To Sara of Fit by Sara: “I have two kids and work part time. I find myself low on energy mid afternoon, and always have two diet cokes or a diet coke and an energy drink. I’ve heard that diet drinks can contribute to the inability to lose weight. Is this true?”
From Fit by Sara: “Yes research has found that a chemical in diet drinks can contribute to the inability to lose weight. According to Sharon P. Fowler MPH, our bodies get confused by the sweet taste of diet drinks without calories, and thus crave more calories. For example Fowler stated a recent study in which feeding artificial sweeteners to rat pups made them crave more calories than animals fed real sugar. Fowler stated, “If you offer your body something that tastes like a lot of calories, but it isn’t there, your body is alerted to the possibility that there is something there and it will search for the calories promised but not delivered.” So if possible take a cat nap, drink plenty of water, eat healthy, exercise, and stay away from diet drinks filled with chemicals that won’t nuture your body and won’t do anything to assist you in weight loss. –Sara Holliday MFT, CPT