Conventional Dietary Advice Can Do More Harm Than Good

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For anyone trying to follow a healthy diet, you’d be forgiven for sometimes feeling a bit overwhelmed (not to mention downright confused!) by all the conflicting advice that’s thrown at you from all angles... it’s hardly surprising that we often allow common sense to fly out the window.

One such example is the use of diet fizzy drinks.

Pop goes the diet soda

The biggest problem with the Western diet (apart from being ridden with so many processed foods) is that it contains far too much refined sugar... In fact, one can of fizzy drink is laced with 12 teaspoons of sugar, in addition to the acids, artificial colours and flavourings...

Hardly groundbreaking news, right?

So, how do we curb the risks associated with this unhealthy habit? Well, we remove the obvious dangers so that we can continue using it... Hold the sugar and corn syrup and pass over the aspartame.

Switching to diet fizzy drinks is the obvious choice if you love fizzy drinks, as you are immediately reducing your sugar intake... which in turn reduces your calorie intake. Whilst the sweeteners in diet drinks contain virtually zero calories, mounting studies have revealed that they can do far more harm than good when it comes to your health.

In 2005, an Italian study by the Ramazzini Foundation in Bologna, found that rats given dosages of the sweetener aspartame equivalent to the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) developed tumours... However, in 2006, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that on the basis of all the evidence currently available, there is no need to further review the safety of aspartame nor to revise the previously established ADI...

So aspartame is here to stay and because the EFSA has said it’s okay to swallow, some doctors actually encourage patients who need to lose a few pounds to drink diet fizzy drinks as an easy way to cut calories... when, in fact, previous studies have shown that artificial sweeteners actually prevent people from losing weight... So the right and responsible approach would be to recommend water or tea, which contains zero calories!

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Diet fizzy drinks increase the risk of stroke

Not only that... Every time you take a sip of diet fizzy drink, you may also be boosting your risk of stroke.

The results of a new study from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, in the US, showed that people who drink diet fizzy drinks each day were 61 per cent more likely to have a vascular event.

The researchers evaluated the diet fizzy drink habits of 2,564 people to see if there was an association with stroke. The participants were 69 years of age, on average, and completed food questionnaires about the types of fizzy drinks they drank and how often.

During the average nine-year follow-up, 559 vascular events occurred, including strokes caused by haemorrhage and those caused by clots, known as ischemic strokes.

While the study found a possible link between diet fizzy drinks and stroke risk, it did not demonstrate a cause and effect... I can’t help but wonder if they should perhaps specifically investigate aspartame’s role in this possible stroke link...

Bad science or bad habits?

Some people may argue that most of the studies on diet fizzy drinks are flawed, because researchers have not considered one important fact: Those drinking diet fizzy drinks are likely to drink it not because they are health nuts but because they have a certain health condition. They are either overweight or diabetic. Thus, they are at risk of having strokes, heart attacks and cancer regardless of the type of beverage they consume...

If that were the case, then it would make even less sense to drink diet fizzy drinks...

The fact remains that diet fizzy drinks aren’t a healthy option or a silver bullet for weight loss. For the first million years or so of pre-human and human existence, water was adequate to quench our thirst... and it certainly doesn’t hold the danger of increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer and obesity...

Check out Dr. Briffa’s latest post on The Cholesterol Truth, where he further debunks conventional dietary advice and explains how a diet low in fat and high in carbohydrates could also increase your stroke risk... Now there’s something you won’t hear from your doctor!

To read Dr. Briffa’s latest post, click here:

Diet and Nutrition: Related Reading

Stand Aside, Super Fruit Camu Camu Berries Are Coming Through

Aspartame: ‘Sweet Poison’ Is About To Get The Boot

Sea Buckthorn: a complete health-kick in a capsule

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Sources:

‘Aspartame’ published online 17.07.08, food.gov.uk

‘The Bitter Side of Diet Soda: Strokes’ published online 26.02.11, livescience.com

‘Can Diet Soda Boost Your Stroke Risk?’ published online 09.02.11, medicinenet.com

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