A two-year randomized trial conducted by the University of Liverpool in England has found that diet drinks containing sugar substitutes are as effective as water for supporting weight loss in overweight or obese adults.
The study, which included 493 participants aged 18 to 65 with a body mass index (BMI) between 27 and 35, divided the participants into two groups. One group received 22.3 ounces of water each day, while the other group received the same amount of soda with non-nutritive sweeteners (about two cans) for a 104-week period.
After two years, the participants drinking diet beverages had lost an average of 10.6 pounds, while those drinking water lost an average of 8.2 pounds. Both groups also showed significant reductions in body fat and waist and hip circumference. However, there was no significant difference in weight loss between the two groups.
The study's findings suggest that the sugar substitutes used in diet drinks do not hinder weight loss efforts. A registered dietitian, Alix Turoff, noted that the main value of including diet beverages comes down to substitution, rather than any potential metabolic effect. Turoff emphasized that the study compared diet beverages with water, rather than with sugar-sweetened drinks, and that the findings do not mean that water and diet soda are nutritionally identical.
However, the study has some limitations, including that it was conducted at a single location in England and did not collect data on race and ethnicity. Additionally, only about 45% of the participants completed the 104-week assessment, and the second-year extension was voluntary, which may have introduced biases into the results.
NTC Report coverage is based on reporting from the original publisher.
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