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Don't be fooled into thinking you'll be better off drinking sugar-free or low-calorie soft drinks, as research shows they can cause a wide range of problems
Diet soft drinks appeared on  our supermarket shelves about 25 years ago and were heralded as a 'healthier' alternative to regular soft drinks, but are they good for you?
Children and teens across the world guzzle huge amounts of liquid candy every year; it's estimated that Americans annually drink almost 200 litres each.
Regular soft drinks can contain around nine teaspoonfuls of sugar  (150 calories) per can.
It's thought that the popularity of soft drinks plays a major role in the current youth obesity epidemic.
In theory, substituting regular with diet soft drinks makes sense, since these contain far fewer calories (up to  5 calories per serving).
However, research shows that drinking sweetened beverages, even those which have been artificially sweetened, like diet soft drinks, can lead you to develop a liking for sweet things. That means wanting cakes, biscuits and puddings.
Therefore, diet soft drinks can still increase your chances of being overweight or obese.
A study by the University of Texas found that for each can of diet soft drink consumed each day, a person's risk of obesity went up 41 per cent.
Researchers suggest when we offer our bodies something that tastes sweet but contains little or no calories, our bodies may look elsewhere for that energy, thus stimulating the appetite and making us eat more.
Diet and regular soft drinks contain phosphoric acid that helps prevent those carbonated bubbles from going flat.
Some soft drinks apparently have an acidity level similar to that of battery acid.
Having too much acid in our bodies can upset our pH balance. To fix this, calcium is released from our bones and teeth to 'neutralise' the acid.
Eventually the phosphoric acid is excreted from our bodies, taking calcium with it, robbing our bodies of calcium we need.
Scientists at Harvard University found that drinking carbonated beverages increased the risk of bone fractures in teenage girls by up to  500 per cent.
Breaking the diet drink habit
Diet soft drinks are not health drinks, there are healthier choices. Break your habit by:
alternating your diet soft drinks with water
drinking small glasses of 100 per cent fruit or vegetable  juice
drinking low-fat milk
drinking water, but add a slice of lemon or lime to give it an extra zing
Save diet colas and the like for an occasional treat



Not as healthy as you think: The skinny on diet colas