For years, people have turned to diet soda in an effort to drink healthier carbonated beverages. However, doctors have discovered that diet soda may not actually be as good for you as you might think. The artificial sugars used to sweeten diet soda can force your body to crave more calories than you need. This can cause you to overeat and to gain weight while drinking diet soda. Recently a more serious problem emerged in those that drink diet soda. Doctors have done studies and found that diet soda can actually cause kidney failure and permanent kidney damage. If you drink a lot of diet soda, this is something that you should consider.
How Diet Soda Is Linked to Kidney Damage
Over the course of the last decade, doctors have been studying a controlled group of women to test out the theory that diet soda causes kidney damage. What they found is that if you drink two or more diet soda beverages per day, you are more likely to suffer from kidney damage than someone who drinks regular soda. While these same doctors found that drinking regular soda did cause more people to suffer from diseases like diabetes, those drinking it did not suffer from progressive kidney failure. The test group that included the women drinking diet soda did suffer from kidney damage over the years. One reason doctors believe this occurred is because diet soda contains high levels of sodium. They also believe that the artificial sweeteners that are used in all diet sodas are to blame for the kidney damage that is occurring.
Diet Soda and Kidney Damage
While doctors have not pinpointed exactly what causes the kidney damage, the overall studies have proven that a link between diet soda and kidney damage exists. Doctors are continuing to study the effects that artificial sweeteners have on the body. There's a strong possibility that the kidneys have trouble handling and processing these artificial sweeteners. There are a variety of sweeteners on the market now that may be used in diet sodas in the future to help limit the effects they have on your kidneys.
Drinking Less Diet Soda
If you drink a lot of diet soda, you could be putting your kidneys in danger. Of course, soda has become a popular drink in America and it's unlikely that you're are going to quit drinking it altogether. But you can decrease your chances of suffering from kidney damage by limiting the amount of diet soda that you drink everyday. Studies have shown that two or more cans is clearly too much for most people to handle. But if you drink it in moderation - say, once every day or, better yet, once every other day - you can help limit your chances of suffering kidney damage. Though it may not seem like it, diet soda is not necessarily any better for your health than regular soda. Remember this as you move forward and plan out your diet.
