Health & Fitness News

If you think switching to a diet soft drink is the healthier choice, think again. New research has shown that drinking one can of diet fizzy drink every day can dramatically increase the risk of a heart attack or a stroke.

The Daily Mail reports that the new findings have suggested that just a couple of cans of the 'healthier' fizzy drinks like diet cola or lemonade can increase the risk of liver damage, diabetes and heart damage.

Researchers from the University of Miami and Columbia University Medical Centre claim that people who drink diet soft drinks are 43 per cent more likely to have heart attacks, vascular disease or strokes.

While ‘diet’ drinks are always marketed as being healthy in comparison to the ‘full fat’ alternatives, their genuine health benefits have yet to be discovered. In some cases research suggests that they trigger people’s appetites making them eat even more.

The research involved studying the diet soft drink consumption of 2,564 participants over a 10 year period, along with their risk of stroke, heart attack and vascular death.

Participants who drank diet drinks every day were 43 per cent more likely to have suffered health implications than those who drank none.

“Our results suggest a potential association between daily diet soft drink consumption and vascular outcomes,” said Dr Hannah Gardener, who led the research.

It is believed that diet soft drinks often contain artificial sweeteners like aspartame, which has previously been linked to other health problems such as cancer.

So if you’re feeling thirsty mid-afternoon, it’s probably better to glug on some water instead of a soft drink.