Drinking diet soda may not be a good idea if you want to lose weight. A new study shows that overweight adults who replace regular sugar-sweetened drinks with diet beverages actually consume more calories than those who don't.
Researchers at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health analyzed the body weight as well as the diet beverage and caloric consumption of U.S. adults using data from the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and found that adults who drink diet beverages such as diet soda, consume more calories from solid food.
"Diet-soda drinkers who are overweight or obese are eating more solid food during the day than overweight and obese people who drink sugary beverages," lead study researcher Sara Bleich, associate professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, told HealthDay.
"Although overweight and obese adults who drink diet soda eat a comparable amount of total calories as heavier adults who drink sugary beverages, they consume significantly more calories from solid food at both meals and snacks," Bleich said.
The researchers believe that the artificial sweeteners found in diet drinks prompt people to eat more because they do not think they get enough sugar. "If you consume artificial sweeteners, it makes the brain think you are less satiated or full, and as a result you eat more," explained Bleich.
The American Beverage Association, which represents soda manufacturers, however, disagrees (obviously) with the findings of the study. "Diet beverages have been shown to be an effective tool as part of an overall weight-management plan," it said in a statement. "Numerous studies have repeatedly demonstrated the benefits of diet beverages -- as well as low-calorie sweeteners, which are in thousands of foods and beverages -- in helping to reduce calorie intake."
Chris Ochner, an assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York does not also believe that artificial sweeteners in diet beverages make people fat. "Diet soda is not making people fat," Ochner told CBS News. "Eating too many calories is making too many people fat."
Nonetheless, the authors made recommendations based on the findings of the study published in the American Journal of Public Health. "The results of our study suggest that overweight and obese adults looking to lose or maintain their weight -- who have already made the switch from sugary to diet beverages -- may need to look carefully at other components of their solid-food diet, particularly sweet snacks, to potentially identify areas for modification," Bleich said.
