Drinking Diet Soda Helps Shed Excess Weight: Study

Diet sodas can help you lose excess weight, according to a study.

Soft drinks and sodas have been criticized for having high amounts of sugar, caffeine and artificial sweeteners that are linked to diabetes, obesity and related health problems. Diet sodas and aerated beverages are banned in many schools in the U.S, France and Britain. In a recent research, experts from the University of Colorado were startled to find drinking diet beverages can help shed extra kilos than drinking water. Their study observed the 303 participants for almost 12 weeks who either consumed sweetened diet sodas or water to note their effects in aiding weight loss. Throughout the trial, all subjects followed similar diet and exercise regime.

They found individuals who drank the non-nutritive sweetened soda lost about 6 kilograms which was 44 percent more than the weight lost by subjects who drank water. Nearly 64 percent of the participants who drank diet sodas compared to 43 percent from control group had an average body weight reduction of five percent. This five percent weight decrease is attributed to the improvement in health by protecting against heart diseases, type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

"This study clearly demonstrates that diet beverages can in fact help people lose weight, directly countering myths in recent years that suggest the opposite effect - weight gain,"  said James O. Hill, study author and executive director of the University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center, in a news release.

"In fact, those who drank diet beverages lost more weight and reported feeling significantly less hungry than those who drank water alone. This reinforces that if you're trying to shed pounds, you can enjoy diet beverages," he said.

The soda drinking participants also reported feeling less hungry and had improved levels of cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein. At the end of the trial, subjects from both groups achieved a notable diminution in waist measurement and blood pressure.

"There's so much misinformation about diet beverages that isn't based on studies designed to test cause and effect, especially on the Internet," said John C. Peters, co-author of the study and the chief strategy officer of the CU Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. "This research allows dieters to feel confident that low- and no-calorie sweetened beverages can play an important and helpful role as part of an effective and comprehensive weight loss strategy."

The research was funded by the American Beverage Association. More information is available online in the journal Obesity.