How many of you have chosen diet soda because you thought it was the healthy choice? Lots of hands going up! Now those with their hands up, how many of you have heard someone say or said yourself, "I'm on a diet so I better choose the diet soda", or "I can drink as much diet soda as I want because its calorie and sugar free." Lots of hands still up. (Now put them down, you look silly waving your hands at a screen)
Well here's the bad news. There is evidence to prove that diet foods can actually cause you to gain weight.
Did you know that it is NOT the number of calories you eat and drink every day that causes you to gain weight? It is actually your body’s HORMONAL RESPONSE to the calories you ingest.
In the case of diet soda there are no calories, but the chemicals you are drinking trick the body into believing it’s eating something sweet.
Let’s take Aspartame for example (found in Diet Coke). This chemical actually blocks your brain’s production of serotonin (controls mood and appetite amongst other things).
And what does your body do when it is suffering from low serotonin levels? It tells your body to go and get some of the foods that it knows will stimulate the release of the chemical.
So sugar free sodas are actually fueling your sugar and junk food cravings.