Many people assume that when they drink diet soft drinks they are cutting back on calories and thus avoiding weight gain. However, science and study does not support of this contention. Instead, most studies done on diet sodas has found that persons that consume these drinks end up gaining weight instead of losing it.  I know this seems a big counterintuitive because you would think that if drink something with zero calories then it won’t cause you to gain weight. However, experts have found just the opposite.

 

Individuals who drink at least one diet soda today have higher tendencies to gain weight then those that do not.  The more diet drinks that a person consumes, the more pounds they tend to pack on. There are a number of reasons that health professionals believe that this is the case.

 

One theory holds that individuals who drink diet sodas tend to over eat actual food. This might be because they feel like since they are cutting back on the calories that they drink then it is fine to take in more food calories. As a result, they end up consuming way too many calories and end up gaining weight and not lose it. Often times there food choices are much unhealthier then they might be if they simply drank a regular soda.  Instead of eating a small salad and chicken breast with their diet coke (which would make a pretty healthy meal) they may instead eat hamburger and French fries. Often time they do this because they believe that their poor food choices are being balanced out with the diet soda they are drinking. Unfortunately for those that are looking to lose weight, this isn’t the case.

 

Another reason that health professionals believe that diet soft drinks might lead to weight gain is that when we drink liquids that are not water, gastric acid secretion increases in our stomachs. This can cause us to feel hungry and therefore we eat much more then we need. 

 

Right now, there are only theories to explain the diet soda/weight gain connection. More studies needs to be done to come up with a definitive answer. However, by and large, the most popular contention is that people tend to overeat when they drink diet sodas because they feel like they’re cutting back or sacrificing. Instead of consuming a healthy diet along with the diet drinks, people end up eating too much and make unhealthy food choices.  Because people don’t accurately keep track of how many calories they actually eat, they often assume that they are eating far less then what they do.  Subsequently, they end up gaining weight and often are blindsided by that.

 

It is not yet known if there is some chemical in diet soda that causes persons to gain weight or if people simply tend to overeat when they drink diet soft drinks. Many studies have been done on why trying to figure out why this occurs. Until a definitive answer is found it is best to either avoid these drinks or to ensure that you eat a healthy diet alongside it.

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