Many people resort to consuming diet drinks to reduce the amount of sugar, but it seems these alternatives may be more harmful than sugar itself.
While it may seem like a healthier option, a growing body of evidence shows that artificially sweetened diet drinks are no better than regular sugar substitutes. A new study has found that eating it during adolescence can damage brain function and can lead to serious long-term memory problems, according to The Sun newspaper.
US researchers also found that sweeteners slow metabolism, which can also lead to an increased risk of diabetes.
Artificial sweeteners instead of sugar – iStock
Weight gain
Study co-author Professor Scott Kanosky, of the University of Southern California, said: “While our results do not necessarily suggest that no one should consume low calorie sweeteners in general, they do show that typical consumption of low calorie sweeteners has a long duration of effects.
In a separate study, the researchers found that artificial sweeteners can make people overweight, they found no consistent effect of artificial sweeteners on weight loss.
Experiments also indicate that diet drinks can damage the metabolism.
Diet drinks
Diet drinks contain no real sugar or calories, but they do contain many artificial additives and ingredients, including sweeteners.
But these ingredients are full of unnatural chemicals that can make the body crave more high-calorie, sugar-laden foods.
