Instead of Drinking Diet Soda

It is a myth that if you want to lose weight you should drink diet soda. I have even seen "experts" on diet and exercise promote this idea as a "revolutionary" weight loss idea. Let me first start by saying...I used to be a diet coke junkie. Every once and a while my husband and I still reminisce about the good old days of frosty, diet sodas with little ice chips floating around the glass on a hot Texas day...mmmm...but I digress...

Research shows that people who drink diet drinks on a regular basis may be more likely to gain weight and develop metabolic syndrome, a condition that includes having excess belly fat, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and insulin resistance. The artificial sweeteners in diets sodas interfere with signals in the brain that help your body judge how may calories you have already ingested and make it difficult for your body to determine how much you really need to eat. Not to mention that studies also show that sodas can cause erosion of tooth enamel. (Women's Day Mag April 2009).

So - what to drink - choose better alternatives: water, unsweetened iced tea, green or black tea, low fat milk, and small amounts of 100% fruit juice.