Effects of Diet Soda

Author: Iloka Benneth Chiemelie
Published: 28 April 2018

Introduction

Diet soda is viewed as the innovative way to ease out of the high sugar sodas. There are numerous marketing processes centered on the ability of diet soda to help reduce sugar level and improve overall quality of life (Fortune, 2016). However, findings indicate that this is not the case.

What is consume

Against its promise of being a better health alternative, diet soda is nothing more than just flavors in bubble fuse. It also contains the sugar (in a significant volume) it preaches against, although majority of them are artificial sugar (e.g. aspartame) (Brown, 2016).

Quantity of diet soda consumed per annum

In a recent study, it was found that there is a slump in demand of diet soda produced by the major marketers (Coca-Cola and PepsiCo), and this has resulted to a broader decline within the industry for the 11^th consecutive year (Fortune, 2016).

The total decline in 2015 is 1.2%, which is an acceleration from the 9.9% recorded in 2014, with the three major players in the industry recording decline in demand. The report also noted that the annual per capital consumption of carbonated soft drink also dropped to about 650 eight-ounce serving in 2015 – which is the lowest it has ever been recorded in the USA since 1985 (Fortune, 2016).

General Effects

The decline in consumption of diet soda has been attributed to be due to consumers’ findings that it does not actually deliver promises associated with it. Additionally, people are increasingly being health conscious, which has led to decline in consumption of all forms of carbonated soft drink. The health effects of diet soda are as discussed below.

Carbon dioxide – diet soda are generally fuzzy drinks, which are high in CO2. As such, high consumption does imply high CO2 presence in the body and this can do significant level of damage to the body (Chan, 2013).

Neurotoxicity – studies indicate that artificial sweeteners contain more intense flavors and in the course of consumption, the boy will become dull to natural sense of sweetness such as those attributed to sweet foods like fruits (DAVIDSON, 2015). Added to this is the fact that the artificial sugar in diet soda also has the same effect as the normal sugar. Artificial sugar are capable of triggering insulin, which activates the body into fat storage mode, increasing the potential of users to gain more weight.

Headache – it is indicated in studies that the sweeteners (such as aspartame) are capable of triggering headaches in certain individuals. Majority of the clients in a study that suffered from migraine have pinpointed the root cause to be diet soda. (Gunnars, 2016)

Presence of caffeine – the combination of aspartame and caffeine is considered a potentially deadly combination in the sense that it creates a short additive high that can be compared with the functioning of cocaine. In the process, excitotoxins are released and this can lead to brain exhaustion as it stimulates the brain’s neuroreceptors, especially in cases where consumptions are made regularl (HAMILL, 2015)y.

Toxicity – basically, diet soda have no nutritional value. Consumers who drink diet soda are not taking in any calories and are also not taking anything that does good to the body either (Squillace, 2016). Majority of the ingredients used in production of diet soda are found to be hard and toxic materials that the body sometimes find hard to comprehend with. They are also made form artificial materials that do more harm than good to the body.

Obesity – although diet soda is fee of calories, it does not necessarily help users to lose weight. In fact, research have found that those who consume diet soda experienced 70% increase on their waist circumference than those who do not; and the more the consumption (e.g. two or more bottles per day), the higher the weight gain experienced (Brown, 2016). The two major factors to this effects are the way the sweeteners confuse body, and psychological effects that justifies intake of more calories foods as the diet soda does not contain calories.

Heart troubles – it is indicated in studies from the University of Miami and Colombia University that consuming just one diet soft drink per day can boost the consumer’s risks of experiencing a vascular event such as heart attack, vascular death or stroke (Chan, 2013). In these studies, it was discovered that those who consume diet soda were more likely (43%) to experience vascular event when compared with those that don’t (Gunnars, 2016). In any case, consumers of regular cola did not seem to have advanced chances of vascular events as is the case with diet cola drinkers, prompting the researchers to state that more studies are required in the field in order to better understand the health effects of diet soda.

Metabolic syndrome – numerous studies have linked the consumption of diet soda to higher risks of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome are a combined group of risk factors that increases the risk for heart diseases and other similar health issues such as stroke and diabetes. Additionally, it increases body fat and enhances cholesterol levels (DAVIDSON, 2015).

Effects on bones

While women above the age of 60 are at a greater risk of osteoporosis than men, it was found by a researcher from Tuffs University that consuming diet soda, make the potential for such issue more compounding (Gunnars, 2016). The study discovered that almost 4% of women who drink diet soda have lower bone mineral density in their hips when measured against women who do not drink such. The research also indicated an effect on the participants’ levels of Vitamin D and Calcium. Also, a 2006 publication in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition supported this understanding by noting that those who take cola drinks (including diet soda) have low bone-mineral density than those who don’t (Squillace, 2016).

Conclusion

Evidently, it is now clear that diet soda is not all the good it claims to be as there are numerous issues associated with the consumption of diet soda. These issues are described above. Based on such understanding, it is concluded that the best calorie free drink is water! Water has no issues and actually aids in full functioning of the body system. Thus, consumers running away from calories are advised to also run away from diet soda.  

References

Brown, C. R. (2016, 4 16). 5 serious health risks of drinking diet soda. Retrieved from Clark: http://www.clark.com/diet-soda-risks-diet-coke

Chan, A. (2013, 7 24). Why We’re Saying ‘No Thanks’ To Diet Soda. Retrieved from The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/24/diet-soda-health-risks_n_3606906.html

DAVIDSON, J. (2015, 6 4). 8 Things That Happen When You Finally Stop Drinking Diet Soda. Retrieved from Prevention Magazine: http://www.prevention.com/health/effects-of-diet-soda

Fortune. (2016, 3 29). Soda Consumption Falls to 30-Year Low In The U.S. Retrieved from Fortune: http://fortune.com/2016/03/29/soda-sales-drop-11th-year/

Gunnars, K. (2016). Is Diet Soda Bad For You? The Truth About Diet Drinks. Retrieved from Authority Nutrition: https://authoritynutrition.com/why-is-diet-soda-bad-for-you/

HAMILL, J. (2015, 8 4). This is what Diet Coke does to your body in just one hour. Retrieved from The Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/what-diet-coke-your-body-6191713

Squillace, M. (2016). 10 Reasons to Give Up Diet Soda. Retrieved from Health: http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20739512,00.html#it-may-be-bad-for-your-bones-0