Contents Of Diet Soda

Diet sodas are sugar-free, artificially sweetened, carbonate drinks for the people who need to decrease sugar intake,lose weight to stay fit.

Sweet taste is given to diet soda by using various artificial sweeteners and some even use sugar with other artificial sweeteners. Opinion is mixed as far as flavour of these drinks is concerned. The Genral Opinion is that Sugar drink is the best in terms of taste. Many people say that diet drinks leave a chemical aftertaste. Others feel that diet soda has no bitter aftertaste and that drinks sweetened by high fructose corn syrup an over-sweet aftertaste.

The first artificial sweeteners were cyclamates. Many had the opinion that these sodas had a better taste than diet sodasthat followed. FDA in 1970 suspended the use of cyclamates in the US. These agents caused cancer in lab animals. Even with that information, cyclamates are still used in some countries around the world, especially in diet soda.

Saccharin was used by American producers. Users believed that saccharin has a chemical aftertaste. Coca-Cola got Tab by implying a small amount of sugar. Ban was put on saccharin as a carcinogen by FDA in 1977 but soon the ban was suspended after completing he studies on it. This was lifted in 1991, but nearly every diet soda had shifted to using aspartame which is now the most common sweetener.

Splenda or sucralose and Sunett or Ace K the new sweeteners on the market are used with artificial sweeteners and small amounts of aspartame rather than alone. These sodas have come into use by some small drink makers.Just recently sweetener is believed by consumers to be the reason of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome type illnesses.

Most users say drinks with these sweeteners taste more like natural sugar.Critics are not satisfied with the taste of artificial sweeteners and also not familiar with the drawbacks of using it for a long term.

With health concerns of sugar suppliments and extra use of caffeine the effeciency of diet sodas as a weight loss tool has also come under darkness.

Consumers who drink large amounts of regular soda may have weight loss after switching to diet soda.Weight gain is the result of artificial sweeteners animal studies show this. The sweetness of the flavour induces an insulin response, causing blood sugar to stay in tissues but because blood sugar does not increase with artificial sugars hypoglycemia can result and people eat more at the next meal. Rats given sweeteners has increased caloric intake causing gain in body weight and fat. 

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