!)

To convince me further on this subject (and encouraging me to spread the word further) is an article in Fitpro Network (The magazine for personal trainers) written by Luis Devera. He discusses this question and gives examples of studies and explanations that give evidence of possible ways that these diet drinks may be effecting us.

I have included a summary of the examples he gives here:

• Over 10 years a study showed that "the waistlines of diet soft-drinkers grew 70% more than non-drinkers".
• Another study proposed that "the artificial sweetener may have a triggering effect on the appetite but, unlike normal sugars, can't deliver the goods to satisfy, leaving the dieter hungry". 
• One theory is that "people unconsciously allow themselves to overeat believing they have saved calories by drinking diet options". 
• Another theory is that the "sweet stimulus produces an insulin response". 
• Or it could be that the brain's hard wiring for appetite control is disrupted by the lack of calories coming in when there is a taste that indicates there should be calories?
• It has also been found that kidney function can be reduced in some people who drink two or more servings of diet drinks daily.
• Then to add to all of this there is the knowledge that diet drinks contain phosphoric acid which, if there is too much in the body, can contribute to calcium being excreted more quickly than normal. Also increasing the risk of osteoporosis and other side effects.

With all of this in mind perhaps we should ask ourselves if these diet drinks are really supporting our health goals?
  Is the short term pleasure of the taste worth the long term pain they could be causing us?

My recommended health giving drink - you know it - WATER!!!



Sue x