Before you run out to buy a few cases of diet pop, though,
a reality check.
This study lasted only 12 weeks, calorie intakes were not
monitored, and all the study participants got intense support and back-up: I
would be highly skeptical that most of these people would maintain much weight
loss left on their own after several months.
Indeed, most studies that have evaluated the long-term
effect of drinking diet soda on weight have found that paradoxically, heavy
users of diet drinks tend to gain more weight than those who avoid diet drinks.
Why?
Perhaps because, as many experts believe, drinking lots of
diet soda increases hunger for real sugar, or (my favorite explanation) people
who rely on weight loss aids instead of just cutting calorie intake (the only
proven effective weight control strategy) tend to “cheat” on their calorie
intake because consciously or not, they figure that since they are taking
something that will do some of the hard weight-loss work for them, they can get
away with eating a bit more, and that bit more adds up over time.
