People often turn to diet sodas when they’re trying to lose a few pounds. The sugarless drinks seem like a simple way to enjoy our favorite soft drinks without the guilt of those extra calories.
But if you’re about to crack open a diet soda, stop. Seriously. A new study shows these drinks are linked to an increased risk of stroke and heart attack.
Soda Science
University of Iowa researchers performed a comprehensive study that involved nearly 60,000 participants over the course of nine years. Over the course of the trials, the researchers found that participants who regularly drank diet sodas were 30% more likely to have a cardiovascular event. That’s a big deal.
What’s to blame? The artificial sweetener used by most soda manufacturers to replace sugar: aspartame. So double check that diet soda can or bottle and if you see that chemical wedged between the other unpronounceable active ingredients, replace that unhealthy drink with a beverage that will help you lose weight and won’t cause heart disease.
Quick Rule of Thumb Reminder: In fact, there may be a similar risk for the other unpronounceable words, just maybe without the studies to show it yet – so as a rule of thumb, consider only consuming items with ingredients you can pronounce.
Drink Up
There are a number of different drink options to help you cut some pounds and keep you away from emergency rooms – which is always a good thing. From the simple to the caffeinated classics and a myriad of milks, we’ve got the full list of delicious drinks to help you keep extra weight off:
Nothing Like Good, Old-Fashioned H2O: Water with lemon, mineral water, club soda, and herbal tea are all easy to find and offer numerous benefits when trying to lose a few pounds.
Got Milk? Want to swap out the water? Try organic unsweetened coconut milk, organic unsweetened almond milk or raw milk from grass-fed cows.
Caffeine Fix: Or you can get that extra boost and drop some pounds with organic tea (such as yerba mate or macha), organic washed coffee, or buttered coffee (check out our recipe for pumpkin spice buttered coffee)
So what are you waiting for? Drop the diet soda and grab one of these awesome alternatives!
