The Journal of the American Heart Association recently published a report done by some Harvard researchers that has determined that drinking more than one soft drink daily, whether it is sugar free or not, may be associated with an increase in the risk factors for heart disease.
Well, what does this have to do with weight gain, you ask?
Those risk factors for heart disease have everything to do with weight gain!
According to the senior author of the study, Ramachandran Vasan, M.D.: “We were struck by the fact that it didn’t matter whether it was a diet or regular soda that participants consumed, the association with increased risk was present. In those who drink one or more soft drinks daily, there was an association of an increased risk of developing the metabolic syndrome.”
That metabolic syndrome he’s talking about is what this has to do with weight gain. Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors that include excess waist circumference (a bigger belly), high blood pressure (which makes efficient exercise more difficult), elevated triglycerides and low levels of good cholesterol (creating higher overall cholesterol levels) and high fasting glucose levels (this can lead to diabetes and an inability for your body to properly use it’s natural insulin which means more weight gain). The presence of three or more of these factors will increase your risk of developing diabetes or heart disease.
Doctor Ravi Dhingra, another author of the study stated: “If you are drinking one or more soft drinks a day, you may be increasing your risk of developing metabolic risk factors for heart disease.”
This means that you’re gaining weight, your body isn’t running efficiently and your cholesterol levels are getting higher. I don’t need to tell fellow dieters what this means for us. I used to drink a six-pack of Diet Coke every day and couldn’t understand why I wasn’t losing any weight. I guess the mystery is solved.
So now that you know, what do you intend to do about this diet saboteur?
Related Links:
Diary of an Overweight Mom Forum
Families.com Weight Loss Forum