The diet soda is known to be sugar-free or low-calorie soda that is artificially sweetened by the marketers. Primarily targeted for the health-conscious population; especially atheist, diabetic patients and those who wish to minimise reduce the amount of sugar intake, the drink is becoming popular. However, this particular soda possesses certain threats among people that can even lead to severe health conditions and even death.
What is the Buzz about Diet Soda?
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The first ever diet cokes that emerged in the market circa 1950-1960 had a very little or no amount of sugar in it. Driven by one aim, the calorie amount was kept low to make drinks ideal for diabetics. It was around 1982 that Coca-Cola Company introduced the world with Diet Coke and people who were not even diabetic were attracted to buy the drink.
Other soda companies like Pepsi took the initiative to launch Patio Diet Cola, later known as Diet Pepsi and Dr Pepper brought Diet 7 Up in the market. However, Diet 7 Up faced some constraints and was made to change its recipe due to the presence of cyclamate sweeteners.
The diet sodas remained thoroughly popular during the 80s and 90s and people enjoyed other variants of them that came in different flavours and tastes. Nonetheless, in the current scenario, the manufacturer of diet soda utilizes artificial sweetener to get the similar taste like that of normal soda drinks. In addition to the context, some of the artificial drinks include cyclamates even though it is banned in various countries.
Are there Any Benefits of Drinking Diet Soda?
Diet sodas are not exactly regarded as a healthy drink because they have certain drawbacks. However, when there is a comparison between diet soda and normal soda drink, the former can be included in the healthy section.
- Tooth decay is one of the causes of excessive consumption of food and beverages containing a high amount of sugar. When it comes to diet soda, the scale of risk is low because it can minimize the problems related to oral health.
- Diet soda has a lesser amount of carbohydrates as this type of beverages has artificial sugar substances.
- If you replace one can of regular soda with diet soda, you can save around 150 calories per day that means you can save 1,050 calories per week.
However, the sad truth is that the side effects of diet soda overshadow its health benefits.
What is Aspartame?
Sold under the brand names, Equal and NutraSweet, aspartame is usually used in the diet foods. There is the combination of phenylalanine and aspartic that lead to the generation of amino acids.
When your body deals with aspartame, components of it are broken down into methanol. Fruit juice, fermented beverages and fruit also have this ingredient. Sugarless candy, low-calorie fruit juice, yoghurt, gum, sugar-free ice cream and diet soda contain aspartame.
However, there are critical side-effects of aspartame cannot be put aside when it is evaluated whether diet soda is actually unhealthy for human beings.
Side Effects of Aspartame
The research studies conducted by American Cancer Society have found that aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar. EFSA recommends 40 mg per kg of body weight and FDA recommends 50 mg per kg of body weight. Now in a can of calorie-free drink, 185 mg of aspartame is likely to be present. If a person who weighs 68 kg and takes 18 cans of diet soda per day, he is likely to surpass the recommended intake indicated by FDA.
Now with the surplus amount of drinking diet soda, there are certain problems related to it. Headaches, birth defects, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, weight gain, lupus, dizziness, Alzheimer’s disease, seizures, cancer and depression are the most health conditions that perturb human health. Additionally, people with multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia should not indulge themselves diet soda either.
Controversy and Aspartame
Aspartame is considered to be a controversial ingredient used in food because many of the organizations have confirmed it to be completely safe. However, aspartame is again tested to increase the risk of neurotoxicity and cancer in human beings. The detrimental factors linked to the ingredient can only deteriorate one’s health.
From weight gain, migraine, seizure, stroke to cancer – the ingredient has the capability to show adverse effects on person’s body.
Presence of Harmful Ingredients
Diet soda is regarded as harmful to the human body because of the elements that are present in it.
Acidic Nature
The pH level of calorie-free beverage is lower than 7 which make the drink acidic. The pH level in Diet Mountain Diet, Pepsi and Diet Coke is 3.3 and 2.5. Tooth enamel can dissolve if the pH level is 4.3 and below than that.
Moreover, acidity can cause inflammation, obesity, joint and muscle pain, fatigue, reflux, poor skin condition, heart disease and bad digestion.
Sodium Benzoate
One of the most common components that exist in diet soda is the sodium benzoate that can shut down certain parts of DNA. This problem can give rise to Parkinson’s disease and liver cirrhosis. Once the products containing ascorbic acid or vitamin C and sodium benzoate are exposed to light and heat, benzene can be produced due to the chemical reaction.
Now it is known that benzene contains elements that maximize the chances of cancer and other critical diseases. In addition to the context, sodium benzoate is also used in fireworks industry for making the whistling.
The calorie-free beverages are seen to contain yellow, red and caramel dyes that can increase the chances of mood disruptions, cancer, poor immune system and hormone imbalance. Many of the soda manufacturing companies spend millions of bucks to get the GMO labelling right deceiving customers when it comes to breaking down the real elements used in the diet soda.
Heart Condition, Poor Brain Functionality and Diet Soda
One of the main problems with the calorie-free beverage is that the container is life-threatening to the consumers extensively.
- Bisphenol A, known as BPA is associated with cans and excessive level of this particular substance can lead to heart disease and high blood pressure.
- Due to the existence of BPA in diet soda, the problems linked to reproduction cannot be eliminated. The risk of obesity is high that can lead to obesity indicating the fact that taking one can of pop is not worth the risk.
- The risk of dementia cannot be eliminated because studies have found that calorie-free beverage increases the risks of stroke and dementia. If someone drinks on a can of diet soda in each day, the risk is susceptible to linger on his/her health.
- Diet soda can increase the chances of developing heart disease by 50% and there is also 30% risk linked to cardiovascular issues.
High Risk of Obesity
People switch to calorie-free beverage drink from regular soda thinking that it can minimize the calorie intake. However, binge drinking of diet soda can give rise to weight issues or obesity. It might not contain calories but it does not have the capability to reduce weight.
Over the course of time, studies have found that people who are seen to take more than two cups of diet soda every day can suffer from overweight or obesity. The artificial sweeteners act as the risk factor increasing problems with metabolism.
Customers are seen to undergo a certain syndrome that includes diet soda, hamburger and large fries. In this type of food habit, the diet soda cannot play an effective role. Moreover, people start thinking that as they consume no or low-calorie drink, they are immune to the side-effects of consuming high-calorie food.
The problem of consuming high-calorie food with low or no calories diet soda is indeed a matter of concern. Now this problem alone can be a precursor to obesity or weight gaining issues. Moreover, obesity has become a problem at large taking the figure of the global epidemic, paying heed to diet is really needed at the earliest stage.
Type 2 Diabetes
Diet soda can become addictive for the people and it can lead to type 2 diabetes. Once you are hooked on diet soda, you will notice gaining weight and studies refer that if you drink more than two glasses of diet soda, you can increase the risk of diabetes.
Calorie-free or low-calorie drinks like diet soda can make us hungrier than ever which results in binge eating. The association of diet soda with type 2 diabetes cannot be overlooked which in the end leads to diabetes.
Problems with Digestion
One who suffers from indigestion should avoid drinking calorie-free beverage as the condition only gets worse with it. It is known that diet soda is an acidic beverage and the manufacturing companies think that the pH level can be balanced with the addition of loads of high fructose sugar or corn syrup.
- The presence of phosphoric acid can deteriorate the state of oesophagus and throat. If a person regularly drinks diet soda, he can feel irritation in mouth lining, throat and oesophagus.
- In addition to the context, diet soda is notorious for lowering the production of HCL in the stomach. This can lead to severe cases of digestion as HCL plays an essential role in digestion.
Zero Nutritional Value
There is no nutritional value that one can acquire from diet soda and there is positive effect that one can get from it. If you want to quench your thirst with calorie-free beverage, you should take plain water instead. In this way, you can stay hydrated that you do not get to do from drinking diet soda.
Moreover, water can improve your digestive system and make your skin glow.
Problem with Metabolism
The diet soda is known to be bad for kidneys, heart and digestive system and it is also bad for your metabolism. If one drinks diet soda, there are 34% higher chances of developing metabolic syndrome.
These symptoms include high cholesterol and belly fat that ultimately results in heart disease. In addition to the context, the consumer’s eating habit can get disrupted with the intake of diet soda.
Hangover can Get Worse
There is no other bad combination than drinking alcohol and diet soda together. If you mix diet soda with alcohol, things can get worse because you are likely to get drunk fast. The sugar-free concoction of diet soda can penetrate your bloodstream faster than those drinks that contain sugar.
Kidney Diseases
Diet soda has adverse effects on human health and can deteriorate the condition of kidneys. A research study with 3,000 women indicated that the consumption of calorie-free drink leads to diet soda.
The condition started to downhill when the women consumed more than two cans of diet soda per day. As it was linked to the sugar-sweetened sodas, the researchers came to a conclusion that diet sweeteners were to be blamed.
It can Kill You
Diet soda is associated with heart attack, vascular death and stroke. In addition to the context, the researchers have found that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma are linked to the consumption of diet soda.
- The research studies have found that artificial and non-saccharine sweetener can lead to insulin resistance increases the risks of fatty liver. Due to the condition of fatty liver, excessive fat can be stored in the liver cells. If you drink cocktails with diet soda, the chances of undergoing the condition of the fatty liver become higher resulting in premature mortality.
- The carcinogenic risk factors cannot be discarded with the consumption of diet soda. Moreover, it is seen that colon, breast, liver, rectum and oesophagal cancers are the common consequences of drinking diet soda.
If you have the pre-existing disease, you can take advice from the doctor whether it is safe for you to drink calorie-free beverage. The problems with diet soda are not likely to be resolved as the manufacturing companies are using the ingredients that can deteriorate people’s health. Henceforth, instead of relying on the soda drinks, it is better to choose the drinks that can increase your mortality and save you from grave diseases.