Switching from a sugar-sweetened beverage to a diet soda – thereby reducing your overall calorie intake may seem like a healthier choice. But experts feel you may be cheating your body in the long run. Often sweetened with artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose, low-calorie diet sodas do not lead to blood sugar spikes, which makes them a preferred choice for diabetics and weight watchers. However, recent studies have warned against their long-term dangers for heart health, kidney function, metabolic disorders, and now brain health.
A study published in the American Academy of Neurology found that artificial sweeteners aged the brain of people by over 1.5 years, and people who consumed the equivalent of just one diet soda a day experienced trouble remembering and recalling words.
Another study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke discovered that adults consuming one or more diet sodas daily have three times the risk of developing ischemic stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.
Not just heart and brain, artificial sweeteners in diet soda can have multiple health risks.
While diet sodas may seem harmless, being low in calories, research shows that frequent consumption can lead to long term health issues.
Weight gain
While diet sodas are considered weight-loss friendly, they may actually do the opposite. Research has linked their regular consumption to weight gain.
This happens because the artificial sweeteners in diet soda contribute to the body’s natural hunger signals and a desire to eat more than you would if you did not have the beverage, Dr Karuna Chaturvedi, Head- Clinical Nutrition, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Noida, told Financial Express.com.
Studies have also noted that soda drinkers have a higher incidence of metabolic syndrome than people who do not drink soda. Metabolic syndrome is a broader term entailing more than one condition or comorbidity – higher blood pressure, increased blood sugar and abdominal obesity. All of them increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
Raises risk of osteoporosis
Drinking any form of soda, including diet soda, on a regular basis can also affect bone health. Phosphoric acid in the soda can speed up calcium excretion – a process by which the kidneys eliminate excess calcium from the body. This draining of calcium also increases the risk of osteoporosis.
“Transitory or daily consumption of diet soda leads to low or no calcium, and makes the bones brittle, increasing the risk of fractures. The acid also erodes teeth through enamel loss, which eventually results in tooth decay,” says Dr Chaturvedi.
Kidney issues
Diet soda is perhaps the worst drink for your kidney health. According to researchers from Nurses’ Health Study, kidney function declined over two decades in women who drank several diet sodas a day. As per the study, compared with the women who did not drink diet soda, soda-drinking women had a 30% greater reduction in kidney function over 20 years.
Headaches
Diet sodas sweetened by aspartame can cause a significant increase in headache frequency in people with migraine.
Digestion issues
Artificial sweetener aspartame can disturb the gut bacteria, which in turn can reduce digestive function and lower immunity. According to PubMed, gut microbiome can play a key role in immune function, heart health, and nutrient absorption.
Fertility issues
“Chemicals and artificial sweeteners found in diet sodas can interfere with hormone balance, decrease the quality of ovulation, impair sperm function in men, and over time lead to infertility,” Dr. Aastha Gupta, Senior IVF Consultant & Infertility Specialist, Obstetrics/Gynaecology, Delhi IVF, New Delhi told Financial Express.com.