Diet soda really works

Growing up we had a refrigerator magnet on the fridge as long as I can remember that featured a skeleton saying “diet soda really works!”  I’ve been a huge fan of diet soda ever since I made the switch in my early 20′s.  Took some getting used to, but I love getting 75% or so of the enjoyment for 0% of the calorie cost.  Now, lots of people out there are anti-soda period, whether it’s diet or not, and keep on insisting to me that diet soda really isn’t any better than regular soda.  You know what?  They’re wrong.  Finally, the perfect little piece of data I’ve been looking for (via a really interesting NYT article on the various artificial sweeteners):

Research published last year that analyzed health data on more than 100,000 nurses in the United States over nearly a quarter-century found a strong correlation between weight gain and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and desserts. There was no weight gain for those who drank beverages with artificial sweeteners.

In fairness, the doctor featured in the article isn’t sold:

In terms of relative risk — the known dangers of sugar and weight gain versus the uncertainties of artificial sweeteners — “artificially sweetened beverages are much less bad than the full-sugar beverages,” Dr. Willett said. Still, diet sodas are less than optimal. “I view them like a nicotine patch,” he said.

Okay, then, I love my nicotine patch.  Given that there’s absolutely no proven health risks, I’ll go with these uncertainties any day.  Not to mention, Diet Dr. Pepper tastes so much better than water.

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