They give us a good conscience, sometimes wrongly. Consumption of watered down drinks increases abdominal fat gain in people over the age of 65.
Light on the label but not on the hips. Seniors who consume drinks labeled “light” have more abdominal fat than those who drink ps, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
A real burden
Supermarket shelves offer a growing variety of diet sodas. Aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose are especially popular with people who want to reduce their sugar intake. But these sweeteners are called into question.
A team from the University of Texas (United States) followed 749 Mexican or European-American individuals over the age of 65 between 1992 and 2004. The researchers measured waist circumference, height and weight four times. some participants. The latter also provided information on their consumption of sweetened drinks. “Our study seeks to fill the void by evaluating the harmful effects of diet soda on the health of individuals 65 years of age and older,” said Sharon Fowler, lead author of the study. Indeed, abdominal fat poses a real problem: “The burden of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease, in addition to health costs, is very high in this growing aging population. “
2.3 cm more waist size
After 9 years of follow-up, the result is clear: consumers of diet sodas gained more abdominal fat than others. The waist circumference of non-users increased by 0.77 cm on average, compared to 3.04 cm for daily drinkers and 1.76 cm for occasional drinkers. “The SALSA study shows that increasing consumption of diet sodas is associated with increasing abdominal obesity, which may increase cardiometabolic risk in older adults,” concludes Dr. Fowler.
Not so surprising results: in January 2014, a study associated the consumption of diet sodas with an increase in the number of calories consumed. Overweight people who adopted sweeteners absorbed 61 more calories than those who opted for real sugars. In obese people, the watered down drink was associated with 161 extra calories.
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