Expert Explains How ‘Diet Drinks’ Can Actually Make You Fat

Amy Taylor October 18, 2015

Discouraging the public to binge drink on ‘diet’ beverages by taxing them can help prevent 180,000 Britons each year from becoming obese, according to experts. They say diet drinks increase cravings for sweet, unhealthy food and may trigger type 2 diabetes.

Professor MacGregor of Barts and the London and St Georges Hospitals in London, said a sugar tax should be extended to diet drinks as they ‘still lead to obesity.’ He said there’s growing scientific evidence showing that low-calorie drinks can actually fuel obesity by increasing food cravings, particularly on sweet and unhealthy food.

He cited one research wherein obese patients who switched from sugary drinks to diet drinks did not lose any weight.

Prof MacGregor theorises that the artificial sweeteners in the ‘diet drinks are to blame. He said he had given the Health Secretary a detailed document setting out seven possible measures a year and a half ago, but nothing has been done to address it.

He said that a sugar tax would act as a ‘weapon’ to force food and drinks manufacturers to make their products less sweet.

You probably think that drinking diet drinks spares you of the unwanted benefits of their ‘regular’ counterparts. Unfortunately, they could be worse. Below are some of the key findings about diet fizzy drinks:

It ups your risk of type 2 diabetes.

Researchers from the a University of Minnesota found an association between consumption of diet drinks and 36 per cent increased risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Metabolic syndrome refers to a group of health conditions, such as high blood pressure, high glucose levels, raised cholesterol, and large waist circumference - major risk factors for heart disease and diabetes.

It lacks nutritional value.

Like their regular counterparts, diet drinks have no nutritional value. Even though you are not taking calories, you are also not taking in any nutrient. Worse, you feed your body with artificial sweeteners and other toxic compounds that expose you to an array of health problems.

It is linked to depression.

A study by the American Academy of Neurology found that people who drank more than four cans of diet drinks per day were 30 per cent more likely to develop depression than those who steered clear of sugary drinks.

It could be bad for your bones.

A study by Tufts University suggests that drinking fizzy drinks (diet or not), can contribute to declining bone health and puts women over 60 at risk of osteoporosis.