Share on PinterestSwapping diet soda for water could help women reach type 2 diabetes remission. Image credit: Michela Ravasio/Stocksy.
- Everyone knows that drinking soda is not a healthy choice, and there is much debate whether diet soda is a healthy alternative.
- Past research has linked drinking diet sodas to several health risks including type 2 diabetes.
- A new study has found that women with type 2 diabetes who regularly choose to drink water over diet soda may be more likely to achieve weight loss, as well as diabetes remission.
Everyone knows that drinking soda is not a healthy choice, due to its high calorie and sugar content. However, there is much debate about whether or switching to diet sodas is better.
Past research has linked drinking diet sodas — which contain sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose — to several health risks, including heart disease, liver disease, kidney issues, weight gain, metabolic syndrome, increased cancer risk, and type 2 diabetes.
Now a new study presented at the 85th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has found that women with type 2 diabetes who regularly choose to drink water over diet soda may increase their likelihood to achieve weight loss and diabetes remission.
The findings are yet to appear in a peer-reviewed journal.
Diet soda is still an ultra-processed food
For this study, researchers recruited 81 adult women who had both type 2 diabetes and obesity or overweight, and who consumed diet soda as part of their normal diet.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about one-fifth of Americans drink diet sodas on a regular basis. And the amount of diet beverages consumed in the European Union has grown from 23% in 2016 to 30% in 2021.
Diet sodas are considered ultra-processed foods due to their manufacturing process and ingredients like additives and artificial sweeteners.
Past research has linked ultra-processed foods to an acceleration in biological aging, and a 10% increase in mortality risk.
A study published in February 2024 reported a link between ultra-processed food consumption and 32 negative health issues, including colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, sleeping issues, anxiety, asthma, high blood pressure, and Crohn’s disease.
90% of women drinking water instead of diet soda reach diabetes remission
Study participants were randomly grouped to either one group that continued to drink diet soda five times per week after their lunch, and another group that substituted their usual diet soda with water.
During the study, participants were also provided with a six-month weight loss intervention, followed by a 12-month weight maintenance program.
At the 18 month follow-up, researchers found that participants in the water group experienced a much larger average weight loss when compared to the diet soda group.
Additionally, 90% of study participants in the water group reached type 2 diabetes remission, compared to only 45% in the diet soda group.
Scientists also reported that participants in the water group experienced significant improvements to a number of health markers, including body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose (blood sugar), insulin resistance, triglycerides, insulin levels, and post-meal glucose response.
“These findings challenge a common belief in the U.S. that diet drinks have no potential negative effects for managing weight and blood sugar,” Hamid R. Farshchi, MD, PhD, CEO of D2Type, former associate professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham, in the United Kingdom, and lead author of the study, said in a press release.
“However, with most of women in the water group achieving diabetes remission, our study highlights the importance of promoting water, not just low-calorie alternatives, as part of effective diabetes and weight management. It’s a small change with the potential for a big impact on long-term health outcomes,” Farshchi added.
Sugar substitutes affect the body just like real sugar
Medical News Today had the opportunity to speak with Mir Ali, MD, a board-certified general surgeon, bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, about this study.
Ali, who was not involved in the research, commented that it provides validation to other studies that have shown sugar substitutes to have a similar effect on the body as actual sugar.
“Diabetes is a growing medical concern as the Western population in general becomes more sedentary, eats more processed foods, and as obesity increases,” he told us. “Any methods to reduce diabetes [are] helpful to combat this disease.”
“Research comparing types of artificial sweeteners vs sugar may help elucidate the worst choice amongst these types of sweeteners,” Ali added.
How can I lower my diet soda intake and drink more water?
Monique Richard, MS, RDN, LDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Nutrition-In-Sight, offered her top tips on how people can lower the amount of diet soda they drink and up their water intake.
She advised to:
- make water containers visible and appealing, for example by purchasing “a glass or stainless steel water bottle and keep it filled at your desk, in your car, or on your counter to remind you to drink up,” and by using “color, fun ice cubes, or creative containers to make it an appealing part of your routine”
- make water tasty by flavoring it “with natural ingredients such as [by] making herbal, caffeine-free teas” or by adding fruit, herbs, or a combination of these to water
- set regular reminders to drink water
- keep track of your daily water intake
- try “habit stacking” by pairing the activity of drinking water with other everyday tasks
- hydrate with watery foods like “fruits, vegetables, soups, smoothies, and broths”
- try taining your taste buds by forming new habits — you could “start slowly by decreasing the amount of diet beverages you consume by 25% for 1 to 2 weeks, then try cutting back by 50%”
- reflect on why you may be craving diet soda.
“These simple but effective recommendations are based on biology, but rooted in common sense,” Richard said. “When we nurture our body with what it naturally needs, we’re going to optimize its function versus distract, detract, hinder and undermine it.”
“Hydration is like fiber — it’s not flashy, but everything works better with enough of it,” she added. “Don’t wait until you’re thirsty, either: Hydration is a progressive and fluid — pun intended — process.”
