Drinking diet soda could actually add inched to your waistline.
New research suggest heavy individuals who drink diet soda eat more than those who don't, a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health news release reported.
"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," Sara Bleich, PhD, associate professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Health Policy and Management and lead author of the paper, said in the news release.
A research team looked at data from the 1999-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) that revealed diet beverage consumption patterns in adults.
"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," Bleich said.
The rate of adult diet drink consumption as at only three percent in 1965, today it is up to 20 percent. Those who drink diet soda tend to have a higher body mass index (BMI) and snack more than those who don't.
People who diet soda could drink more because artificial sweeteners are believed to activate reward centers in the brain, which disrupts appetite control and keeps "sweet centers" from recognizing how much energy has been consumed.
"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," Bleich, said.
