Is diet soda bad for you?

Hello Anonymous,

Thank you for your question. Every so often, a new study that looks at the correlation between diet soda and health appears in the news.

As appeared in the September 18, 2014 online issue of the Huffington Post, "A new study from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel reveals that artificial sweeteners may have a deleterious effect on our gut bacteria.

Researchers found that artificial sweeteners changed the composition of gut bacteria over time, which could explain why subjects became more glucose intolerant over time. Prolonged glucose intolerance leads to conditions like obesity and diabetes."

The suggested correlation between consumption of aspartame, which is an artificial sweetener commonly found in diet soda, and the increased risk for developing cancer has been circulating for a number of years.

According to the American Cancer Society, no study to date has conclusively proven the link.

In a study published in the journal Circulation in 2008, which followed 9,514 people for 9 years, drinking artificially sweetened beverages was associated with a 34% greater risk of developing the metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors for disease that often occur together and raise your risk of diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

I chose to avoid diet soda because I prefer to avoid artificial sweeteners and chemicals as possible.

Regards,
Maryann