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Diet sodas have worldwide popularity. They are widely consumed by people who want to reduce their sugar or calorie intake.
To get a taste similar to regular sodas, diet sodas use artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, cyclamates, saccharin, acesulfame-k, or sucralose. Most of the diet sodas in the market have zero to very few calories and become a suitable option for people who are health conscious and want to satisfy their soda cravings.
So, is diet soda actually healthy and nutritious? The answer is no. According to US-based dietician Susan Campbell, switching from regular to diet sodas may offer a short-term cut in calories, but your body won’t be fooled for long. “Research suggests that your body reacts to certain nonnutritive foods, including the artificial sweeteners in diet soda, in ways that may actually harm your health,” Campbell said.
Over the years, studies have suggested that diet sodas are associated with weight gain, and are linked to diabetes, kidney and heart diseases. Consuming diet sodas while pregnant has been linked to preterm delivery and childhood obesity.