I’ve taken to this blog to talk about diet soda before. But for this post, I feel compelled to let readers know that there’s a new study about diet soda which demands their attention.
If you’re a diet soda drinker, I’m here to tell you that this study’s results are not pretty. Published on April 24, 2017, in the Journal Stroke, of the American Heart Association, the study is entitled Sugar – and Artifically Sweetened Beverages and the Risks of Incident Stroke and Dementia.
And thus, the title of this blog. I may not be a heart specialist, but this NYC Chiropractor is here to tell you “do not drink diet soda”. The study’s subject matter should already be raising the hair of the back of your necks if you’re a diet soda drinker. No one wants a stroke – or dementia.
Sobering findings.
The study involved 4,000 participants over the age of 45, who filled out food-consumption surveys between the years 1991 and 2000 and tracked their health outcomes over the following 10 years. In the sample, 81 cases of dementia were seen and 97, of incident stroke.
Study participants who never touched diet soda were compared to those who consumed between 1 and 6 of the artificially sweetened beverages per week. The soda drinkers were found to have twice the risk of stroke as the non-soda drinkers.
Not pretty.
Findings for dementia risk were comparable, but not as strong as those for stroke.
Real sugar vs. fake sugar.
The study also compared results to those for people who consumed soft drinks sweetened with sugar and found no such risk of stroke or dementia.
I’m not telling you it’s time to switch from artificially-sweetened soda to the full sugar variety. That would be irresponsible advice for anyone in the medical profession to give. Soda which is not artificially sweetened is proven to lead to obesity.
It’s instructive to know that the childhood obesity rate in Mexico skyrocketed after the advent of Coca-Cola gaining 80% of the nation’s market share. By skyrocketed, I mean it increased by 40%. That’s a shocking statistic and one which should have parents either weaning their kids off soda, or never introducing it into their diets.
So, what’s the alternative?
Water is life.
Water is a necessary component of life. You can live for 7 days without food, but you won’t last longer than an estimated 48 hours without water. That’s how important it is to the function of your body.
If you’ve switched to diet soda to control your calorie intake, the time to cross it off your grocery list is now. The risks involved with the consumption of artificial sweeteners (which are of chemical origin) has now been proven a major health risk. Switching diet soda for water is the best thing you can do for your ongoing health right now.
I was alarmed to see this study and I hope you’re alarmed enough after reading this to stop drinking diet soda. Contact me for more information.
