Do Sugar-free Drinks Make You Fat?
Sugar-free sodas are increasingly replacing sugary ones. The worry of gaining weight leads us to choose drinks that contain fewer calories. But is it really true that sugar-free drinks don’t make you fat?
In no case should soft drinks replace water as a means of hydrating us and guaranteeing the proper functioning of our body.
The sugar-free drinks
The risks of consuming sugar-free sodas
Sugar-free sodas are drinks from which sugar has been eliminated, which has been replaced with non-calorie sweeteners, such as aspartame, saccharin or cyclamate. Although sugar-free sodas contain no calories, the sweeteners present promote the absorption of sugar by the intestine.
In addition, they promote insulin secretion just on par with sugary ones. This phenomenon causes blood sugar levels to drop, thus generating the feeling of hunger.
Sweeteners also alter the intestinal flora, modifying the bacteria present in the body and producing dysbiosis and glucose intolerance.
Sugar-free sodas and weight
This relationship is being studied more and more in order to find out whether sugar-free sodas make you fat, a topic that has generated a great deal of controversy.
The latest published study, Sugar and artificially sweetened beverages linked to obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis , demonstrates an association between soft drink consumption and obesity.
However, it should be noted that this study does not distinguish between the consumption of sugary and sugar-free soft drinks. The results show that the consumption of beverages, of whatever type, is higher in people suffering from obesity.
Other studies suggest that sugar-free sodas, in addition to increasing the risk of obesity, may increase the chance of contracting cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanism by which this phenomenon develops is not clearly understood.
On the other hand, there are studies, such as the one published by Plos One , which highlight the link between the consumption of sugar-free drinks and a greater amount of abdominal fat. According to this research, such drinks may not be an effective weight control measure.
Why could they make you fat?
The compensation effect
It is possible that sugar-free sodas do not make you fat in and of themselves, but that this happens because their consumption is associated with unhealthy lifestyles.
Maybe you think you can reintroduce the calories you avoid by drinking these drinks through another calorie food. In other words, there is no point in drinking a light drink if you then eat a hamburger with fried potatoes.
They can make you hungry
As already mentioned, these drinks can increase the feeling of hunger in the people who consume them.
Which means that the body reacts to sugar-free drinks just as if they did, but without the sugar reaching the body.
Sweet foods and drinks are addictive
Eating very sweet foods, high in calories or not, has been shown to activate the brain regions associated with pleasure and reward with frequencies, leading to an addiction to very intense flavors and sensations. Sweet foods on the brain produce the same sensation that comes from drug use; it is for this reason that we tend to consume too much.
Conclusion
If you want to lose weight, it may seem logical to replace sugary drinks with sugar-free sodas. So far it has been said that, in moderate quantities, they are safe and do not provide many calories. However, science shows that consuming them regularly does not help control weight, because they can push us to eat more and thus increase the amount of calories. abdominal fat.
Weight gain is a rather complex phenomenon, which cannot be blamed on just one group of foods or products, and not even on sugar. The main drink must be water, during and between meals.
What if we sometimes want to have a drink? Which one to choose: the sugary ones or the sugar-free ones? If consumed sporadically, we can choose the light ones, since, in moderate quantities, they have no negative effects.
