Consuming more calories than we burn causes obesity. Soft drinks which are packed with calories have been blamed for the obesity problem. So, people switched to diet soda which has a sweet taste with few calories. However, new research and studies show that diet soda may cause weight gain.
Diet soda contains sugar substitutes such as aspartame, saccharin and sucralose. They are many times sweeter than sugar, but have less calories. So, drinking diet soda should be a safer option. However, research shows that diet soda-weight gain are related. In fact, a new research by Purdue University showed that rats that ate sweetened sugar gained more weight than rats that ate simple sugar.
Why Does Drinking Diet Soda Make You Gain Weight?
Here are a few reasons for diet soda – weight gain:
- Calorie Deficit: Experts say that our brain has a link between the taste and calories. So, when you eat a sugary food, the brain expects the calories to come along with it. When the body does not get the calories along with the diet soda —you tend to overeat to compensate the calories.
- Increases preference for sugar: Drinking diet soda regularly can increase your sugar cravings. Sugar has been found to be addictive. So, when you drink diet soda regularly, you may be programming yourself for a high preference for sweet foods — which in turn can result in weight gain.
- Replaces Healthy Drinks: When you drink diet soda, you would be having less of healthy drinks such as fruits juices and water — which are important to stay healthy
Switching to diet soda is recommended if you consume large amounts of soft drinks and are planning to cut down. However, having 4 to 5 drinks of diet soda can lead to long term weight loss. So, instead of diet soda, have more of water or an occasional fruit juice to prevent diet soda-weight gain.
Can Drinking Water Reduce Obesity?
It is not uncommon to find obese people indulging into over-eating. Water is a natural appetite suppressant. Any substance is called so if it can cause weight loss by decreasing the craving for food. Lack of water can instead lead to over over eating. Our body cannot differentiate between hunger and thirst. It means that the hunger pains which we experience might be signalling of the body for water.
Instead of quenching our thirst with water, we eat junk food to satiate our hunger. If ever we make out that our body is thirsty, we replace plain water with soft drinks. These habits basically promote obesity in our body on daily basis. Some of the signs of low water levels in our body are headaches, fatigue, constipation, yellow colour urine and bad breath. Nearly 6-8 large glasses of water is a must for every adult.
