7 Lesser Known Health Facts about Diet Soda

Diet soda is a drink which is considered to be a healthier and low caloric alternative to sodas or fizzy drinks. The generally healthy seeming diet soda in turn is in fact not so healthy. Yes, it is true that when one chooses to consume diet soda as against any other fizzy sugary drink, the individual is cutting down on calorie consumption but this does not make it as a healthy alternative either.

lesser known health facts about diet soda

There are many facts about diet soda which go unnoticed and the following are some of the most important ones.

  • The claims that switching from regular soda to the diet soda is beneficial but there is no conclusive report as to the overall benefits of diet soda in weight loss. In simpler terms, no conclusive results have been obtained from studies that certify to the fact that diet soda prevents obesity and helps in weight loss.
  • Even though lower in calories, diet soda does contain some artificial sweeteners. What many people don’t know about artificial sweeteners is that they are stronger than real sugar. Consumption of artificial sweetener overtime dulls the senses/ taste buds against natural sweetness.
  • According to some studies, there is a component called ‘aspartame’ in diet soda which alters moods. It has been associated with dizziness, headaches and mood swings in people. Diet soda is thus particularly harmful to individuals with depression/ anxiety predispositions.
  • A study by the University of Miami claims to have associated diet soda with increased risk of heart attack. As per the study, people who consume diet soda on daily basis are 44% more likely to have an episode of a heart attack.
  • Diet soda has a close relationship with type 2 diabetes. And that close relation is that consumption of diet soda eventually increases the risk in the individual of developing type -II diabetes. According to a study conducted by researchers, people who had a diet soda every day were 25% more likely to develop type-II diabetes as against people who drank very low quantities of diet soda or any other sugary drink.
  • It is true that diet soda does not contain that many calories but then again it is not that high on nutritional value either. When you consume diet soda, you definitely are not taking that many calories but you are not getting any healthier either. Many people replace their water consumption with diet soda, but this isn’t a healthy practice. Water is essential and should be consumed.
  • Another fact which a lot of people don’t know about various kinds of Diet sodas is that it causes teeth erosion and overtime can be very damaging to overall dental health of an individual. According to a case study in General Dentistry (journal), the citric acid in the soda weakens the tooth enamel and eventually completely destroys it. The study observed that cocaine users, diet soda drinkers and methamphetamine users all heave similar levels of tooth erosion.