By Dayne Hudson
Diet coke or diet joke?
Will diet soft drinks actually HELP you lose weight, or cause you to gain it?
THE RESEARCH
A recent headline off the back of some research, was that diet soft drinks could be making us fatter, and put us at risk of type 2 diabetes (not to be confused with type 1, which is entirely different) and heart disease.
No one wants to be fat. And no one wants to be at risk of type 2 diabetes, or heart diease.
But in the world of science, the headline and subsequent research DOES NOT mean you have to put down your favourite diet soda forever.
Diet Coke or Diet Joke?
These are just suggestions, but as you'll read here, they could be quite valid.
WHERE DID ALL THIS COME FROM?
Newspapers in Australia summarised research by Susan Swithers of Purdue University, which has been published in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism.
The research is what's called a meta-analysis, which involves gathering a WHOLE heap of studies together and drawing a conclusion.
The conclusion was that there is:
"little support for artificially sweetened beverages in promoting weight loss or preventing negative health outcomes such as Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular events."
The key word here is "little".
ARTIFICIAL SUGARS and WEIGHT GAIN
Put simply - the large body of research within this paper suggests that artificial sweeteners DO NOT trick our bodies into thinking we are getting a hit of real sugar (aka glucose, or sucrose).
Therefore, we are inclined to consume something on top of this to satisfy this need.
And it goes a little further.
The other studies within the paper suggest that artificial sweeteners "might eventually degrade or partially extinguish the capacity of caloric sweet tastes to evoke those responses."
By "those responses" the research is referring to the areas of our brain that are sensitive to energy or reward.
This means that we might just need MORE sugar (and subsequently more calories) to satisfy ourselves.
The study says that diet soft drinks might just "exacerbate" the negative consequences of sugars.
You can see why this isn't good news!
It's the excess calories that can lead to diabetes (especially the glucose) and cardiovascular events.
The analysis does point out however, that REAL soft drinks containing sugar are still no substitute.
THE CASE AGAINST
I mentioned the key word "little".
The meta-analysis doesn't mean we should run away from ever consuming soft drinks again!
As I mentioned to Ben Fordham, I would hypothesise that moderate amounts of diet coke with plenty of exercise (resistance training and cardio respiratory system focus) in conjunction with a good diet, shouldn't spark any serious weight gain or health concerns.
This is off the back of one study (1) mentioned within the research, that diet soft drinks didn't inflict weight gain on children.
I would suggest that active youngsters could well negate a lot of the negative effects from any over eating resulting from the intake of artificial sweeteners.
Diet soft drinks didn't cause weight gain in children.Further to the case against, the research does admit that some of the studies used in this analysis, were quite different.
The differences were in respect to, most importantly, calorie, fat and saturated fat intake, and any family history of type 2 diabetes amongst subjects.
It says: "the method for controlling for this factor was not consistent across studies."
So this doesn't mean that diet soft drinks are the reason behind ALL of the negative data.
CONCLUSION
More research is needed, but we must not discredit the results entirely.
Remember the key word is "little" - there is no DEFINITE conclusion here, that diet soft drinks are terrible and should be swept away for good.
Have a few every week - no problem!
It's just important to remember to exercise regularly and keep tabs on your diet.
I suggest possibly the use of milk instead - which is 80% casein protein which we know digests for up to 7 hours (2).
There certainly won't be as much over eating following a glass of the good ol' white stuff.
But if you really still feel like that diet drink?
Go for it.
You deserve it.
ARTICLE UPDATE:
In the August 2014 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, another meta-analysis was released that looked at randomised controlled trials - the most accurate way to gather data - into low calorie sweeteners and their effect on body weight and composition (3).
The researchers concluded that:
"Substituting low calorie sweeteners for their regular-calorie versions results in a modest weight loss, and may be a useful dietary tool to improve compliance with weight loss or weight maintenance plans."
So as I said to Ben Fordham and yourself when I originally wrote this article - there's no real need to put those artifically sweetened drinks down.
Now this is backed by science, which now adds that these artificially sweetened drinks may even help us lose weight.
Although more research may be needed, it seems as far as body composition goes, we've no need to stress when it comes to artificial sugars!
Stay Fit, Stay Flexed!
REFERENCES
(1) De Ruyter, J.C. et al. (2012) A trial of sugar-free or sugar-sweetened beverages and body weight in children. N. Engl. J. Med. 367, 1397–1406
(2) Boirie Y, Dangin M, Gachon P, Vasson MP, Maubois JL, Beaufrere B. Slow and fast dietary proteins differently modulate postprandial protein accretion. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1997, 94(26):14930-5.
(3) Miller PE, Perez V. Low-calorie sweeteners and body weight and composition: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and prospective cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr August 2014.
