Alex Constantine - November 24, 2012
By Lindsey Tugman
KTHV, Nov 20, 2012
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- We're helping you make healthy choices today.
You may have noticed that diet soda is more in-vogue than ever. But knowing these side effects of drinking diet soda may help you kick the can for good.
Here are the seven side effects of drinking diet soda from MSN Healthy Living.
1. Kidney problems - In an 11-year-long study from Harvard Medical School, researchers found that diet soda can double a woman's risk for kidney decline. Kidney decline is not associated with sugary drinks, so researchers suspect the artificial sweetners are responsible.
2. Messed up metabolism - Just one diet soda a day is linked to a 34 percent higher risk of metabolic syndrome according to a 2008 University of Minnesota study. Symptoms include belly fat and high cholesterol.
3. Obesity - A University of Texas Health Science Center study found that diet drinks don't help you lose weight after all. In fact, the study found that the more diet soda you drank, the greater the risk of becoming overweight. Artificial sweetners can disrupt the body's natural ability to regulate calorie intake based on the sweetness of foods.
4. A terrible hangover - Cocktails made with diet soda get you more drunk faster according to a Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia study. That's because sugar-free mixers allow liquor to enter your bloodstream faster than those with sugar.
5. Cell damage - Diet sodas contain the preservative mold inhibitors like benzoate and potassium benzoate. "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it--they knock it out altogether," Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology at the University of Sheffield in the U.K., told a British newspaper in 1999.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest says these preservatives have been linked to hives, asthma, and other allergic conditions.
6. Rotting teeth - Diet soda is very acidic and the acid dissolves the enamel of your teeth. A University of Michigan analysis of dental checkup data says adults who drink three or more sodas a day have worse dental health.
7. Reproductive issues - Soft drink cans are coated with BPA which is linked to everything from heart disease to obesity to reproductive problems.
(Source: MSN Healthy Living)
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/235189/2/7-side-effects-of-drinking-diet-soda
