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Diet Soda Research

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Diet soda is generally considered a healthy alternative to their sugar-filled counterparts. However, many studies have begun to link the consumption of diet soda to several diseases and conditions, including - ironically - diabetes and childhood obesity. Drinking diet sodas on a daily basis while pregnant has been associated with a higher deviation from the average body mass index among children at a year old, according to researchers at the University of Manitoba in Canada. Their data collection involved recording the BMI z-score, which is the deviation from the average BMI for children similar of gender and age, of one year old children whose mothers drank diet sodas and other artificially sweetened drinks frequently during pregnancy. These …show more content…

Most people, including some scientists, say that it is the inclusion of artificial sweeteners. In an effort to make their drinks more marketable to those desiring to lose weight, soda companies cut natural sugar from their drinks, opting instead for “healthier” artificial sweeteners. However, scientists are beginning to find correlations between artificial sweeteners and some of the precursors to diabetes. Some artificial sweeteners, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science say, cause changes in the body’s metabolic structures and functions to the point of a degraded ability to regulate blood sugar. This condition is directly linked to the development of diabetes (Chang 2014). Another study by researchers at the University of Texas found that diet sodas and artificial sweeteners actually caused people to have a severe increase in weight gain, directly correlated to the amount of diet soda that they consume (LaMotte 2016). The experiments of the researchers at the University of Manitoba also support these claims. They claim that the link of diet soda to childhood obesity is because of the artificial sweeteners present (Kaplan 2016). There are many varieties of artificial sweeteners, though one of the most widely used is high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is very similar to natural sugar in its chemical makeup. Despite this chemical similarity, however, both the flavor and the …show more content…

The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has approved five other types of artificial sweeteners in the United States. These sweeteners are acesulfame potassium, sold as Sunett and Sweet One; aspartame, sold as Equal, Nutrasweet and Sugar Twin; neotame, sold as Newtame; saccharin, sold as Sweet'N Low, Sweet Twin and Necta Sweet; and sucralose, sold as Splenda (LaMotte 2016). These sweeteners are also used in diet sodas, and each improves upon the taste and health risks of the last. However, the FDA also says that these sweeteners are safe when used “in moderation,” meaning that their consumption is confirmed to be unhealthy when in excess. The variety and uncertainty of these artificial sweeteners makes determining their effects substantially more difficult, especially considering that they are frequently used in combination with each other to make unique flavors and bring them closer to the taste of actual sugar. However, the FDA and many other researchers have decided that a largely excessive consumption of artificial sweeteners can be linked to the development of bladder cancer. Even daily consumption of diet soda has been discovered to be linked to metabolic syndrome, which is a precursor to type-2 diabetes, due to their effects on bacteria in the stomach (LaMotte

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