4 Reasons Why Diet Beverages Won’t Help You Lose Weight

Blog-4 Reasons Why Diet Beverages Won't Help You Lose Weight

Big name food and beverage companies spend millions of dollars on advertisements to make you believe that their low-calorie, synthetic sweeteners and flavors will solve all of your weight-loss woes.

The truth is:

The Obesity Epidemic Gets Worse Every Year

• 2/3 of Americans are now overweight.
• Childhood obesity has increased 800% since 1982.

Diet Soda Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be

A 14-year study of 66,118 women published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that, drinking artificially-sweetened beverages did not lower the risk for developing type 2 diabetes when compared to regular sugar-sweetened beverages.

Additionally, a behavioral neuroscientist at Purdue recently reviewed a number of previously performed studies to determine whether drinking diet sodas over the long-term will increase the likelihood that a person will overeat, gain weight and then develop other health problems.

She found that:
• People who drank artificially sweetened soda were more likely to experience weight gain than those who drank regular soda.
• Those who drank diet soda had twice the risk of developing metabolic syndrome (related to diabetes)

4 Reasons Why “Diet” Beverages Won’t Help You Lose Weight

1. Extreme Sweeteners Trigger Food Addiction

• Sweets are mood foods, plain and simple.
• Synthetic sweeteners are 200 to 600 times sweeter than sugar.
• Extreme sweeteners activate intense cravings and make it VERY HARD to stay away from the foods that are bad for you (sugar and refined carbohydrates).

2. Calorie Swapping

Drinking diet beverages may lead to calorie swapping:
• This is the idea that you have “saved on liquid calories”, so why not go ahead and order that dessert, eat the french fries, the cookie, potato chips, etc.

3. Increased Insulin – the Fat Storage Hormone

Insulin is produced by the body to push glucose (sugar) into the cells to be used as energy.
• This causes your body to (unnecessarily) pump out insulin, which increases fat storage.

4. Food Coloring

Diet soda and “flavored water enhancers” are loaded full of synthetic colors in addition to sweeteners.
• A 1994 study linked synthetic colors to an increase in restlessness, irritability and sleep disturbances in children.
• Getting fewer than 7 hours of sleep at night is associated with lower blood flow to the brain, more cravings and more fat on your body.

We Can Help

At Amen Clinics, we know that food addiction issues are not a function of not trying hard enough, being lazy, or not having enough willpower. We will work with you to address your specific brain type so that you can eliminate food addiction, reach your weight loss goals and feel amazing every day. Click here to learn more about how the Amen Clinics can help, or call today at 888-288-9834.

4 Comments »

  1. 3. Increased Insulin – the Fat Storage Hormone
    Insulin is produced by the body to push glucose (sugar) into the cells to be used as energy.
    • This causes your body to (unnecessarily) pump out insulin, which increases fat storage.

    Really? Is this saying there is an insulin increase due to consumption of artificial sweeteners? Or is this because of the calorie swapping preceding it? If so it is poorly stated and no evidence is presented.

    Comment by Beth M Traveria — April 23, 2018 @ 5:44 AM

  2. Yes! I have the exact question as the Beth above.
    Please clarify.

    Comment by BethS — April 23, 2018 @ 9:50 AM

  3. Please cite evidence for each assertion, if possible. If not possible, then please don’t make that assertion. Examine.com, a free website, goes over the evidence that exists about diet soda. I think it would be interesting to have studies about whether diet sodas, in particular, are addicting.

    Comment by KerriS — April 23, 2018 @ 6:24 PM

  4. Did the previous people who commented click on the link included in the article (the blue writting) as in connects you to the research papers backing the article. Just wondering. They were asking for research and it was already there.

    Comment by Athane — April 24, 2018 @ 8:03 AM

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