Another Study That Reams Diet Coke Addiction

Count me in with the degenerate bunch of folks who’s addicted to the no-calorie, artificially sweetened Diet Coke. Since its inception in the early 80s there has been a continuous debate over the possible adverse health effects of Diet Coke and other drinks utilizing artificial sweeteners. At the heart of many of health debates is the use of aspartame, a substance that has been deemed safe for consumption by appropriate authorities but continues to be scrutinized by researchers and the media (we’re in the coach seats on this bandwagon, I know).

What’s the latest on the debate? The American Diabetes Association presented two studies on June 25th and 27at their Scientific Sessions in San Diego that seem to highlight why diet soda may actually aid in weight gain, and may even lead to higher chances of diabetes.

ScienceDaily has reprinted the report from epidemiologists of the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Center San Antonio. The report shows data that points to diet soft drink consumption has an association with increased waist circumference in humans. The data was gathered from 474 partipants in the study.

The results continue pummeling ‘diet soft drink users’. As a group, they “experienced 70 percent greater increases in waist circumference compared with non-users. Frequent users, who said they consumed two or more diet sodas a day, experienced waist circumference increases that were 500 percent greater than those of non-users.“

One of the educated at the helm of the study is Dr. Fernandes, who in response to the results claims, “These results suggest that heavy aspartame exposure might potentially directly contribute to increased blood glucose levels, and thus contribute to the associations observed between diet soda consumption and the risk of diabetes in humans.“

It’s likely if you’ve had your ear to the Internet, or to diet-coke-is-bad-mongering friends and family, you’ve heard generalities like this before.

What do you think of the latest study? Enough evidence to ween you off your favorite drinks? Or do you already stay clear of Diet drinks?