Friday, September 30, 2005

7 Healthcast: Diet Soda Weight

Diet soda may be fizzing with trouble for your waistline.

Registered dietician Laurie Meyer says, "Diet sodas came into being to help us lose weight and in fact they actually are causing some people to gain weight."

The latest study tracked 1500 soda drinkers for eight years. Forty-seven percent of people who drank regular soda became over-weight in that time. While 57 percent of diet soda drinkers became overweight.

Don’t most people drink diet soda to avoid calories? The study found diet drinkers are often over eaters. They may be saving calories in their cup but make up for it on their plate.

The study showed, the more diet soda you drink, the more likely you are to have or develop a weight problem. This pseudo sweet stuff creates real cravings for sweets. It can change the way your body uses sugar.

The findings could even make die-hard diet drinkers change their ways. Diet experts say the best way to quench your thirst is to drink water. The recommendation is eight, eight ounce glasses a day.

(Copyright (c) 2005 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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Dr. Deanna Lites

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Dana Paravati

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