Can diet coke make you fat?

Question

Can diet coke make you fat?
my mum says if youre on a diet you shouldnt drink diet coke. obviously theres no calories but she said the chemicals are bad for weight loss. is this true? i live on diet coke!

Answer

The answer to this is not as simple as it looks. DIet Coke has virtually no calories so you cannot gain weight from it alone. Your Mum is on the right track, but not exactly. No chemicals in Diet Coke prevent weight loss but the sweet taste, although not really a sugar may provoke a craving for other sweets or even for other unsweet foods.brbrThe sweet taste fools the body into thinking it is about to have a quotsugarquot rush and the body gears up for sugar that never appears. Your pancreas can pour out insulin and you will feel hungry. So even though you saved the calories from a quotrealquot Coke, you may actually take in more calories than you saved because of the craving created.brbrOf course you know quotliving on Diet Cokequot isnt exactly healthy for you! Its fine in moderation, but instead try the simple trick of drinking more water. A glass of water before a snack or meal may give you a feeling of fullness and you wont want to eat as much. If plain water doesnt do it for you, try a squeeze of lemon or lime to perk it up. I carry little packets of wonderful products called TrueLemon and TrueLIme in my wallet all the time and add these to a bottle of water. They add no calories and have of your daily Vitamin C need . These do not use preservatives and taste great. You may find you dont miss quotsweetquot at all.brbrTry to live on healthier choices, but you dont need to give up Diet Coke altogether.