Will Diet Soda Really Help you Lose Weight?

Various studies have held conflicting opinions about diet soda and weight loss. Previous findings have suggested that artificial sweeteners are actually counterintuitive to cutting calories, and can even result in added food cravings. Yet a recent study conducted by researchers in the weight loss program at the University of Colorado's Anschultz Health and Wellness Center found that diet drinks may not be so unhealthy, after all. 

With funding from the American Beverage Association, researchers divided a group of 300 adults into two sections: One that would continue drinking diet soda and the other that went cold turkey, or the "water group."

Both groups received intensive coaching throughout the study period on successful weight loss techniques, along with regular feedback on meals that were logged in journals. The results contradicted previous findings.

The water group lost an average of 9 pounds over 12 weeks, while the diet soda group lost around 13 pounds. However, the researchers are not surprised by the results.

"It makes sense that it would have been harder for the water group to adhere to the overall diet than the (artificially-sweetened beverage) group," said Dr. Jim Hill of the wellness center, via CNN. Hill helped design the study. "The most likely explanation was that having access to drinks with sweet taste helps the (artificially-sweetened beverage) group to adhere better to the behavioral change program."

Hill added that as this study did not count calorie consumption, the water group was also more likely to consume more calories than the diet soda group. He also stressed that artificially-sweetened beverages are not "weight-loss enhancers."

As the study period was only 12 weeks, Hill noted that the effects associated with weight loss and long-term use of diet drinks are yet to be determined.

In fact, previous studies have also shown that diet soda can induce metabolic derangements.

An opinion piece from 2013 in the journal Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism suggested that artificial sweeteners can dampen the "reward center" of the brain, and lead to overindulgence.

"We've gotten to a place where it is normal to drink diet soda because people have the false impression that it is healthier than indulging in a regular soda," said Susan Swithers, the report's author and a behavioral neuroscientist and professor of psychological sciences at Purdue University. "But research is now very clear that we need to also be mindful of how much fake sugar they are consuming."

What do you think?

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Obesity.