This article has been updated since its initial 10/31/19 publish date.
In addition to the foods you eat, the beverages you drink can make or break your overall health. You should prioritize having food and drinks that will help you to lose weight rather than prevent you from doing so. Of course, it’s essential to prioritize hydration in every diet. However, there are some drinks you should avoid having in order to protect your overall health—especially if you want to maintain a healthy metabolism and lose weight. While drinking water is absolutely essential for your diet, beverages like sugary juices and sodas can slows your metabolism. In fact, some sugar-free beverages can be just as bad for your health, including one popular option: diet soda.
That’s right: despite the fact that it doesn’t contain any of the sugar found in its counterpart, diet soda can also slow your metabolism and lead to weight gain over time. To learn more about how this surprising beverage can throw a wrench in your weight loss goals, we checked in with Marie Murphy, CEO of MEM Nutrition and Wellness. Find her insight and more below!
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Diet Soda
You should stay away from soda of all kinds to protect your metabolism. You probably think that diet soda is a better option than regular soda since it doesn’t contain any calories, right? If so, we’ve got news for you: diet soda in particular can actually lead to weight gain.
In an interview with Self, Dr. Allison Sylvestsky Meni says that diet soda is associated with weight gain. “The epidemiological studies looking at the association between people who consume diet soda and weight and those who don’t consume it typically show that consuming is associated with higher rates of obesity and higher rates of other metabolic complications,” Meni said.
One key culprit in this phenomenon is the fact that the artificial sweeteners found in diet soda can take a serious toll on your gut health. "The artificial sweeteners in these drinks are gut disruptors, which decrease the good bacteria in our guts and increase the bad ones," Murphy explains. "When these bad bacteria are present in the gut, we get more gas and bloating." Yikes!
Additionally, the flavor from these sweeteners can cause your body to naturally crave sweet food and drinks. If you give into those temptations then you’ll be sure to add on more weight quickly—plus, a diet high in processed, sugary food and drinks will lead to a slower metabolism over time, making matters even worse.
In any case, you should avoid drinking both regular and diet soda even when you’re in the mood for a caffeine boost. Instead, stick to coffees and teas if you need a little pick-me-up.
