Guest Post: 3 Reasons Diet Soda May Be Worse Than Regular Soda

If that’s the bad news about soda, wait until you hear what diet soda does. Yes, you heard that right; diet soda is worse than regular soda, not a healthy substitute as the smarmy sales spiels scream. If you’re wondering about the truth of this statement, read on:

Aspartame is worse than sugar: Sugar is the main villain in any diet story; cut the sugar, trim the fat – that’s what the experts say. But if you knew how dangerous aspartame, the most common sugar substitute used in diet sodas, was, you would start to think of sugar as your best friend. Although the FDA has certified aspartame as a safe food additive, research has proved that this chemical is responsible for hastening Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia when ingested on a regular and continuous basis. Also, aspartame has been known to bring on mood swings, headaches, dizziness, and even diarrhea.

The sweetness does the damage, not the sugar: If you’ve labored under the mistaken assumption that diet soda causes weight loss, all I can say is that the marketers have you just where they want you. Diet soda does not hasten or cause weight loss; rather, it promotes weight gain because it’s not just the sugar in regular soda that is the villain. Rather, your brain senses that you’re eating or drinking something sweet and immediately signals the body to start producing insulin. This slows down the fat burning process and plays havoc with your metabolism. It’s the same reaction as when you drink a can of regular soda, only, because you assume it is healthier and conducive to weight loss, you end up drinking more of the diet soda. You also end up increasing your risk for heart disease, stroke, blood pressure and cholesterol.

You lose nutrition and strength: Soda contains phosphorous and other chemicals that leach your bones of calcium and also deplete your body’s store of iodine. When you drink sodas, your body uses its cache of iodine to neutralize your blood pH from becoming too acidic. When you lose iodine this way, your thyroid does not have enough to regulate your metabolism, and this in turn causes you to gain weight and suffer from thyroidal problems as well. Also, without adequate calcium, your bones become brittle and more prone to fractures and the early onset of osteoporosis.

So the next time you reach for a can of diet soda because you’re dying of thirst, remember that this drink could end up killing you too.

*This article is contributed by Ashley M. Jones, who regularly writes on the subject of Pharmacy Technician Certification. She invites your questions, comments at her email address: ashleym.jones643@gmail.com .