Diet drinks and belly fat

Question
is it true that drinking carbonated diet drinks, such as diet coke or diet pepsi, contributes to maintaining belly fat?   If true, what if you drink only 12 oz a day and drink 8 glasses of water?  Does adding Crystal Lite to your water intake in any way change the effects of the water consumed?

Answer
Hi,

Diet coke and everything tasting sweet works the same way as foods containing real sugar do. It'd be easier to understand why by reading a couple of articles explaining how the taste works. As to the belly fat, the answer is yes, sweet-tasting foods contribute to abdominal adiposity because of their effects on insulin. Read more:

Why we advise to abstain from sweeteners?
http://bantadiet.com/banta/?page_id=43

Artificial sweeteners - good or bad?
http://atkinszone.com/2008/05/artificial-sweeteners-good-or-bad.html

Zero-calorie drinks and fat gain
http://atkinszone.com/2008/04/calories-liquid-calories-and-fat-gain.html

Does taste contribute to weight gain?
http://atkinszone.com/2008/05/does-taste-contribute-to-weight-gain.html

Tanya Zilberter

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