TEXAS—A recent study conducted at the University of Texas Health Science Center and published in the Journal of American Geriatrics found that diet soda could increase your risk of obesity and heart disease.
The study included 749 participants over the age of 65. The researchers tracked their consumption of diet soda, along with their waist circumference, height, weight, and heart health. These factors were analyzed four times over the course of the 9 year study.
The team found that those who were occasional or daily drinkers of diet soda on average saw significant increases in their waistline, compared to those who did not drink diet soda. Specifically, those who occasional drank diet soda showed an average increase of 1.83 inches to their waistline and those who drank diet soda daily saw an average increase of 3.16 inches. In addition, the researchers noted that this is linked to an increased risk of obesity, which is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular disease.
The researchers recommended that older adults should limit or stop their consumption of artificially sweetened drinks (diet soda); they could replace these drinks with the following alternatives:
· Water or sparkling water (source of carbonation)
· Tea (hot or iced)
· Drinks that are sweetened with cane sugar
If you are interested in preventing obesity or heart disease, you might want to consider eliminating diet soda or other artificially sweetened drinks from your diet.
Have a great day.
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