September 11, 2015

Diet beverage drinkers compensate by eating unhealthy food, study finds


Alcoholic drinks and sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with higher overall daily intakes,
although people who drink diet beverages consume a greater percentage of non-nutritious food.

(September 11, 2015)  Want fries with that diet soda? You aren’t alone, and you may not be “saving” as many calories as you think by consuming diet drinks.

A new study that examined the dietary habits of more than 22,000 U.S. adults found that diet-beverage consumers may compensate for the absence of calories in their drinks by noshing on extra food that is loaded with sugar, sodium, fat and cholesterol.

University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Ruopeng An examined 10 years of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, which asked participants to recall everything they ate or drank over the course of two nonconsecutive days.

An compared participants’ daily calorie intakes, including their consumption of discretionary foods and five types of beverages – diet or sugar-free drinks; sugar-sweetened beverages, such as sodas and fruit drinks; coffee; tea; and alcohol.

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