What kind of soda do you regularly drink? Experts say you could be putting your health in danger by consuming a certain type that we probably have all had at one point or another.
While diet soda was developed to help consumers reduce fat and sugar in their diets, it could backfire because drinking the fizzy stuff gives you three times the risk for dementia and stroke.
The link between diet soda and brain damage has yet to be developed in full, but overall findings discovered that people who drink the beverage have the tendency to have bad health. The study, which included over 4,000 people, was the first to show a connection between artificial sweeteners in the soda and "dementia because of Alzheimer's disease."
"We found that those people who were consuming diet soda on a daily basis were three times as likely to develop both stroke and dementia within the next 10 years as compared to those who did not consume diet soda," said Matthew Pase of the Boston University School of Medicine.
Other findings were also grim. Women in particular are at risk, as they have a greater chance of developing heart disease.
"Now with the growing number of studies that suggest a relationship between artificial sweetened beverages and vascular risk, I would say reach for a bottle of water before you reach for your artificial sweetened beverages," said Dr. Ralph Sacco of the University of Miami.
Although it doesn't look good, experts are not saying you absolutely never drink soda again.
"Even if someone is three times as likely to develop stroke or dementia, it is by no means a certain fate," Pase said. "In our study, three percent of the people had a new stroke and five percent developed dementia, so we're still talking about a small number of people developing either stroke or dementia."
More studies need to be done, but it's safe to say that you may want to swap your diet coke for a glass of juice instead. "Diet" doesn't mean "healthy."
We want to hear from you? Do you think diet soda poses a real health risk or is it safe for people who are already healthy?
Don't forget to SHARE!
