It is just as important to be careful about what we drink as it is about what we eat. Emerging research shows that picking up a diet soda might appear to be a good choice when watching your weight, but drinking a lot of diet sodas could actually be associated with weight gain. Yes, that’s right: weight gain!

Drink Diet Soda, Gain Weight

How is it possible that weight gain could actually be correlated with drinking diet soda? Well, while the drinks are low in calories, they are also filled with artificial sweeteners, and over time, excessive consumption of these sweeteners can actually cause you to crave and eat more sugar in the rest of your diet. That means you will more often crave breads, sugary cereals and the like. This will cause weight gain.

Diet Sodas are Nutrition-Free

One of the most important reasons not to drink diet soda is the fact that these drinks are 100 percent nutrition-free. While it is fine to have one diet soda a day, it is less advisable to drink five or six cans in a 24 to 48 hour period. By drinking nutritionally valueless drinks, you are depriving yourself of the healthy things you should be drinking, such as water and tea.

Aspartame May Not be so Harmless

The Food and Drug Administration suggests that aspartame, the sugar substitute in diet drinks, is entirely safe. However, tests performed on laboratory rats have shown that heavy consumption of the substance may be linked to brain tumors and lymphoma. Whether the substance causes these problems in humans or not, it is known to cause headaches, dizziness, diarrhea, mood shifts and memory loss. The substance is 180 times sweeter than real sugar and is overwhelming to the taste buds.

That Diet Soda could be Associated with Metabolic Syndrome

Other research indicates that consumption of diet sodas can be correlated with the development of metabolic syndrome, a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. It would be simpler to choose to drink water or a 100 percent fruit juice than to consume too many diet sodas. Diabetes and heart disease are not illnesses you want to play Russian roulette with.

Care for a Little Methanol with Your Diet Soda?

Research shows that consumption of one liter of an aspartame-sweetened drink can cause the body to produce 56 mgs of methanol, a poisonous substance that can certainly do your body harm. If you drink several diet sodas with this sweetener in them, you can produce upwards of 250 mgs a day of methanol, which is effectively dumped into your bloodstream.

The Simple Solution

The answer to the problem of excessive diet soda consumption is simple: Consume less of this type of drink and more water, tea, and pure fruit juice. It will be better for your body not just in terms of weight stability, but also in terms of overall health. So, the next time you start to pick up that diet drink, do yourself a favor and think again.