Many avoid drinking sugary drinks for a variety of reasons, with quite a few of them doing so to save calories - and therefore choosing to drink diet drinks, which, although they do not contain sugar, do include various substitutes.
According to a review of several studies carried out on the subject, exposure to sugary drinks "did not have an absolute effect or lead to a substantial change in appetite levels subjectively, nor did it lead to a substantial change in blood glucose levels, the glycemic index or insulin after consumption".
Don't exaggerate.
A shelf of sugary drinks (illustration), photo: Getty Images
However, an observational study that looked at people's habits over an 8-year period found that drinking more than 21 artificially sweetened beverages in one week nearly doubled the risk of becoming overweight or obese.
This is because, according to the studies, people who drink diet drinks are more likely to take certain actions that increase their chances of obesity, such as consuming processed food or generally overeating, because they believe that this way they are "saving" calories.
Make up for the "savings" - and in a big way.
Use of artificial sweetener (illustration), photo: Getty Images
According to nutritionist Lisa Richards, another reason that may be suitable for this is sucralose, an artificial sweetener found in quite a few cases in diet drinks, which is estimated to be one of the most common reasons why the body "bloats", in addition to the fact that there is evidence that sucralose may also cause problems in the system digestion and affect the good bacteria in our body.
Since most of the studies carried out on the subject were carried out on mice, they are evidence of the dangers inherent in the consumption of soft drinks.
So how many loads of sugar can we even consume?
If you drink diet drinks instead of water several times a day, you should start reducing the amounts you consume significantly.
Of course, it is better to avoid them completely and drink only water, but if you drink such drinks much less frequently, you probably have less reason to worry - but perhaps still so you can check drinking other drinks that may not cause health problems.
Stick with the familiar and the good (illustration), photo: Getty Images
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