Last week, we discussed the touchy subject of sugar cravings and artificial sweeteners, and the influence of diet soft drinks on weight. (It increases it.)
According to the Vancouver Sun, obesity is partly to blame for the rise in joint surgery. They were, of course, writing for their Canadian audience, but it is just as true in the US. If that is true (and it doubtless is), it is not difficult to understand. Added weight increases stress on the bones and joints.
In case you think that headline is an unwarranted scare tactic, I didn't make it up.
I borrowed it from an article published in the Houston Chronicle. They got their information from the researchers at the University of Texas San Antonio, who did a study of middle-aged adults who drink soft drinks. Are you ready for this?
Do you drink diet soft drinks, in the hopes it will diminish the circumference of your waistline? Forget it. The study monitored the weight and soda-drinking habits of over 600 normal weight adults, aged 25 - 64. After following the participants for eight years, they discovered that diet soda drinkers were 65 percent more likely to be overweight (with just one soda per day), and two or more calorie-reduced drinks raised the odds of becoming obese or overweight even higher.
