Does Diet Soda Result in Weight Gain?

Although many areas of life seem to always be gripped by rumors and myths, perhaps one area, which seems to get the most consistent attention is that of food. Nearly every day we are greeted with more and more myths regarding the foods that we enjoy eating on a daily basis. From the many negative health effects of French fries, to the deadly nature of hot dogs; no matter what the food is, we have found a way to turn it into a nightmare. However, while some of these rumors and true, and some are found to be false, often we can use simple common sense to separate the two. In one of the most recent rumors to grace the internet, this common sense can be especially helpful, and the question we have before us is a simple one: "Can diet soda actually make you gain weight?"

Of course, this does sound like a very strange question. Where would anyone even get this idea? Well, the answer lies from a group of recent studies and surveys, which found that more diet soda drinkers are overweight than normal soda drinkers. With such compelling evidence as this, we may be led to wonder if there really is a cause and effect relationship between diet soda and weight gain.

While common sense would say that correlation does not imply causation, let us think logically about why more diet soda drinkers may be overweight than normal soda drinkers. It could be that diet products are designed to be consumed by those who are overweight, or that those who do not feel the need for diet soda simply drink regular soda.

Even though these answers make a lot of sense, let's look at the problem scientifically and see if there really is a way that diet soda can cause weight gain. While the sugar in soda as a whole can cause weight gain, and diet soda attempts to remove most of that sugar, replacing it with artificial sweeteners, there are still calories that can be found in diet soda. Even taking this into consideration though, there is no reason that diet soda, even if consumed in excess amounts would cause a person to gain weight.

The only plausible way that diet soda can cause a person to increase their weight is due to simple human nature. Anyone who has ever been in a fast food restaurant and watched someone order the extra large food meal with a diet soda likely knows that some people tend to use the fact that they are drinking diet soda as an excuse to consume more calories in other areas. However, because diet soda really does not remove that many calories from a typical diet, those extra calories from the additional amounts of food really make an impact. So, if we look at the problem this way, it is very possible that diet soda can contribute to weight gain for those who use drinking it as an excuse to consume more calories.

Thankfully, through the magic of common sense, we have found out the truth behind a prevalent and somewhat stupid food myth. In short, there is no evidence or any kind of reason to think that diet soda, if replacing normal soda in a food plan would cause weight gain (of course, it probably won't cause weight loss either). However, when we use the drinking of diet drinks to consume more normal calories and eat unhealthier food, than we open ourselves up to a whole range of health problems, and not the least of which is weight gain.