When diet drinks first came onto the market some 20 years ago, the whole world got up and danced! At last we could drink soda and pop without getting fat! We drank it guiltlessly! We mixed it with our alcohol to make low calorie alco-
Now, 20 years later we begin to worry about our health, so start asking the questions: Are the diet drinks helping me with weight loss or are they making me fat? And are they harming my body?
Read on to find out more about diet drinks.
Diet Drinks and Weight Loss
Do diet drinks and weight loss occur together? In a lot of cases yes they do. By drinking a diet drink, you are saving yourself at least 150 calories per 330ml of
liquid.
If you drink diet drinks with two meals a day and snack one 330 ml diet drink, then that is a saving of 450 calories a day. You saved a whole meal in calories just by cutting out normal soda drinks! Diet drinks will help you lose weight if you use them as a REPLACEMENT for full sugar drinks. However, some people misuse diet drinks and weight loss does not occur. Here is why…
Diet Drinks and Weight Gain
Rather than using the diet drinks as a replacement, many people are using them as an excuse to eat more. For example, you go out to dinner and order a diet coke and fries with your meal. After all, it is ok to eat the fries as there are no calories in your drink. You get to dessert and you have drank two diet drinks by then ‘saving you’ 300 calories. So why not eat the 500 calorie dessert?
The people who have this mindset are merely SUBSTITUTING calories in their diet, rather than using the diet drinks to REDUCE the number of calories they are consuming. If the same person who ate the chips and desert had used the diet drinks as a replacement, they would have saved themselves at least an extra 800 unnecessary calories in that one meal. Another reason that people may overeat while drinking diet drinks is that the artificial sweeteners create a negative hormonal response in the body.
The hormones are said to increase fat storage which in turn increases cravings for more sweets and refined carbohydrates after drinking the diet drink. “Would you like crisps with your next diet drink madam?”
Studies performed at the University of Texas on mice, showed that mice fed aspartame demonstrated a regular increase in blood-
Diet drinks Without Aspartame and Other Artificial Sweeteners
The best alternatives to diet drinks are good old fashioned water with lemon or try drinking unsweetened iced teas. Diet drinks without Aspartame are hard to find, but for something different when I am out I drink soda water as the bubbles are a pleasant change from plain water. With a squeeze of lemon or lime –
The fact is that diet drinks will not really help you lose weight, but if used properly they will keep your calorie count low. With side affects such as headaches and anxiety, plus research to suggest they may lead to diabetes and even cancer, it is best to avoid diet drinks. If you want to lose weight, invest in a programme that is recognised, is based on research and has proven results. Check out the top ten diets that I recommend, as they tick all of the boxes.
