I have had many patients over the years give up their regular soda and switch to diet soda in an effort to lose weight. To their dismay, their weight either stayed the same or increased. Thirty years ago, I was just as mystified as they were by what seemed like an unexplainable phenomenon.

How could one switch from a high-calorie drink to one with zero calories and still pack on the pounds? It made no sense at the time. Today, science has a much better understanding of how diet drinks sabotage not only your weight-loss efforts, but your overall health. Now I pass this critical information on to my patients. When I do, they not only experience weight loss, they also find that unusual symptoms they'd been experiencing for years often begin to disappear.

Diet soda is one of the worst drinks on the market and giving it up is the best decision you can make for your health.

Diet Soda Packs on the Pounds and Leads to Diabetes

Counting calories is an ineffective weight loss method because it doesn't take nutritional content into consideration. The calories in regular soda are "empty." They are devoid of nutritional value so your body cannot make healthy use of them. And all that high fructose corn syrup can have detrimental effects on your health.

Diet soda is no better. Though you're not consuming any actual calories, you are drinking a synthetic sweetener called aspartame.

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