Diet drinks may be linked to obesity and heart problems

Researchers at Purdue University say the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas like these may throw off the body's ability to know how many calories it needs.

Researchers say using diet sodas as a weight loss tool may actually cause you to pack on pounds.

They believe diet drinks may be linked to obesity and heart problems.

The study appears in the journal, Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Researchers found that people who consume diet soft drinks regularly had the same elevated risk for type two diabetes and heart disease as those who drink regular soda.

The artificial sweeteners are sucralose, aspartame and saccharin.

Researchers think what might be happening is that those artificial sweeteners actually taste sweeter than real sugar, so the body craves more.

Plus there may be a bit of what psychologists refer to as cognitive distortion, meaning we kind of talk ourselves into believing that since we're cutting calories with diet sodas, it's OK to indulge in other sweets.

Researchers say if you really are trying to lose weight, you can't go wrong with just drinking water.

Representatives from the American Beverage Association say the study is more opinion than fact and they cite several studies in which people drinking diet sodas lost weight.