No matter how many times we’re told of the ill effects, no matter how many times our parents told us ‘drink water instead’ when we were young, most of us still drink soda in one form or another.
In fact, many of us have actually turned to diet soda in recent years; an alternative that’s supposedly not as bad for your health, but still goes some way to curing the craving. And yet, many reports would have you believe that the chemicals in diet soda can be just as damaging to your body and, whilst research is still in its early stages, it looks like the safest bet might be giving up soda altogether.
Not convinced? I wasn’t either, not entirely. That was until I discovered a list of things that change in your body when you stop drinking diet soda. Interested? Read on below to see how you could alter your body by cutting it out …
A lot of times we think that to avoid the ‘greater evil’ of a regular cold drink, we can just choose one that has low or zero sugar. However, research shows that this might not be a good option either.
Sometimes, products that are marketed as ‘healthy’ can actually hide some other facts that would make them less desirable.
So, if you are someone who takes care of their health and likes to know exactly what they are putting into their body, then keep reading.
1. Less sugar cravings
With most diet soda relying on aspartame as a substitute for real sugar, you’d be forgiven for thinking the drinks don’t affect your cravings for sugar.
Wrong. Aspartame actually makes you crave sugar, because the artificial sweetness causes your insulin levels to spike. As diet and fitness expert Dr. Melina Jampolis explains: “The taste of sweet does cause the release of insulin, which lowers blood sugar, and if carbohydrates are not consumed, it causes a drop in blood sugar, which triggers hunger and cravings for sugar.”
2. Less food cravings overall
Sugar isn’t the only thing diet soda could be making you crave. In fact, it actually makes you long for a whole lot more.
As per nutritionist Isabel Smith: “Artificial sweeteners affect our sense of satiety. Our bodies have [evolved] to expect a large amount of calories when we take in something exceedingly sweet, and those artificial sweeteners are from 400 times to 8,000 times sweeter than sugar.”
She continues: “The muscles in your stomach relax so you can take in food, and hormones are released. With artificial sweeteners, your body says, ‘Wait a minute, you told me you were going to give me all this high-calorie food. It can actually send some people searching for more food, out of lack of satisfaction.”
Basically, when your body doesn’t get what it was expecting, it turns to other options – namely seeking out high-calorie foods that can give it what it’s after.
