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  1. The Side Effects of Sucrose
  2. Cholesterol & Diet Soda
  3. Does Alcohol Raise Triglycerides?
  4. Importance of Living a Healthy Lifestyle
  5. Advantages & Disadvantages of Carbohydrates

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Weight Management

Do Diet Sodas Affect Triglycerides?

Written by Chris Dinesen Rogers
26 August, 2011

Fact Checked

Diet sodas offer several advantages. If you consume diet versus regular soda, you will save 136 calories per 12-oz. can of cola. This can add up especially if you are drinking more than one can a day. While your intentions may be good, diet sodas may not offer all of the benefits that you may think. The effects of diet soda may in fact have negative health consequences, such as increasing your triglycerides.

What Are Triglycerides?

Triglycerides are a type of fat in your body that provides a source of energy for life processes. Your diet provides triglycerides, but your body can also produce them. The concern exists with the conditions that high triglycerides may indicate, such as diabetes or kidney disease. In addition, people with high cholesterol will often have high triglycerides as well. Taken as a whole, these factors can increase your risk for heart disease and other chronic health conditions. Consumption of diet sodas may inadvertently heighten this risk.

  • Triglycerides are a type of fat in your body that provides a source of energy for life processes.
  • The concern exists with the conditions that high triglycerides may indicate, such as diabetes or kidney disease.

Effects of Artificial Sweeteners

The Side Effects of Sucrose

Learn More

Diet sodas are sweetened with a variety of artificial sweeteners, including aspartame. Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than table sugar. By consuming diet sodas, you may be training your palate to crave sugary foods, which can lead to weight gain. Your tastes may change so that healthy foods such as fruits are less desirable. Gaining weight can lead to elevated levels of triglycerides.

  • Diet sodas are sweetened with a variety of artificial sweeteners, including aspartame.

Diet Sodas and Satiety

Consumption of diet sodas may also impair your body's ability to detect satiety, also leading to weight gain and increased levels of triglycerides. A study by Purdue University in Indiana, published in the February 2008 issue of “Behavioral Neuroscience,” found that rats fed a diet containing saccharin consumed greater amounts of calories, leading to weight gain 4. Your body responds to sweets and associates consumption with caloric intake. In the absence of calories from diet soda, your body expects calories even in their absence because of the effects on your sweet taste receptors. You may still feel hungry and end up consuming more.

  • Consumption of diet sodas may also impair your body's ability to detect satiety, also leading to weight gain and increased levels of triglycerides.

Making Good Choices

Cholesterol & Diet Soda

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The amount of diet soda you consume can affect your overweight status and, in turn, triglyceride levels. A study by the University of Texas, published in the 2005 American Diabetes Association annual session abstracts, found that the more serving of diet soda consumed by participants, the greater was the measured body mass index, or BMI. Researchers reported overweight status in 57.1 percent of participants who consumed two or more cans of diet soda per day. If you drink diet soda, limit the amount you consume to avoid the circumstances that can lead to elevated triglyceride levels.

  • The amount of diet soda you consume can affect your overweight status and, in turn, triglyceride levels.
  • If you drink diet soda, limit the amount you consume to avoid the circumstances that can lead to elevated triglyceride levels.

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Writer Bio

Chris Dinesen Rogers has been online marketing for more than eight years. She has grown her own art business through SEO and social media and is a consultant specializing in SEO and website development. Her past work experience includes teaching pre-nursing students beginning biology, human anatomy and physiology. Rogers's more than 10 years in conservation makes her equally at home in the outdoors.

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