Diet soft drinks, also known as light soft drinks or sugar free soft drinks, are almost the same as regular carbonated beverages with one big difference: sugar content. Sugar is usually one of the main ingredients used to make a beverage taste sweeter and better; however there are several reasons why somebody might not want sugar in his soft drink. For one, diabetics may not be able to enjoy regular soft drink with regular sugar, for another, athletes and other health and weight conscious people might not like the weight effects of the sugar contained in regular sodas. Not wanting to lose out on this big potential market, the soft drink manufacturers came up with a novel idea: the diet soft drink, a beverage that has the great taste that regular soft drinks offer, without the unwanted effects of sugar. Instead of using sugar, manufacturers use artificial sweeteners to give the diet soft drink its flavor.
But are the diet soft drinks really that light?
The quick answer is yes. When it comes to actual sugar content,
diet soft drinks really are that light. A 12 ounce serving of regular soda contains enough high fructose corn syrup comparable to 9 teaspoon servings of sugar. So drinking a 12 ounce regular soda is like drinking a 12 ounce glass of water mixed with 9 teaspoons of sugar, or even just eating 9 teaspoons of sugar like candy. Regular soft drinks are super heavy weights when in comes to sugar content, so when a diet soft drink is compared to them, the diet soft drink is really that light.
However, just because the diet soft drinks are much lighter in sugar content compared to regular soft drinks, it does not mean that they do not pose any problems or concerns. Because even though diet soft drinks have very little sugar content, they do contain plenty of artificial sweeteners, phosphoric acid, sodium, and caffeine. These chemicals have their own issues regarding their effect on weight and overall health.
Several studies have been made and are being undertaken to determine the effect of artificial sweeteners to weight loss and weight gain. Most of these studies have come up with varying findings thus there is a need for continuous research on the subject. One of the studies however, which was conducted on 1500 respondents with ages ranging from 25 years old to 64 year old found some very surprising results.
It was found out that among all of the respondents, those who were exclusively drinking diet soft drinks had a higher risk of obesity than those who only drank regular soft drinks. The study further determined that on average, for every can or 12 ounce serving of diet soft drink consumed, the risk of that person becoming obese rose as high up as 41%. This data indicates that there might be an indirect effect of artificial sweeteners with the way the body senses sugar satisfaction. A certain connection seems to point out that when the brain receives signals of sugar intake brought about by the artificial sweeteners without the body actually getting any sugars, it sets the body up to crave and get the sugars from other foods.
