Diet Information
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Do Diet Drinks Help You To Lose Weight?Many dieters consume diet drinks in order to help them reduce weight. Question is, do they help? According to a recent survey, the answer is No: beverages like diet sodas do not assist weight reduction. In fact, people who drink no-calorie diet sodas are more likely to gain weight than those who consume regular (non-diet) soft drinks. See also Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi and Diet Drinks Diet Sodas Not Helpful For Weight LossThe study, conducted by researchers at the University of Texas Health Center, used data about weight and soft drink consumption from the 25-year "San Antonio Heart Study". According to this data, about 7-8 years after entering the study, participants who drank diet soft drinks were more likely to have gained weight than those who drank regular soft drinks. Why Don't Low Calorie Drinks Help?Researchers are unsure why low or no-calorie drinks fail to assist weight loss. Possible reasons include: (1) Diet soda drinkers may not feel as full as regular soda drinkers, and may tend to eat more. (2) Diet sodas may lead to more fatigue and a corresponding reduction in physical activity. (3) Diet drinkers may feel they can eat more if they consume no-calorie beverages, and may underestimate the extra food calories they eat. |
Use of Sugar Substitutes to Lose WeightAlthough by no means definitive, the results of the diet-sodas study are in line with at least one large scale study of low-calorie sweeteners. In this study, dieters who used sugar substitutes in their daily eating plans lost no more weight than those who used sugar. The Diet Soda MarketAccording to research conducted by the American Beverage Association, Americans spent nearly $65.9 billion on carbonated soft drinks in 2004. In 2003, diet sodas comprised about 20 percent of the market. However, their sales are increasing faster (up 7.5 percent) than sales of regular sodas (up only 2.1 percent). |