Does the word “diet” defeat its purpose?

A new study at Purdue University shows that drinking diet soda may cause more harm to your health than drinking regular soda.

Diet soda creates that “same great taste with fewer calories” by using artificial sweeteners. Though it does actually create a sweet taste, it could cause more damage than it does help.

CNN reports that the fake sugar tricks the body into thinking it is getting sugar when it is really not. This author Susan Swithers says confuses the body’s metabolism and when the body gets real sugar, it does not know how to respond. This could cause problems when the body is trying to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure.

Another problem with artificial sweeteners is that they make the body crave more. An artificial sugar makes the body crave more than a real sugar does. This results in making the person eat sugar that his body cannot burn, causing weight gain.

CNN also reports that even if a diet soda drinker maintains a healthy target weight, they still are at risk of the three leading killers in the U.S., diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Healthy Living MSN rports that diet soda also has seven main and dangerous side effects such as kidney problems, metabolism problems, obesity, headaches when mixed with alcohol, cell damage, rotting teeth, and reproductive issues.

Here at North Harford, most students actually understand the concept. In a poll of 125 students, 103 students said they drink regular soda rather than diet. Only 15 students said they prefered diet sodas, and seven students choose the healthiest option of not drinking soda whatsoever. Many of the 110 students who wouldn’t drink a diet soda and claimed it to be “gross” or they said they “didn’t like all the fake ingredients”.