Diet drinks: beverages said to help with weight loss

Diet drinks have caused a lot of commotion when it comes to their impact on consumer health. Are they good, bad, or just okay for us? The debate never seems to end. There's definitely a lot of misinformation about diet beverages in the public eye. Most of it is not based on strong, solid research, designed to test cause and effects.

Worry not! In this article we'll explore the good, the bad, and the ugly of diet drinks. I'll also give you some recommendations of healthy beverages said to help with weight loss.

The good side: perks of diet drinks

Consuming a diet beverage vs. a 180-calorie can of soda that's packed with sugar is definitely advantageous for health. Artificial sweeteners, caramel color, caffeine and other ingredients added to diet beverages are safe. There is no credible evidence that these ingredients cause cancer, weight gain, or other harmful conditions.

Actually, a recent clinical study at the University of Colorado at Denver actually demonstrated that consumption diet beverages (as compared to water) helped individuals lose weight over a 12-week period. Likewise, most clinical studies on consuming moderate levels of caffeine (<200-300 mg daily) have shown benefits on alertness and potential decreases in the risk of developing dementia later in life.

So what’s the real problem with diet beverages?

The high acid content of diet beverages is bad for your teeth and may affect the health of your bones long-term when consumed chronically. Here’s why.

Your body maintains a normal pH of about 7.35-7.45. Chronic consumption of acidic foods and beverages (e.g. diet beverages) may slightly decrease your body’s pH to the lower end of this spectrum. Your body compensates for the added acidity by releasing calcium salts from the bone to offset or “buffer” the extra acidity.

Consuming 1-2-3+ diet beverages a day with other acidic foods over a few years may cause bone loss. Non-fat milk, fruits, and vegetables may help offset acidic diets since they also have “buffering” power.

Top 3 diet drinks said to help with weight loss

Coffee

Besides helping you out with antioxidants, preventing cardiovascular disease, and fend off Alzheimer, caffeinated coffee can also help you lose weight. Specially black coffee. As Alicia Galvin, a dietitian from Dallas, says "having caffeine 30 minutes to four hours before a meal may influence stomach emptying, appetite hormones, and feelings of hunger."

Black coffee also decreases appetite and calorie intake, while increasing burnt calories at rest. A recent study found that 4 cups of coffee a day for 24 weeks could reduce 4% body fat in overweight adults, for example.

Water

It's a fact that drinking water helps with weight loss, among other things. Water can replace other calorie-containing beverages in the diet and thus reduce your overall energy intake. Drinking water before consuming food can also make you feel fuller, causing you to eat less. In other words, water is a natural appetite suppressant.

As Acacia Wright, a dietitian from Denver, puts it, water "serves as a medium for most enzymatic and chemical reactions in the body, especially metabolic reactions involved in energy production". It's needed for proper digestion, the absorption of nutrients and the removal of waste in our bodies.

Vegetable juice

Eating them is always preferable than sipping them, due to their high fiber content. But drinking vegetable juice it's still beneficial when you're trying to lose weight.

A 12 week study from 2010 found that people who consume vegetable juice during a period of limited caloric intake lost more weight than those who didn't. Additionally, vegetable juice seems to also trigger a decrease in leptin. Leptin is a hormone linked to obesity when its levels in the blood are too high.

I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t ever drink a diet beverage (I personally consume diet beverages). As usual, moderation is always the key. One diet beverage every now and then won’t hurt. Just don’t go overboard!