Should the patient discontinue consuming 1 liter (L) of diet soda?

From the Guidelines

Yes, a patient should consider stopping or significantly reducing their consumption of 1 liter of diet pop daily. The most recent and highest quality study, published in 2020 1, suggests that low-calorie sweetened beverages, such as diet soda, may be associated with an increased risk of certain disease factors, including obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes.

Key Findings

• A meta-analysis found that the pooled RR for obesity in individuals consuming artificially sweetened soda was 1.59 (95% CI: 1.22,2.08) 1.
• Another meta-analysis reported that the pooled RRs for hypertension were 1.14 (95% CI: 1.10,1.18) for highest compared with lowest intake analysis and 1.09 (95% CI: 1.06,1.11) for every additional 1 serving/d increase in LCS beverage consumption 1.
• The American Heart Association recommends that individuals limit their daily intake of calories from added sugars to no more than 10% of total calories, and suggests that low-calorie sweetened beverages may be a viable alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages 1.

Recommendations

• Patients should consider healthier alternatives to diet soda, such as water, unsweetened tea, or water infused with fresh fruits for flavor.
• A gradual reduction approach may be more sustainable for patients who find it difficult to completely eliminate diet soda from their diet.
• The use of nonnutritive sweeteners, such as those found in diet soda, may have the potential to reduce overall calorie and carbohydrate intake if substituted for caloric sweeteners and without compensation by intake of additional calories from other food sources 1.

Conclusion is not provided as per the guidelines, instead, the answer is directly related to the question.

Stopping or reducing diet pop consumption can lead to improved overall health outcomes, better hydration, and reduced dependence on artificial sweeteners.

From the Research

Stopping 1L Diet Pop Consumption

• The decision to stop consuming 1L of diet pop per day may be influenced by various factors, including the potential health effects of diet pop consumption.
• Research suggests that reducing or eliminating discretionary foods and beverages, such as diet pop, can lead to improvements in diet quality and reductions in energy intake 2.
• While diet pop itself is not explicitly mentioned in the studies, the reduction of discretionary beverages, including sugar-sweetened beverages, has been shown to reduce energy intake by an average of 3.9% 2.
• It is also important to consider the overall dietary pattern and nutrient intake, rather than focusing on a single food or beverage item.
• Some studies have investigated the effects of reducing saturated fat intake, which may be relevant to the discussion of diet pop consumption, although diet pop is typically low in fat 3.
• However, the provided studies do not directly address the specific question of stopping 1L diet pop consumption, and more research would be needed to fully understand the potential effects of this change.
• Other studies have compared the efficacy of ibuprofen and acetaminophen for pain relief, which is not directly related to the question of diet pop consumption 4, 5.
• Additionally, research has shown that increasing water consumption can lead to greater weight loss during a hypocaloric diet intervention, which may be relevant to individuals trying to reduce their diet pop consumption 6.