Scary reasons to stop drinking diet soda right now

Diet soda may be viewed by some people as a healthier choice than drinking regular soda. However, it appears that drinking it is equally bad for you.

According to Shared, these are the nine reasons why you should avoid drinking diet soda.

1. Weight Gain

Diet sodas have been found to have a more intense sugar flavor than actual sugar. They can actually start to turn our bodies off foods with natural sugars, like fruit.

According to Brooke Alpert, RD, artificial sweeteners have now been shown to have the same effect on your body as sugar. Other studies have shown that people who drink diet soda on a daily basis had a 500% increase in waist circumference compared to those who didn’t.

2. Heart Issues

Multiple studies have shown that drinking diet soda could lead to a higher risk of developing heart failure. This was partly due to artificial sweeteners.

A study in Sweden tracked 42,000 men over 12 years and found that men who drank two or more servings of Diet Coke in a day had a 23% higher chance of developing heart failure. 509 of those people died of the condition.

3. Kidney Problems

The study mainly focused on women and showed that there was a significant risk of kidney problems to those who drank diet soda. Dr. Julie Lin, a co-author of the study, said their research suggested that higher sodium and artificially sweetened soda intake was associated with a greater rate of decline in kidney function.

4. Mood Swings

According to the American Academy of Neurology, artificial sweeteners were connected to a higher risk of depression. Those who regularly consumed them had a 30% higher chance of developing depression.

The study author, Honglei Chen, MD, shared that their research suggested that cutting out or down on sweetened diet drinks may help lower depression risk. Even replacing them with unsweetened coffee could assist.

But the doctor cautioned that people with depression should continue to take depression medications prescribed by their doctors.

5. Diabetes Risk

A study conducted through the University of Minnesota found that drinking just one diet soda a day would give you a 36% increased risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

6. Headaches

Diet soda has aspartame which is responsible for causing headaches. Through early studies and anecdotal evidence, artificial sweeteners have been linked to headaches in many patients.

"I have several clients who used to suffer from migraines and pinpointed their cause to diet soda," dietitian Cassie Bjork said.

7. No Nutrition

The aspartame in diet soda causes issues all over your body. Bjork advised that drinking water would be best compared to diet soda.

8. Bad Teeth

In the journal, General Dentistry, a study compared the mouths of a cocaine user, methamphetamine user, and habitual diet soda drinker. It was found that they all had the same level of tooth erosion as citric acid is bad for your teeth.

9. Alcohol Consequences

Drinking diet soda as a mixer with your alcohol could actually get you more drunk a lot quicker. According to research from Northern Kentucky University, the artificial sweeteners were absorbed into our bodies more quickly than sugar.

This gave people a higher blood-alcohol concentration. Participants who drank cocktails made with diet drinks had a higher blood-alcohol level than those who had drinks made with sugared mixers.