05Feb
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Is Your Diet Coke Making You Fat?

Interesting news today for those who believe switching to diet soda is a way to cut calories: you may actually be increasing your chances for “metabolic syndrome”.

Researchers tracked 9,500 men and women for a period of nine years and found that the risk of developing Syndrome X — as metabolic syndrome is sometimes called — was 34 percent higher for those drinking even one can of diet soda daily than for those who didn’t drink diet soda at all. (For contrast, people eating diets high in fried foods only experienced a 25% risk.)

Metabolic syndrome is believed to affect 50 million Americans. Its symptoms include abdominal fat, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, decreased HDL cholesterol (the good one) and elevated triglycerides. It’s associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and iron overload, along with making weight loss darn near impossible.

Maybe it’s a good thing I can no longer find my beloved TaB soda in the store anymore.

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Health News
  1. The Clock Stops Here says:
    February 29, 2008 at 2:26 pm

    Kate

  2. Lisa says:
    February 5, 2008 at 1:11 pm

    I wonder what it is in the soda that’s causing it. I’m trying like hell to cut back on my caffeine intake and I haven’t been drinking as much diet soda as I have, but I’m still drinking diet tea and stuff.

    I think I have Syndrome X, but the doctor refuses to diagnose it as such, even though I’ve got all of the classic symptoms. My blood pressure pills aren’t working anymore and my triglycerides are disgustingly high, even after being on medication for the last couple of years. I’m trying to find a new doctor, because this guy just doesn’t seem to give a crap.

    Lisa’s last blog post..Weighty Issues.

  3. Chubby Mommy says:
    February 5, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    I’m betting it’s the aspartame (NutriSweet, Equal, etc.). That stuff is SO bad for our bodies. In fact, according to the FDA, aspartame leads to 75% of all reports of adverse reactions to substances in the nation’s food supply!

    A little trivia here: aspartame was accidentally discovered in the process of making an anti-ulcer medication.

    The FDA wasn’t going to approve it, however, and after some political wrangling the head of the FDA was fired. Shortly after he took office, Reagan appointed a new FDA head and the COO of the company which had discovered aspartame (Searle) reapplied for approval.

    That COO was none other than Donald Rumsfeld.

    The FDA swiftly approved aspartame.

    Rumsfeld soon left Searle company and was appointed by Reagan to the President’s General Advisory Committee on Arms Control.

    Not that my intense dislike of Donald Rumsfeld has anything to do with my intense dislike of aspartame, but I do find it all rather funny.

  4. Mad William Flint says:
    February 5, 2008 at 3:35 pm

    I note a direct correlation between lethargy and diet soda intake.

    I’ve been in the “4 liters of diet dew a day” camp for a long time…. a LONG time.

    Actually Today I’ve decided to try getting my caffiene from nodoz and drinking water because as extreme as that sounds, it’s GOT to be better for me.

    I’m also having a new bout of weight trouble that I’m having trouble tracking down since my caloric intake has actually decreased in recent months due to a rather painful and arduous effort on my part.

    I’ll definitely report back as I see (or don’t) any progress.

    Damn interesting stuff.

  5. wg says:
    February 5, 2008 at 3:40 pm

    Aspartame is evil. Pure, unmitigated, undiluted hellish residue.

    Pure, natural sugar in small quantities is the only way to go IMO.

    wg’s last blog post..More Snow

  6. Mad William Flint says:
    February 5, 2008 at 3:41 pm

    You’re confusing aspartame with pepsi.

  7. Chubby Mommy says:
    February 5, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    Meaning that Pepsi is pure, unmitigated, undiluted hellish residue? I’d go with that.

    I’m not much of a soda drinker, myself, especially now that I can’t get TaB. I’d much rather drink iced tea any day (which, IMVO, is God’s second most perfect beverage, martinis being the first).

    Then again, there are some days that nothing but a full sugar Dr. Pepper will do.

  8. Mad William Flint says:
    February 5, 2008 at 4:13 pm

    See I need my caffeine and really can’t stand coffee. Tea just seems like water filtered through dried up old leaves to me.

    nearly a decade ago when I switched from regular to diet soda I lost close to 20 pounds over the course of a couple months. I don’t particularly shy away from a high-test coke when I need one (and a good root beer is one of life’s greatest fully clothed pleasures.) But I’d wholeheartedly switched to diet dew, coke zero, diet dr. pepper, etc. as my primary beverage.

    But I swear I can feel that it’s not good.

    Maybe I’ll just go back to brewing my own rootbeer and crushing up some caffeine in it.

  9. wg says:
    February 6, 2008 at 12:44 am

    Hey, now. Don’t be dissing my Pepsi!

    wg’s last blog post..More Snow

  10. Jillian says:
    February 6, 2008 at 2:53 am

    Wow. This story is interesting. My mom was a diabetic and she used lots of Sweet and Low and Equal. I’m not diabetic, but I kinda got in the habit of using these things and drinking diet soda.

    I use Equal or Sweet and Low now… every cup of coffee or tea… everyday.

    Ewww… now I feel like I need to get checked out.

    Jillian’s last blog post..Jillian and the Early Morning Bizarre

  11. Chubby Mommy says:
    February 6, 2008 at 12:04 pm

    Keep in mind that Sweet & Low is saccharin which, while having its own health implications, doesn’t share aspartame’s problems.

    Equal, however, is aspartame so it would be among the sweeteners implicated in this study.

  12. Anne says:
    February 6, 2008 at 8:50 pm

    I missed that piece of news. Thanks for putting it here. Wow. That’s just awful.

    Really bad news for me — I’m seriously addicted to Diet Coke with Lime. I’ve been a heavy DC drinker for decades.

    Wish I could develop a liking for green tea.

    Anne’s last blog post..Fat Can Help You Live Longer

  13. Mad William Flint says:
    February 6, 2008 at 11:35 pm

    Yeah I’m without soda of any kind since i read this. Unfortunately I’ve gone to much stranger measures for my daily caffeine intake. But one thing at a time.

  14. Chubby Mommy says:
    February 6, 2008 at 11:54 pm

    I literally switch from coffee around noon to iced tea until 4, with water interspersed throughout as necessary. I have tea at 4 every day, rain or shine, then water until Martini o’clock (which, now that I’m 40, doesn’t last longer than it takes to drink one martini).

    After that?

    Nothing.

    Did I mention I’m 40 now? So is my bladder.

    Liquids after 7 p.m. are baaaaad news.

  15. Anne says:
    February 12, 2008 at 7:06 am

    Dr. Manny talked about this on Fox and Friends this morning. Thanks to Chubby Mommy, I already knew about it. The way he described it artificial sweeteners upset our bodies’ abilities to discern calories so we overeat. I was a little confused on whether it was physiological or mental. The “I had a Diet Coke so I can have a brownie” mentality vs. “Calories? What calories! The stomach says keep going.”

    Anne’s last blog post..Just In: Toxins Can Be Toxic

  16. Chubby Mommy says:
    February 12, 2008 at 9:35 am

    You read it first here at ChubbyMommy.com. I love it!

    I’m not clear whether it’s physiological or mental, either. I’ve got a feeling it’s more the latter since there are plenty of people out there who don’t fall for that mental trap.

  17. Mad William Flint says:
    February 12, 2008 at 10:23 am

    I’d already had plans of cutting back on the aspartame as it was when I read this. But this whole affair convinced me to nix it entirely.

    Aside from the caffeine problem (I just can’t stand coffee) I’ve gotta say it hasn’t been THAT bad. I do really miss the consistency and flavor of diet coke/dew and am having trouble finding substitutes.

    Seltzers (flavored or not) just don’t cut it. Water’s got nothing to it, though it’ll do in a pinch. Regular soda has FAR too much sugar given the volume I drink.

    Damnit! It was such a good fit!

  18. Chubby Mommy says:
    February 12, 2008 at 10:31 am

    Well, there’s always the option to drink water and, if you absolutely MUST get your caffeine fix, drink a regular Red Bull or Jolt, but just one per day.

  19. Mad William Flint says:
    February 12, 2008 at 10:33 am

    Well I’ve been hitting a couple red bulls in the morning.

    Hell, on the bad days I’ll pop a nodoz. I have an EPIC caffeine problem. But I figure the right thing is to make one change at a time.

    Cutting out diet soda and caffeine at the same time would work for about 3 weeks then cause a “to hell with it!” backlash.

    What I have to do is make one change, then wait to see how well I rebalance around it before tweaking something else.

  20. Chubby Mommy says:
    February 12, 2008 at 10:41 am

    That makes perfect sense to me. The backlash is the same reason why I didn’t try to quit smoking and go on a diet simultaneously at New Years.