WE’RE ALL GUILTY of enjoying a diet fizzy drink and deceiving ourselves into thinking it’s healthier than the full-fat version.
Unfortunately, as science has proven time and time again, this is simply not the case.
In the latest strike against diet fizzy drinks, scientists have confirmed that those who drink diet soda are three times more likely to put on belly fat than those who don’t.
The study, which was conducted by the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging, found that those who drank diet soda put on an average of 2.11cm of belly fat over ten years.
By comparison, those who refrained from such drinks put on just 0.77 cm of belly fat over the same time period.
And as for those who enjoyed a cold can of Diet Coke on a daily basis? They put on 3.44cm of belly fat.
The study eliminated smoking, exercise and drinking as possible factors contributing to the weight gain.
Yikes.
Previous studies have found that consumption of diet soda can lead to diabetes and stroke. A study from October 2014 found that the artificial sweeteners present in such drinks could wreak havoc with your gut bacteria and lead to diabetes.
And it seems that people are becoming increasingly aware of the potential side-effects of such drinks as sales have plummeted by 20% over the past five years.
What would Taylor Swift make of it all?
