diet soda causes belly fat

Lead author, DR. SHARON FOWLER of the University of Texas analyzed the data of the SALSA Study (The San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging), and came to some shocking conclusions.  After looking at individuals who turned 65 years old between 1992 and 1996, they looked at the biometric data about a decade down the road (just over 70% were still alive at study’s end in 2004), publishing the results in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Geriatric Society.  Conclusions are as follows.

“In a striking dose-response relationship, increasing DSI [Diet Soda Intake] was associated with escalating abdominal obesity, a potential pathway for cardiometabolic risk in this aging population.“

Let me put this in terms you can understand.  After adjusting for confounding factors (SMOKING, lack of EXERCISE, DIABETES, etc), they discovered that the Diet Soda group gained nearly four times more belly fat than those who did not drink diet soda at all (3.16 inches to .8 inches).  Not surprising considering that for a long time I’ve been telling people that GUT HEALTH is the most important kind of health, and METABOLIC SYNDROME is directly related to what’s going on in your Gut. 

A similar study was recently done at Johns Hopkins using the NHANES data (1999-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), and published in the January issue of the American Journal of Public Health (Diet Beverage Consumption and Caloric Intake Among US Adults Overall and by Body Weight).  They parroted results we have seen repeatedly over the past decade — that OVERWEIGHT AND OBESE persons who drink diet soda end up eating more empty calories than those who drink regular soda.

Beyond destroying good bacteria, we know that Aspartame and other EXCITOTOXINS heavily stimulate the brain’s reward centers.  This helps lead to both SUGAR ADDICTIONS and JUNK FOOD ADDICTIONS — a significant factor not only in our national Obesity Epidemic, but in our national poor health.  In fact, I would go so far to say that I’m not sure I’ve met a woman with FIBROMYALGIA who does not have a problem with sugar or junk carbs.