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We know you’ve heard about diet soda dangers. But, you still feel better about having those two jumbo sized hot dogs and fries since you ordered it with a diet soda, right?

Well, you shouldn’t. While diet soda sounds like an easy way to cut calories, experts continue to compile fact after fact about just why diet soda is so detrimental to your health.

In fact, it may even be worse than regular soda.

Close to 60 percent of Americans drink diet soda on a regular basis.

Diet Soda and Weight Loss: What The Experts Say

“Recent literature suggests that those who drink diet soda weigh more than those who don’t. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Does diet soda cause weight gain? I think that is the wrong question. I don’t think people should drink diet soda, whether they have weight problems or not,” says Darwin Deen, MD, senior attending physician at Montefiore Medical Center’s Department of Family and Social Medicine in the Bronx, New York.

Of top concern, drinking diet soda has been linked to developing metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that include expanding waist size, increased blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, lower levels of good cholesterol, and high fasting blood sugar levels. Having three or more of these findings increases your risk of diabetes and heart disease. Here are some other research findings you should know about diet soda:

• The More You Drink, The Bigger You’ll Be. According to the San Antonio Heart Study, the more diet sodas you drink, the greater the chance that you will be overweight or obese. For each diet soda you drink there is a 65 percent increase in your risk of becoming overweight.

• The Metabolic Syndrome Link. According to the Framingham Heart Study, as well as the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, if you drink diet soda, or consume too much meat or fried foods, you are at risk for weight gain and metabolic syndrome; all three are significantly associated with the disorder.

• Artificial Sweetener Can Lead To Greater Weight Gain. According to research done at Purdue University, rats that were fed artificial sweeteners gained more weight than rats fed normal sugar.

Diet Soda and Weight Loss: Why the Weight Gain?

Diet Soda: It’s Not Just Making You Fat  was originally published on blackdoctor.org

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