03 Mar

Diet Soft Drinks Vs Water For Fat Loss

By Dayne Hudson

 

I'll be quick because I know your time is limited - but artificial sweeteners are not as bad for our waistline as so many think. In fact, they might help us lose more weight than plain old water.

Sound crazy? Good, keep on reading.

I've touched on artificial sweeteners before in the context of our health, but I wish to tell you about further research as you head towards your goals!

In this year long trial, the researchers wanted to compare diet soft drinks to water during a 12 week weight loss faze, and then compare the both during a 40 week weight maintenance faze (1).

The findings were as follows:

  • The Diet soft drink group experienced greater weight loss in the 12 weeks, and better readings of blood pressure, LDL, cholesterol and triglycerides - even when compared to the control group who drank water!

The authors concluded:

"Among participants enrolled in a comprehensive weight loss program, regular users of NNS (non-nutritive sweetened beverages, eg Diet Coke) beverages who were asked to consume NNS beverages lost significantly more weight, and maintained significantly greater weight losses, over 1 year than subjects asked to stop NNS beverage consumption and consume water alone. These results provide support for the use of NNS beverages as a tool to help with weight loss and maintenance."

So how did this happen?
 
Well, the subjects drinking the diet soft drinks apparently filled up the subjects better - that is, they had better satiety scores than those who drank water. We know this because the subjects had to rate their hunger on a hunger scale.
 
It's important to note that exercise and sedentary time was the same in both groups, too.
 
And the researchers are quick to admit it - they don't know WHY this is, but it flies in the face of all the rat studies we've been presented with over the years - suggesting diet soft drinks are bad for weight loss. As I always say, we humans are not rats and whilst rat studies are great for generating a hypothesis only into humans, we can't take it as gospel.
 
And despite the fact that some declare diet soft drinks make us "hungrier" and go in search of more calories, this just isn't supported with controlled trials into human beings. 
 
In this other study (2), diet soft drinks were compared to soft drinks themselves, and were found to be superior. So the diet soft drinks have a pretty good cheer squad when the data is considered.
 
And this isn't just two studies - the researchers point to multiple other studies of late into human beings that support their findings (3,4).
 
So it boils down to this: don't stress about diet soft drinks when dieting, and consume them as you please. There's just no solid evidence to say they cause obesity or will make weight loss any harder. Enjoy them as you do - there are much bigger things to worry about in the context of your weight loss diet!
 

"Stay Fit, Stay Flexed!"

 

Water, Diet Coke or Coke...I'll get you lean either way.

 

I know you're busy, so I won't keep you for long...

My readers regularly message me as losing weight can be extremely difficult.

Even worse is when stopping an extreme diet brings all the weight back!

I have a solution that'll allow you to continue eating the foods you love (in moderation, of course!) but without an extremity such as paleo, no sugar or no carb.

That's me (Dayne Hudson) above. The photo on the left is me at the end of a bulk, and the photo on the right is after dropping off the weight...in just 12 weeks!

I don't believe in short term diets either! I believe in creating a healthy lifestyle, eating the foods you love, and not needing to worry about your diet around the clock!

As a Sports Nutrition Specialist, scientific researcher and valued member of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, I use proven studies to generate results that last for you.

 

GET STARTED

 

 

References

(1) Peters, John C., et al. "The effects of water and non‐nutritive sweetened beverages on weight loss during a 12‐week weight loss treatment program." Obesity 22.6 (2014): 1415-1421.

(2) Sørensen, Lone B., et al. "Sucrose compared with artificial sweeteners: a clinical intervention study of effects on energy intake, appetite, and energy expenditure after 10 wk of supplementation in overweight subjects." The American journal of clinical nutrition (2014): ajcn-081554.

(3) Blackburn, George L., et al. "The effect of aspartame as part of a multidisciplinary weight-control program on short-and long-term control of body weight." The American journal of clinical nutrition 65.2 (1997): 409-418.

(4) Tate, Deborah F., et al. "Replacing caloric beverages with water or diet beverages for weight loss in adults: main results of the Choose Healthy Options Consciously Everyday (CHOICE) randomized clinical trial." The American journal of clinical nutrition 95.3 (2012): 555-563.

Author

Dayne Hudson's picture

Dayne Hudson