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6 Dangers Of Diet Soda That Could Shorten Your Life

by Sydney Epstein

It’s not always easy to make healthy choices, especially with fancy marketing and sexy food and drink products everywhere you turn.

But one so-called “healthy” choice you may be making is drinking diet soda instead of the regular calorie alternative.

After all, if the label on the bottle says “diet”, it has to be better for you than the real stuff. Right?

Wrong.

Loads of research shows that drinking diet soda won’t help you fight fat.

And even worse than that, the chemicals in diet soda can lead to all sorts of serious health problems, from diabetes, to high blood pressure, to kidney problems and more. It turns out that there are a ton of scary dangers of diet soda.

diet soda

Why You Need To Stop Drinking Diet Soda

Diet soda is packed with artificial sweeteners that can confuse your body’s natural ability to manage calories. But worse than that, drinking diet soda has been linked to serious health problems. Health dangers of  diet soda include:

1. Heart disease

A study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that diet soda drinkers were at greater risk for vascular health defects, such as heart attacks and strokes.

Related: 11 Ways To Keep Your Heart Healthy

2. Type 2 diabetes

The American Diabetes Association found that people who drank diet soda are at increased risk of diabetes by 67%.

3. Kidney problems

A study published in Harvard Medical School’s Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology found that women who drank 2 or more cans of soda per day were more likely to suffer decline in kidney function.

4. Obesity

Several studies have shown an association with people who drink diet soda and metabolic syndrome.

Related: 4 Diet Food Marketing Tricks Designed To Keep You Fat

To say it in another way, diet soda drinkers are more likely to be obese, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a larger waistline. Pretty ironic that it’s called “diet” soda, isn’t it?

5. Bad teeth

Although regular soda may be worse for your teeth, diet soda can still do damage. The high acidity of diet sodas causes erosion, resulting in weak, ugly, and unhealthy teeth.

6. Pre-term delivery

In a study of nearly 60,000 pregnant women, researchers found that those women who drank diet soda were at increased risk of pre-term delivery. It didn’t matter if the women were overweight or regular weight.

And guess what else they found? There was no correlation for preterm delivery and women who drank regular, sugar-sweetened sodas….so there’s something in the “diet” that is causing this problem.

Related: 6 Health Benefits Of Not Drinking Soda

How to Stop Drinking Diet Soda

Breaking any habit or stopping any unhealthy behavior requires willpower, confidence, and most important, a good plan. Here’s a few ways to avoid the dangers of diet soda…by abstaining from it completely.

1. Remove temptations

This means getting rid of any diet soda in your home, workplace, car, and anywhere you have easy access to the chemical-packed drink.

2. Switch to healthy alternatives

Coffee and tea are much healthier options compared to diet soda. In addition to being chemical-free, these drinks can improve your blood pressure, reduce your risk of Type 2 diabetes, prevent cancer, lower cholesterol, and fight infection.

Related: Your Personal Guide To Navigating The Starbucks Menu

Just skip the whole milk, sugar and other “toppings”, otherwise these healthy alternatives can quickly turn into a liquid dessert and fat bomb.

Don’t like coffee or tea? Switch to water and see how much better you feel within a couple weeks.

3. Change your thoughts

Replace negative thoughts like “I really want a Diet Coke” or “I’m not able to stop drinking Diet Pepsi” to more positive statements like “I care about my health and fuel my body with natural foods and beverages” or “I have the power to change any behavior I want.”

Related: The Incredible Power Of Self Talk

It may sound crazy, but behavioral change starts in your head and your thoughts can help you make or break any habit.

Don’t believe us? Try it for a week and tell us if it works. We bet you’ll be surprised.

The Takeaway

The dangers of diet soda are real. It’s low in calories, but high in problems. With few natural ingredients or nutrients, these drinks can cause the same problems they were designed to prevent, along with being associated with a slew of serious health conditions. If you want to live long and live well, cut out diet soda by changing your thoughts, changing your habits, and then improving your health.

Want to take it a step further? Inspire your friends and family to cut out diet soda by sharing this article with them, and supporting each other as you make this healthy change together.

Updated 9/19

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