The "Skinny" on Diet Soda

I'm not a big soda fan, but I do drink diet soda. I spend so much time focusing on what I eat, that I often forget about what I am drinking.

A study done at the University of North Carolina claimed that if you watch what you're drinking, you could cut at least 450 calories a day from your diet. This same study found out that Americans drink 192 gallons of liquid a year - about two liters a day.

People who drink diet soda because it is less in calories (me), are missing the boat. According to studies, since diet soda still offers that sugary-taste (even if it is artificially sweetened), the more we drink of it, the more our bodies crave sweet food. Yikes, that doesn't seem like its been working.

By drinking one can of diet soda a day, I am also replacing a 100 percent nutrition-free drink with a needed healthy beverage. Perhaps one can of diet soda a day won't do too much damage, but most people have more than one and upwards of five or more glasses a day. This large amount of diet soda takes the place of healthy drinks like water or tea which we need.

Diet soda contains aspartame, a chemical used to give diet sodas flavor. Aspartame is 180 times sweeter than sugar. Scientist have linked consumption of high amounts of the sweetening chemical to brain tumors and lymphoma in lab testing. Side effects among humans include dizziness, headaches, diarrhea, memory loss and mood changes.

A can of soda can also interfere with your body's intake of calories and studies have shown that artificial sweeteners in soda confuse your body's ability to estimate how many calories you've ingested. So you end up drinking more than you need. The University of Texas Health Science Center has concluded that a person's risk of becoming overweight from drinking diet soda can rise 37 percent.

Next time you get the urge for a carbonated drink, try some club soda or water with a twist of lime. For a caffeine fix, you can also try green tea.