Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke? For years, Diet Coke has been the winner in that debate, but PepsiCo is trying to change that. Beginning this month, the beverage maker will begin manufacturing the zero-calorie drink with two types of artificial sweetener. The company says the new addition, acesulfame potassium, will help stabilize the drink, which previously had been made only with aspartame.
The effects that acesulfame potassium and other sugar substitutes can have on your health, however, aren’t so sweet. Though the FDA approved acesulfame for use in soft drinks in 1988, a report published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in 2006 called for more safety testing of the chemical. Some researchers believe methods previously used failed to prove that the chemical is not a carcinogenic. And no matter what is used to sweeten your sugar-free soda, drinking diet is no better for you than regular. Our friends at Prevention magazine rounded up some of the effects diet soda can have on your body:
Kidney problems: In an 11-year-long Harvard Medical School study of more than 3,000 women, researchers found that diet cola is associated with a two-fold increased risk for kidney decline. Kidney function started declining when women drank more than two sodas a day. Even more interesting: Since kidney decline was not associated with sugar-sweetened sodas, researchers suspect that the diet sweeteners are responsible.
Messed-up metabolism: According to a 2008 University of Minnesota study of almost 10,000 adults, even just one diet soda a day is linked to a 34% higher risk of metabolic syndrome.
Obesity: You read that right: Diet soda doesn’t help you lose weight after all. A University of Texas Health Science Center study found that the more diet sodas a person drank, the greater their risk of becoming overweight. Downing just two or more cans a day increased waistlines by 500%.
The effects that acesulfame potassium and other sugar substitutes can have on your health, however, aren’t so sweet. Though the FDA approved acesulfame for use in soft drinks in 1988, a report published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in 2006 called for more safety testing of the chemical. Some researchers believe methods previously used failed to prove that the chemical is not a carcinogenic. And no matter what is used to sweeten your sugar-free soda, drinking diet is no better for you than regular. Our friends at Prevention magazine rounded up some of the effects diet soda can have on your body:
Kidney problems: In an 11-year-long Harvard Medical School study of more than 3,000 women, researchers found that diet cola is associated with a two-fold increased risk for kidney decline. Kidney function started declining when women drank more than two sodas a day. Even more interesting: Since kidney decline was not associated with sugar-sweetened sodas, researchers suspect that the diet sweeteners are responsible.
Messed-up metabolism: According to a 2008 University of Minnesota study of almost 10,000 adults, even just one diet soda a day is linked to a 34% higher risk of metabolic syndrome.
Obesity: You read that right: Diet soda doesn’t help you lose weight after all. A University of Texas Health Science Center study found that the more diet sodas a person drank, the greater their risk of becoming overweight. Downing just two or more cans a day increased waistlines by 500%.
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