"A landmark new study out of Texas confirms this, having found that not only do diet sodas not help with weight loss, but they actually cause both weight gain and health problems."
Oh really? Diet sodas "cause" weight gain? Bold claim, with no explanation. The statement as it is written says that if you drink diet soda, you will gain weight. I've successfully lost weight on several occasions while drinking diet sodas.
"They may be free of calories, but not of consequences."
So how is diet soda "causing" weight-gain?
"These results suggest that heavy aspartame exposure might potentially directly contribute to increased blood glucose levels, and thus contribute to the associations observed between diet soda consumption and the risk of diabetes in humans."
I see, that explains possible negative health consequences other than weight gain.
"Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) at San Antonio gathered ten years worth of data on 474 participants from a larger, ongoing study called the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging. Among these participants, those that consumed two or more diet sodas a day experienced waist size increases that were a shocking six times greater than those who did not drink diet soda."
"...consuming them (diet soda) actually leads to a 70 percent increase in waist size compared to those who do not drink them."
10 years of data on almost 500 people...I'm sure diet soda wasn't the only thing that affected their weight. There are numerous factors to consider here. Association between diet sodas and weight gain is noted in this specific group. Claiming causality in this case is irresponsible.
"So rather than consume artificially-sweetened beverages and foods with the hope that they will somehow induce weight gain and promote health ??? two notions that have proven once again to be false"
Ok, obvious typo contradiction here. Who wrote this article?
"The best way to begin to lose weight is to consume less processed, refined sugars and simple carbohydrates in the first place."
The "best way" to lose weight, and not a single mention of caloric deficit? Yikes.
The article poorly presents the context of practical dieting. I'm no master of the subject, but the author of that article did not do a very good job.
I'm not saying diet soda may not have negative qualities, or that any of the information in the article is completely off base, but I think the perspective the article gives is unsubstantiated and a bit sensationalist.
