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Research
raises questions about diet soft drinks
Aug. 02, 2007
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
Soft
drink makers just can’t catch a break these days.
Regular sugar-packed soft drinks, blamed for rising obesity
rates in children, have been the target of school vending
machine vigilantes and parents on junk food patrol.
But new research findings focus on the effects of diet soft
drinks on health.
A study by researchers at Boston University published last
month in the journal Circulation found an association between
consumption of diet soft drinks and a cluster of risk factors
for heart disease, including an apple-shaped body, and higher
blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and triglyceride
levels.
The findings still call for explanation, though, because they
are at odds with previous research findings showing diet soft
drinks to be helpful for weight control. Further research
is needed, and nobody is suggesting there is a direct, cause-and-effect
link between diet drinks and indicators of poor health.
Instead, it’s more likely that diet soft drinks are
guilty by association. Some plausible explanations for a link
between diet soft drinks and negative health factors:
* Diet drinks may be proxy for an individuals’ lack
of attention to good eating habits. It’s possible that
people who don’t take a lot of care to eat a health-supporting
diet are also more likely to eat junky foods that contribute
to poorer health and fewer foods associated with good health.
Researchers in the Boston University study controlled for
some diet and lifestyle differences between soda drinkers
and non-drinkers, but it’s a reasonable idea to explore.
The flip side: Some health-conscious people also drink diet
sodas because they purposely avoid caloric sweeteners.
* The satiety factor. Nutrition researchers are examining
the idea that people who drink more fluids with meals feel
less satisfied, leading to an urge to eat more later in the
day. The extra calories may be stored as fat around the middle,
and not-so-healthful food choices may contribute to higher
blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
* A taste for sweets. It’s possible that people accustomed
to sweet diet drinks may condition themselves to prefer sweet
foods, many of which are packed with calories.
* The company they keep. Diet drinks are often sold alongside
burgers, fries, egg and cheese biscuits and other artery-cloggers.
Buy a burger, buy a drink. Diet soda drinkers may be more
likely to load up on foods that contribute to a poorer health
profile, including some not already taken into consideration
by the BU researchers.
It’s clear more research is needed to sort out the effects
of soft drink consumption on health. Such relationships are
not often easy to explain with precision.
So what does this mean for your own diet? Should you buy the
diet drink?
That depends.
Be aware of the possible pitfalls associated with soft drinks
– diet or regular. Water, not soft drinks, should be
the beverage of choice with meals. Does a regular habit of
sweet drinks encourage you to seek out more sweet foods? It’s
worth some thought.
If you do indulge in diet soft drinks, also give some thought
to the remainder of your diet. Do you buy your drinks at fast
food restaurants? If so, what else are you eating?
And whatever you do, don’t switch to regular sodas.
Diet drinks are still better than regular, although plain
water is the best choice of all.
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