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Composition Of Diet Soda

July 13th, 2009 | admin | new diet

People who want to reduce the use of sugar and lose weight diet sodas are marketed towards them.

Various artificial sweeteners are used to give diet soda the sweet taste and some even use sugar with other artificial sweeteners. Opinion is of many types about the taste of these drinks. The Genral Opinion is that Sugar drink is the best in terms of taste. Many people say that diet drinks leaves a bad taste in mouth after use. Others feel that diet soda has no bitter aftertaste and that drinks sweetened by high fructose corn syrup an over-sweet aftertaste.

Cyclamates were the oldest artificial sweeteners. Many had the opinion that these sodas had a better taste than diet sodasthat followed. During 1970 the FDA put a ban on the use of cyclamates in the US. They caused cancer in lab animals. Even with that information, cyclamates are still used in some countries around the world, especially in diet soda.

Then American producers began using saccharin. But saccharin was believed by consumers to have a chemical aftertaste. Coca-Cola got Tab by implying a small amount of sugar. During the year1977 FDA was asked to stop the saccharin as a carcinogen and as the experiments on it was over the ban was freezed. This was lifted in 1991, but nearly every diet soda had shifted to using aspartame which is now the most common sweetener.

Two new sweeteners are available in the market, sucralose called Splenda and Sunett or Ace K used with small amounts of aspartame or artificial sweeteners. These have come into use by some smaller beverage producers.Chronic Fatigue Syndrome type illnesses is assumed to be caused by artificial sweetener.

Most of the users say that taste of the drinks with these sweeteners are alike natural sugar. Critics complained the taste is not better and advise that the long-term risks of using artificial sweeteners are not yet known.

Seriousness about health from sugar substitutes and extra intake of caffeine has taken crediblity out of diet soda as a weight loss tool under a cloud.

Consumers who drink large amounts of regular soda may have weight loss after switching to diet soda. But animal studies have shown that artificial sweeteners cause weight gain. The sweetness of the taste induces an insulin response, causing blood sugar to store in tissues but because blood sugar does not increase with artificial sugars, hypoglycemia can occur and people eat more at the next meal. Increased body weight and fat gain with the increased caloric intake resulted due to the sweeteners.

So, the jury on how helpful diet soda is to losing weight is still out.