Diet soft drinks ruin metabolism, cause weight gain

Samantha Chang, Celebrity Fitness and Health Examiner for Examiner.com (November 20, 2013), reports on the Dr Oz Show of that date. Dr Oz explains why diet soft drinks are bad for your health. They can also make you fat, and put you at risk for diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and stroke.

Two diet soft drinks a day = massive increase in waist size

Dr. Oz said that a 10-year study showed that people who drank just one diet soft drink a day had a 70% greater increase in waist circumference compared with non-drinkers. Of even more serious concern is that people who drank two or more diet soft drinks a day had a 500% greater increase in waist size!

“When you consume an artificially sweetened diet soft drink, taste receptors in your oesophagus and stomach get stimulated, and your pancreas releases insulin in anticipation of receiving something sweet. Insulin signals your body to store fat,” says Dr Oz.

Soft drinks trigger sugar cravings, increase appetite, cause weight gain

Meanwhile, your brain's satiety centre waits for cues to determine whether you've received calories. However, since diet soft drinks have no calories, your brain gets confused because it has been tricked by the artificial sweeteners. Dr. Oz said these confusing signals trigger sugar cravings, increase your appetite, destroy your metabolism, and cause weight gain.

What's more, because the artificial sweeteners in diet soft drinks are over 100 times sweeter than real sugar, your taste buds gradually become desensitized, making you crave even more sugar.

Bubbles create an addictive response

Dr. Oz said that the carbonation in diet soft drinks magnifies the weight-gaining impact of diet soft drinks and disrupts your hunger signals. "The bubbles in diet sodas confuse your brain and create an addictive response," he said.

Research has shown that diet soft drinks can also cause digestive issues such as bloating, cramps and diarrhoea, and increase your risk of metabolic syndrome, which includes heart disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes.

Causes unsightly belly fat, ruins teeth and linked to increased cancer risk

Dr Oz concludes that, in addition to causing unsightly belly fat, diet soft drinks ruin your teeth. This is because the carbonated water and citric acid in diet soft drinks cause horrific tooth decay by eroding tooth enamel. Moreover, for years, artificial sweeteners have been linked to an increased risk of many different types of cancer.

He suggested eliminating or cutting back on diet soft drinks and opting for water (which is the healthiest drink) or drinking unsweetened green tea.

“When we consider how many litres of cheap cold drinks are consumed in South Africa every day, it is no surprise that we are sitting on a ‘volcano of type-2 diabetes’ just waiting to erupt,” reports Dr Ingrid van Heerden in Health24. Dr van Heerden is a registered dietician and holds a doctoral degree in Nutrition and Biochemistry.

http://www.examiner.com/article/dr-oz-reveals-why-diet-soft drinks-make-you-fat-and-ruin-your-metabolism

http://www.health24.com/Medical/Diabetes/Diabetes-diet-and-obesity/Sugary-drinks-could-fuel-diabetes-20130708

1. Prev:Burn calories while redecorating your home
2. Next:Eat carrots to help with weight loss