Ruby asks: Are diet sodas really healthier than the regular ones?
Wynnie says: It's humid and over 30 degrees outside. You're parched and if you're like most teens, you'll be reaching out for a can of the fizzy stuff to quench that thirst. But think before you drink - the role these soft drinks have in contributing to the development of type 2 diabetes and heart disease are increasingly being highlighted.
The average can of regular soda contains around 150 calories, almost all of them come from sugar. That's the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar. If you drink one can of regular soda every day without cutting back or burning off the additional calories, you could gain up to 7 kilogrammes in one year. Being overweight or obese can lead to diabetes and other chronic diseases later in life.
Drinking sugar-sweetened soda has been shown to contribute to tooth decay. What's more, the acid in soda can erode tooth enamel, leading to dental cavities as well. Damage to the enamel begins just 20 minutes after drinking soda!
So are diet sodas a healthier alternative? Diet sodas sweetened with artificial sweeteners deliver zero calories, carbohydrates, fat or protein, so over the short term they may seem like the perfect solution to preventing weight gain and the subsequent knock-on effects of other chronic health problems. There is some evidence however, to show that long-term consumption may be equally hazardous to people's health.
Usually when we eat food, complex signals are passed between the brain, stomach, hormones and nerves as a gauge to assess how many calories we are consuming. Our brain responds to sweetness with signals to eat more at first and then with signals to slow down and stop eating. This doesn't seem to happen with artificial sweeteners. They send the appropriate sweet signals to the brain but fail to deliver any calories. This somehow confuses the brain and the feedback to stop eating is lost. So instead of aiding weight loss, diet sodas could contribute to weight gain.
