{"id":49843,"date":"2018-11-08T10:00:30","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T15:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843"},"modified":"2018-11-08T10:00:30","modified_gmt":"2018-11-08T15:00:30","slug":"should-you-be-drinking-diet-soda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843","title":{"rendered":"Should You Be Drinking Diet Soda?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Should you be drinking diet soda? Is diet soda good for you? <\/strong><\/h2>\n

When diet sodas first appeared in the \u201850s and \u201860s, people thought of them as \u201chealthy\u201d alternatives to standard sugary drinks. This new development may have been especially hopeful for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes who were looking for options to enjoy sweet beverages while minimizing their sugar intake.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, as with many new products, the pros of diet soda came along with many cons. In recent years, controversy has continued to build about whether the alternative sweeteners used in diet sodas are good for you, and whether or not you should be drinking diet soda.<\/p>\n

Here we\u2019ll take a look at the pros and cons of diet soda<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Pros of Diet Soda vs. Regular Soda<\/h2>\n

Fewer Carbs<\/h3>\n

Most artificial sweeteners do not contain the carbs<\/a> that soda sweetened with sugar does. Reducing carbohydrate intake is an important part of a healthy diet, especially for people with diabetes.<\/p>\n

May Curb Sugar Cravings<\/h3>\n

Artificial sweeteners may curb your sugar cravings<\/a>, depending on which ones you use. On the other hand, certain artificial sweeteners may stimulate the appetite and increase cravings so it\u2019s important to be aware of how your body reacts.<\/p>\n

Fewer Calories<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Diet sodas inherently have fewer calories than most traditional sugar sweetened drinks. (But they aren\u2019t exactly filled with healthy nutrition either.) If you were going to drink a sugary soda, then a diet soda may be a good alternative. However, it\u2019s not going to be better than water\u2014which contains no calories.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cons of Drinking Diet Soda<\/h2>\n

Weight Gain<\/h3>\n

Even if a product does not contain sugar or calories, it can still contribute to gaining weight. In fact, the term \u2018diet soda\u2019 is a bit of a misnomer as many people who drink it are likely to gain weight rather than lose it. This may be related to the appetite-stimulant properties of most artificial sweeteners. Since obesity and weight gain are often considered to be risk factors for diabetes, diet soda isn\u2019t doing anyone any favors along those lines.<\/p>\n

Blood Sugar Spikes<\/h3>\n

Products that don\u2019t contain natural sugar still have the potential to spike the blood sugar. Sucralose (brand name Splenda) is an artificial sweetener that may raise blood sugar<\/a> in some people, particularly if carbohydrates are consumed afterwards.<\/p>\n

Links with Diabetes<\/h3>\n

Although diet sodas may cut carbs and calories, they also may be increasing the risk factors related to developing diabetes. One study<\/a> of more than 65,000 women over 14 years showed that those who regularly consumed sweetened beverages (with sugar or artificial sweeteners) were at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n

Another study published in Diabetes Care<\/a> shows a strong connection between diet soda consumption and the development of belly fat and high blood sugar levels, both of which are factors related to type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. In fact, those who consumed diet soda at least daily had a 67% higher risk of developing type 2 than those who didn\u2019t drink diet soda. While other factors may be involved and diet soda cannot be proven as the only cause, the link should not be ignored.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What to Drink Instead of Soda<\/h2>\n

Living a healthier, low-carb lifestyle that keeps your blood sugar levels in range doesn\u2019t mean that you have to give up everything that\u2019s good! One long-term study<\/a> showed that just swapping one sugary drink for a water or unsweetened tea was able to significantly reduce the risk of developing diabetes in the first place. <\/p>\n

Choose from these other tasty beverages that will keep you healthier:<\/p>\n

Lemon Lime Fake-Soda<\/h3>\n

Refreshing on a hot day, drinking fizzy water combined with a bit of lime or lemon juice can offer satisfaction without the negatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tea without Sweetener<\/h3>\n

Black tea offers a bit of a caffeine boost, while herbal teas give a fruity flavor without caffeine.\u00a0 Learning to drink tea without sweetener is a great way to provide yourself with a treat that\u2019s safe for people with diabetes. Many people find that if they cut back slowly on sweetener, they\u2019ll eventually develop a taste for the tea and won\u2019t need it to be sweetened at all.<\/p>\n

Infused Water<\/h3>\n

Add slices of flavorful low carb items to a pitcher of ice cold water and keep it in the fridge. Cucumber, mint, raspberry, and so many more options can keep things interesting when it comes to drinking water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, should you be drinking diet soda?<\/h2>\n

Overall, drinking a diet soda every once in a while is not the worst thing you can do. In general, however, finding a healthier alternative to soda (diet or regular) is a small step you can take toward creating new habits that will help you feel better.<\/p>\n

(You may also like: How to tell if your soda is really diet soda.<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":397,"featured_media":49849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1453],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nDrinking Diet Soda, Is it Good For You?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Should you be drinking diet soda? When diet sodas first appeared in the \u201850s and \u201860s, people thought of them as \u201chealthy\u201d alternatives to standard sugary drinks.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Julie Workman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843\",\"name\":\"Drinking Diet Soda, Is it Good For You?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/iStock_Soda.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-08T15:00:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-08T15:00:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f1a0b4a8d7e79c1cb0d5a6307c4f65aa\"},\"description\":\"Should you be drinking diet soda? When diet sodas first appeared in the \u201850s and \u201860s, people thought of them as \u201chealthy\u201d alternatives to standard sugary drinks.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/iStock_Soda.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/iStock_Soda.jpg\",\"width\":847,\"height\":567,\"caption\":\"Should You Be Drinking Diet Soda?\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Should You Be Drinking Diet Soda?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f1a0b4a8d7e79c1cb0d5a6307c4f65aa\",\"name\":\"Julie Workman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfdf55499e0f5139f3cc9e89aa88d606?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfdf55499e0f5139f3cc9e89aa88d606?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Julie Workman\"},\"description\":\"Julie Workman has been enthusiastically researching and writing about topics that affect her health and the well-being of her family for more than 20 years. Julie regularly seek out ways to connect the food she eats with improving her life, she loves to take long walks through European cities, and she has a slightly unreasonable affection for sheep.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=397\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Drinking Diet Soda, Is it Good For You?","description":"Should you be drinking diet soda? When diet sodas first appeared in the \u201850s and \u201860s, people thought of them as \u201chealthy\u201d alternatives to standard sugary drinks.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Julie Workman","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843","name":"Drinking Diet Soda, Is it Good For You?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/iStock_Soda.jpg","datePublished":"2018-11-08T15:00:30+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-08T15:00:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f1a0b4a8d7e79c1cb0d5a6307c4f65aa"},"description":"Should you be drinking diet soda? When diet sodas first appeared in the \u201850s and \u201860s, people thought of them as \u201chealthy\u201d alternatives to standard sugary drinks.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/iStock_Soda.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/iStock_Soda.jpg","width":847,"height":567,"caption":"Should You Be Drinking Diet Soda?"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=49843#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Should You Be Drinking Diet Soda?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/","name":"ASweetLife","description":"The Diabetes Magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f1a0b4a8d7e79c1cb0d5a6307c4f65aa","name":"Julie Workman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfdf55499e0f5139f3cc9e89aa88d606?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfdf55499e0f5139f3cc9e89aa88d606?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Julie Workman"},"description":"Julie Workman has been enthusiastically researching and writing about topics that affect her health and the well-being of her family for more than 20 years. Julie regularly seek out ways to connect the food she eats with improving her life, she loves to take long walks through European cities, and she has a slightly unreasonable affection for sheep.","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=397"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49843"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/397"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49843"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49847,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49843\/revisions\/49847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}