Last week I posted about a Johns Hopkins study that indicated that a jolt of caffeine can help out with long-term memory. My poison of choice is coffee (mmm, coffee!), but I figured given the parameters of the study that any other caffeinated beverage would serve just as well. Black tea? Sure! Diet Coke? Why not?
Well, now I can tell you why not: Another set of research out of Johns Hopkins shows that overweight adults who drink diet soda aren’t actually cutting down on their calorie consumption. That’s because they tend to overcompensate for the calories “saved” by drinking, say, a Diet Dr Pepper instead of a regular Dr Pepper, and eat more at their next meal.
“Although overweight and obese adults who drink diet soda eat a comparable amount of total calories as heavier adults who drink sugary beverages, they consume significantly more calories from solid food at both meals and snacks,” said Sara Bleich, the study’s lead author. “The results of our study suggest that overweight and obese adults looking to lose or maintain their weight—who have already made the switch from sugary to diet beverages—may need to look carefully at other components of their solid-food diet, particularly sweet snacks, to potentially identify areas for modification.”
In other words: That diet soda may have fewer calories, but just because you drink one doesn’t mean you’re on a diet.
Really!
Took Hopkins to tell me that.
If it made people thinner then where have all these fat people come from who drink diet sodas?
Making you fat is the least harmful part of diet sodas.
I stopped drinking diet soda 18 months ago. It is the only lifestyle change I have ever made that made me feel instantly better.