In comparison to diet drinks, regular soda undoubtedly wins in calorie count. Yet the question persists in whether or not diet drinks really help in weight loss. The question continues to be open for debate and discussion.
The issue came to the forefront after a recent study bythe University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. The study, reported by the News & Observer, looked at 474 subjects the between ages of 64 and 74 over a 12-year period. It found that, on average, those who drank diet sodas ended up with waistlines that increased three times more than those who avoided them. It has also been reported that individuals who regularly drink more than two diet sodas a day had increased waistlines up to five times against non-diet soda drinkers.
Keith Harris, assistant professor at the department of food, bioprocessing andnutrition sciences, unravels the ingredients behind diet drinks. Artificial sweeteners are used in diet drinks in place of real sugar.
“It is absolutely true that the diet drinks have fewer calories,” Harris said. “Theycontain sweeteners that are sweeter than sugar. There are two kinds of sweeteners: one with zero calories and the other with very few calories. Saccarine (sold in pink packets), Sucralose and Acesulfame K have zero calories. These cannot be digested by the body. Equal or Nutrasweet (sold in blue color packs) and Stevia are protein based that have few calories and can be
digested.”
However, there is no found correlation between the types of sugar and the increased weight gain in soda drinkers. Instead, Harris observed that there are two distinct populations whoconsume the artificial sweeteners.
“The first population consumes diet soda, pays attentionto their diet and is very fit. The second population also consumes diet beverages, but also ends up eating high calorie and high density
food. In such a case, these low calorie drinks do no good. There is no indication that these diet drinks truly help one lose weight,” Harris said.
For Sarah Ash, professor at the department of food, bioprocessing and nutrition sciences, the study was another reminder that calories count – nothing more.
“For the age group considered, moreweight in the middle section [of the body] can be related to health issues such as diabetes, etc.” Ash said. “People take to these diet drinks to control weight. It, however, does not give them a license to binge on a candy later. Diets are extremely complex. If one tries to point out one attribute that needs to be avoided to control weight, then one does not know science at all.”
Ash reduces the concept of dieting to one notion: It’s all about calories in and calories out of the system.
”Eat when you are hungry only,” Ash said. “And eat smart whenyou go out; eat half the appetizer or some parts of the dessert. Take the rest home.”
There are several aspects that have made sweeteners other than sugar a matter of intense scientific discussion in the past.
“There was a timewhen it was believed that consuming sodas could be harmful for one’s
health. But no one has found a direct negative effect of these sodas unless a person obsessively consumes 20-30 sodas per day,” Harris said. “There were also discussions in which people said consuming these sweeteners made one more hungry.”
While rumors about health defects caused by diet drinks have been circulating, studies such as those conducted by the University of Texas show that over time eating and drinking choices along with portion control are what truly determine the size of the waistline.
