Study after study has
confirmed that regular sugary soda contributes to weight gain and heart disease and diabetes risk, and adds more sugar to
American diets than any other single source. But when it comes to diet soda and
health, research has been more mixed. In the past, studies have linked
diet-soda consumption to heart attacks and stroke as well asweight gain, while other research has found that the simple
switch from regular to diet drinks can help dieters manage weight and reduce
disease risk.
Now, a new study
published in the April issue of the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition sheds some light on how a diet that includes zero-calorie
diet soft drinks can affect a person’s overall health. Kiyah Duffy, PhD and
author of the study, said in a university release that, like previous research, the new
data supposts the idea that people who drink diet beverages tend to be less
healthy than people who don’t — but the impact can be subtle.
To conduct the
analysis, researchers studied data from 4,000 adults that was collected over 20
years. They found that people generally fell into two groups: those who ate
“prudent” diets of fruit, fish, whole grains, nuts, and milk, and those who ate
a more “western” diet, which contained more fast food, meat, poultry, pizza,
and snack foods.
Not surprisingly, the
healthiest overall group ate prudent diets and did not consume diet beverages.
The second healthiest group ate a prudent diet and also drank diet beverages.
Regardless of whether they consumed diet drinks, those who ate high-fat western
diets were the unhealthiest group — and had the highest risks for conditions
such as metabolic syndrome and heart disease.
The study seems to
indicate that diet soft drinks can be a part of a healthful
diet, but researchers emphasize that many factors contribute to a person’s
overall health. They suggest that regular soda drinkers switch to diet as much
as possible, and that nondrinkers don’t pick up the habit.
“Our study confirms
the recommendations of the American Diabetes Association and many weight-loss
programs, which suggest people drink these beverages as a way to cut calories
and lose or control weight, but only in the context of the whole diet,” Duffy
explained in the same release.