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What is the link between diet soda, weight gain, and diabetes?
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Diet soft drinks are linked to weight gain, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome in recent studies
You probably assume that the extra refined carbs and calories you get from drinking non-diet sodas increases your risks for obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. But did you realize scientists have also been finding associations between diet soda and some of these diseases?
Three separate, recently-published scientific studies found significant links between consumption of diet soft drinks and the development of diabetes and the closely-related condition known as metabolic syndrome. [1,2,3]
The most recent evidence linking diet soda to diabetes was reported in Diabetes Care earlier this year. [1] The goal of the study was specifically to evaluate the associations between drinking diet soda and the risk for type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. From a population-based sample of 6,800 men and women between the ages of 45 and 84 years, the study concluded that, compared to non-diet soda drinkers, those who drank diet soda at least once daily had a 67% greater relative risk for type 2 diabetes and a 36% greater risk for specific characteristics of metabolic syndrome (high waist circumference and high levels blood sugar while fasting).
Two prior studies also found links to diet soda, although in these studies the findings were incidental. A study of 3,500 patients published in 2007 in the journal Circulation found that drinking one or more diet sodas a day was linked with a 44% higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome, compared with drinking less than one diet soda a day. [2] It was unclear to the researchers whether the diet soda was a direct cause or an indicator of less healthy lifestyle habits, such as eating a poorer diet, smoking, and exercising less.
In another large study, the dietary intakes of over 9,000 middle-aged adults were assessed at the beginning of the study and 6 years later. [3] At a nine-year follow-up, almost 40% of the participants had developed metabolic syndrome, leading researchers to conclude, again, that diet soda is strongly associated with an increased risk for metabolic syndrome.
According to the researchers, the findings may suggest that artificial sweeteners lead to overeating by interfering with the body's ability to properly assess how many calories are consumed.
This hypothesis that diet soda may interfere with the body’s ability to properly assess calories is supported by a recent animal study published in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience. [4] This study found that using artificial sweeteners in rats not only fails to prevent them from gaining weight, but that it actually induces a whole set of physiologic and hormonal responses that cause weight gain.
Rats were given yogurt sweetened with either sugar or saccharin. Those fed artificially sweetened yogurt dramatically increased their total food intake over 14 days, indicating the artificial sweetener increased their appetites. Furthermore, this group of rats experienced significant increases in body fat and gained more weight. Not only that, but the researchers found that the artificial sweetener significantly altered the rats’ core body temperatures, lowering their metabolisms after food intake.
While human studies showing causality are still lacking, this recent research in rats clearly shows that consuming foods sweetened with a non-calorie sweetener can lead to greater weight gain and fat accumulation than would consuming the same food sweetened with high-calorie sugar.
Tricking the body with non-caloric sweeteners seems to confuse it. A number of naturopathic, holistic, and integrative health practitioners teach their patients that tasting (or even anticipating tasting) anything sweet is a signal to the body to ready itself for calories. This signal triggers a wide range of hormonal and metabolic responses.
Whether this holds true for natural non-calorie sweeteners, such as stevia, remains to be seen.
What is Metabolic Syndrome? Metabolic syndrome (also called metabolic syndrome X, syndrome X, and insulin resistance) is a combination of three or more of the following medical conditions that places one at risk for diabetes and heart disease:
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References
- Nettleton JA, Lutsey PL, Wang Y, Lima JA, Michos ED, Jacobs DR Jr. Diet soda and risk of incident metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes in the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Diabetes Care. 2009 Jan 16; [Epub ahead of print].
- Dhingra R, Sullivan L, Jacques PF, et al. Soft drink consumption and risk of developing cardiometabolic syndrome on middle-aged adults in the community. Circulation. 2007;116:480-488.
- Lutsey PL, Steffen LM, Stevens J. Dietary intake and the development of the metabolic syndrome. The atherosclerosis risk in communities study. Circulation. 2008;117:754-761.
- Swithers SE, Davidson TL. A role for sweet taste: calorie predictive relations in energy regulation by rats. Behav Neurosci. 2008 Feb;122(1):161-73. http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/bne-feb08-swithers.pdf
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