Food Facts: The Health Dangers of Diet Soda

The Health Dangers of Diet Soda

By Susan McQuillan

Reviewed by QualityHealth's Medical Advisory Board


I cut the article down to get out some of the main points, but you can read the entire article HERE.
Diet sodas have long been encouraged as a "free food" on many weight loss plans and are a staple for many people with diabetes. Now researchers are saying this sweet treat may be hurting some of the same people it's supposed to help.

Since 1976, more than 200,000 female nurses have volunteered to participate in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) at Brigham and Women's University in Massachusetts.

A look at the diet soda habits of more than 3,000 older women...revealed a link between artificially sweetened sodas and a weakening of kidney function over the course of a decade [about 10yrs]. These findings...revealed that women who drank two or more glasses, cans or bottles of diet soda every day were twice as likely to experience a significant decline.

Kidney function--how well the kidneys perform their job of filtering blood, excreting waste and maintaining the body's fluid balance-normally declines slightly with age.

Interestingly, a study present earlier in 2009...suggested that diet soda might be good for kidneys because they...helps dissolve and prevent the formation of calcium kidney stones. Since kidney stones result...from dehydration, however, the recommendation for people who form stones is to drink more water, not more diet soda.

Nor is the answer to turn back to sugar-sweetened sodas. In addition to an excess of "empty" calories (calories with no accompanying nutrients) from sugar, previous studies have linked regular sodas with increased protein in the urine, which can be an early indicator of kidney disease.

While health experts have never said "never" when it comes to drinking either sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened sodas, most agree that both types [either sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened sodas] are consumed in excess. And that, they say, is the real problem.


But since diet sodas are known to be higher in sodium than sodas made with sugar, and excess sodium has long been associated with kidney disease, sodium is certainly suspect, along with artificial sweeteners.

Consider these findings a jumping off point for further research to reveal what, specifically, we need to know about the effects of drinking too much diet soda.

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Sources:
Science Daily: Diets High in Sodium and Artificially Sweetened Soda Linked to Kidney Function Decline:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091101132543.htm

Science Daily: Drinking Diet Soda May Reduce Risk of Forming Kidney Stones:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090426075452.htm

Brigham and Women's Hospital: Nurses' Health Study
http://www.brighamandwomens.org/publicaffairs/NursesHealthStudy.aspx
Updated: March 3, 2010
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