Diet Soda: Diet Friend or Foe?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,159579,00.html

Diet Soda. Diet Friend or Foe?

After conducting an eight-year study at the University of Texas Health Science Center, researchers discovered that not only is there a definite link between drinking soda and obesity, but that diet soda drinkers were more likely to be obese. For every can or bottle of diet soda consumed, the risk of being overweight was forty one percent higher.
“For regular soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:
— 26 percent for up to 1/2 can each day
— 30.4 percent for 1/2 to one can each day
— 32.8 percent for 1 to 2 cans each day
— 47.2 percent for more than 2 cans each day.
For diet soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:
— 36.5 percent for up to 1/2 can each day
— 37.5 percent for 1/2 to one can each day
— 54.5 percent for 1 to 2 cans each day
— 57.1 percent for more than 2 cans each day.
For each can of diet soft drink consumed each day, a person's risk of obesity went up 41 percent. There was no direct link between the composition of diet soda and weight gain. However, researchers believe it’s a person’s mentality that makes them more susceptible to weight gain. "You have to look at what's on your plate, not just what's in your glass," says nutritionist Leslie Bonci.
This article was shocking to me! Everyone assumes that because diet soda has no calories that it’s “better for you.” I have been a firm diet soda drinker for three years now, and it never occurred to me that what I was drinking may be worse for me than the sugar-loaded regular soda. When put into food terms, it can compare to the regular food versus the fat-free foods. People tend to overload on the fat-free foods because the foods are supposed to be more nutritious. However, in moderation, the regular foods may be better in the end because they have a more natural make-up. Most fat-free foods have natural ingredients stripped and replaced with chemicals. So in the end, in may be equal to drinking and enjoying that one glass of regular soda.