Unexpected truth about diet soda vs. water revealed in new study

Maybe that fridge cigarette isn’t so toxic after all.Diet soda has long promised a hit of sweetness without the sugar overload that can fuel weight gain.But sobering research has linked artificial sweeteners to a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular disease.Now, a landmark new study finds that cracking open a can of diet cola may actually be more beneficial than reaching for the Brita.Researchers at the University of Liverpool recruited 493 adults who were overweight or obese and randomly assigned them to drink plain water or commercially available diet beverages daily.The diet drinks contained low- or no-calorie sweeteners, including aspartame, acesulfame potassium (acesulfame-K) and sucralose.Both groups also participated in a structured behavioral weight-management program, allowing researchers to track how their drink of choice affected their efforts to shed pounds and maintain their weight loss.

By the end of the two-year study, participants in both groups had slimmed down — and kept much of it off.Those in the diet-beverage group lost an average of about 10.6 pounds, compared with 8.2 pounds among those drinking water.

Water is known to support weight loss by promoting the feeling of fullness and temporarily increasing metabolism.The difference between the two groups wasn’t statistically significant, though, meaning the researchers couldn’t conclude that diet drinks offered a meaningful weight-loss advantage over water.The weight loss did appear to hold up after the assisted portion of the program ended.Waist and hip measurements shrank in both groups, while participants also saw improvements in body composition and several measures of metabolic health.Sugar intake fell across the board, too, with a slightly bigger drop among those sipping diet beverages.“For people trying to manage their weight, non-nutritive sweetened beverages offer an effective alternative to sugar-sweetened drinks — and perform equivalently to water over tw...