Diet soda linked to cardiiovascular disease !?

FULL DISLOSURE: I (we) drink diet soda in our house -

Information out on an unyet published study - already causing controversy.

Here's a short youtube video -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSzEALu7oEM

and here's an article -

Experts Defend Diet Soda After Controversial Study Links Diet Soda to Heart Attack and Stroke

“I have to tell you, I don’t buy the findings; [the study] wasn’t well done, said Dr. Richard Besser, chief health and medical editor at ABC News, in an interview with Diane Sawyer. “[Researchers] didn’t look at what other things people were taking in. I wouldn’t change behavior based on that.”

Besser didn’t advocate diet soda consumption, however, telling Sawyer, “I’m not a fan of drinking a lot of diet soda. We know that regular soda is linked to obesity. If you’re drinking a lot of diet soda, you’re going to start to crave that intense sweetness, and that’s not good. If you can switch over to having unsweetened beverages — having sparkling water, unsweetened tea, an doccasional diet soda — that’s fine.”

Other experts echoed Dr. Besser’s sugar-craving theory. Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Institute at Yale University, told ABC News, “In my 20 years of clinical practice, patients who consume diet soda tend to have more of a sweet tooth; to get more sweet cravings; to eat more foods with added sugar; and to like and eat more processed food than patients who avoid both regular and diet soda.”

The issue, it seems, is that the study didn’t account for what participants ate, only their total calorie intake. “Unfortunately, it may be that individuals with poor dietary habits do resort in some kind of calorie balancing and continue to eat high-calorie sweet foods but reduce their guilt by drinking diet soda,” ...

YIKES - that sounds like me!

Comments

[Chris Gregor]

Hey Tom, don't know if you remember me, Chris Gregor, half-assed FU rugger and full time partier. I think we both inhabited Gonzaga 2 freshman year. I have been in touch with Bill Beyer and Jim Houlihan and got the link to your blog. I wish you well and will keep you in my daily prayers for a full recovery. Best Regards.