Diet Soda A More Beneficial Beverage For Weight Loss Than Water, Study Finds

Diet soda has gotten some bad press lately, particularly in terms of posing a heart risk for women, but there’s some good news for diet soda drinkers who are trying to slim down.

A 12-week weight loss study has found dieters had higher rates of success if they drank diet soda, as opposed to a group of study participants who only drank water. Specifically, the diet soda study examined the results of 303 people who were trying to lose weight. The ones who drank just water lost just over eight pounds, but the diet soda drinkers shed slightly more than 12 pounds. What’s more, those diet soda drinkers said they were hungry less often.

Researchers confirmed the outcome should be seen as a positive thing for people who drink sweet, non-nutritious beverages, because the results indicate that people can at least drink diet soda and know they won’t be derailing their weight loss progress in the process. Also, if someone’s personal results are typical to what was seen in this study, he or she can feel hopeful that drinking a modest amount of diet soda may even make it easier to reach a weight loss goal in a shorter amount of time.

Diet soda has been produced for about five decades, and the scientists of this study noted there have been numerous other research efforts that linked diet soda to weight gain rather than weight loss. Analysts have admitted this study was beneficial because it included people of various ethnicities and both genders who were located in two parts of the United States. However, the fact has also been raised that 12 weeks is a relatively short time for a study to run, so more investigations about whether diet soda really stimulates weight loss will be necessary.

Before the study began, all participants drank diet soda regularly. The group that was chosen to continue that habit was told to drink at least three of those beverages today. On the other hand, the water-drinking subjects were told that they must drink at least 24 ounces of water per day. All participants exercised less than 300 minutes per week.

It’s worth noting that although the diet soda study was performed by researchers from Philadelphia’s Temple University and the University of Colorado, it was funded by the American Beverage Association. Even so, the two groups of the study were asked to follow identical programs in terms of exercise and attending weight loss support groups. The only difference between them was the type of beverage consumed.

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