What would you say if you were told that every time you grab a diet soda from the fridge or vending machine that the liquid you are consuming almost guarantees your weight loss failure? Would you believe it?

Or how would you feel knowing that with every sip or guzzle that you take in the name of health and fitness you are pushing yourself further and further from your goal of being fit and trim instead of getting closer to it?

What if you learned that the more diet soda you drink, the greater the likelihood that you are going to wind up adding weight to your body despite the word “Diet” displayed prominently on the side of the can?

Although you may be inclined to disbelieve these statements, you may be surprised to learn that they are true – and there has been a ton of research, available to the public, to prove it.

The Science Behind ‘Diet’ Soda

Although the idea of drinking diet soda for weight loss makes complete and total sense due to the lack of calories and artificial sweetener, researchers have found that people who drink diet soda regularly tend to weigh more and have a larger waist circumference than non-diet soda drinkers. How can that be?

There are two main theories that exist amongst health professionals today. The first is that the artificial sweetener used in diet soda causes the same blood sugar reaction as regular sugar does. This means that drinking a diet soda raises your blood sugar and causes it to crash, thereby creating a craving to consume more simple carbohydrates (think sweets and salty snacks), which raise your sugar levels back up again and give you energy.

If you’ve ever suffered through a craving as a dieter, then you know what it is like to be hit with one. It can take all of the strength that you can muster to fight it and, you don’t always win. Therefore, if drinking diet soda increases your number of cravings, you are also increasing the number of chances to make bad decisions, hence your weight issues continue.

The second theory involves mindset more than physiology. Some health experts argue that the reason diet soda drinkers weigh more is because they have the mentality that they can eat more since they did so well by drinking a calorie-free beverage. It is easier for them to justify including extra treats or higher calorie meals, ultimately ending up in weight gain.

To figure out if either of these apply to you, drink your diet soda and see how you feel afterward. Do you crave something sweet or a salty snack afterward? Or, do you feel like you’ve earned the right to eat a little extra at dinner or enjoy a little treat before bed? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you may begin to see diet soda from a whole new perspective – one that is hurting your weight loss as opposed to helping it.

It Gets Even Worse

While the fact that diet soda doesn’t do the number one thing it is designed to do is horrible enough, it gets even worse. Much worse. Drinking diet soda has also been linked to other health issues (major issues) in addition to those associated with weight gain. These include:

• Increased risk of diabetes
• Higher incidences of heart attack and stroke
• Raised blood pressure
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Sleeping disorders
• Tooth decay

Do these issues describe a healthy choice? If you’re drinking diet soda because you think it’s healthy, read that list again and remember it next time you pop open a can.

Why would marketers betray you so openly? The “diet food and beverage” market is just like any other market where the goal of the manufacturers is to make money. Admitting that their product actually contributes to the one and only problem it supposedly aims to help would be a terrible marketing idea and wouldn’t help their bottom line.

The justification is that diet soda has two elements typically associated with weight loss: reduced calories and reduced sugar. Making the claim of “diet” is their logical conclusion, despite the risks and real-life outcomes associated with the chemicals needed to make the stuff.

The Best Alternative

So, what will you drink if diet soda is off the table? Easy! If you want the best substance you can put in your body that will boost your weight loss efforts rather than sabotage them, you drink water instead. Although water doesn’t have the same mouth appeal as soda, there are a million reasons why you should be drinking it instead of diet soda.

Here’s the deal…water is the one fluid that your body can naturally process. There is nothing artificial in it, so your body doesn’t have to try to filter out toxic chemicals. Your body simply uses it to process all of the functions for which it is responsible, such as digestion of your food, circulation of your blood, and on and on.

Water has no effect on blood sugar, nor will it make you crave foods that are detrimental to your goal. Water is useful to every cell in your body. Every time you drink a glass, imagine all of your trillions of cells saying “Thank You!”

So how can you make water your go-to beverage without making it unhealthy or boring? One way to get flavor without adding calories is to add slices of fresh, crisp foods to it. Some yummy ones to try are:

• Cucumber
• Watermelon
• Strawberries
• Orange
• Lemon
• Lime

Be creative and pick flavors that you like, even mix and match them. Add a sprig of mint to your water to flavor it even more. Capella Water Flavors are also an inexpensive, popular way to jazz up plain water, with flavors like strawberry-kiwi, blueberry pomegranate, and more.

Like any other food or beverage available to you, it is up to you whether or not you continue to drink diet soda. At least now every time you take a swig, you’ll know what you are drinking: weight loss failure (and more) in a can. You deserve better than that!