During a diet, is drinking water more beneficial for weight loss than consuming diet soda?
A study involving researchers from the University of Liverpool, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, tracked participants over two years. Those in the diet soda group lost an average of 4.8 kg, while the water group lost an average of 3.7 kg. Although the difference of 1.1 kg was noted, it was not statistically significant.
The study randomly assigned 749 British adults with a body mass index (BMI) between 27 and 35. Of these, 493 participants consumed the designated beverages, with 220 completing the two-year follow-up: 103 from the diet soda group and 117 from the water group.
Participants were instructed to drink at least 660 ml of their assigned beverage daily. The diet soda contained non-nutritive sweeteners such as aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose. The study did not focus solely on a specific brand of diet soda.
For the first 12 weeks, participants attended a group weight management program weekly, followed by monthly sessions for 40 weeks. In the final 52 weeks, weight changes were observed without regular support.
In a previously published one-year study, the diet soda group lost an average of 7.5 kg, while the water group lost 6.1 kg. At that time, the weight loss in the diet soda group was statistically greater, but researchers deemed the difference clinically insignificant.
In the two-year study, both groups maintained lower weights compared to their starting points, but the difference in weight loss was not statistically significant. Even after statistically compensating for missing data from participants who dropped out, no significant differences were found.
A limitation of the study is that more than half of the initial 493 participants did not complete the two-year follow-up. Additionally, since participants engaged in a weight management program together, it cannot be concluded that diet soda alone has a special weight loss effect.
Some differences were observed in health indicators beyond weight. Changes in total cholesterol were relatively higher in the diet soda group, while changes in glycated hemoglobin and diastolic blood pressure were more favorable in the water group. However, researchers noted that these differences did not meet the generally accepted clinical significance criteria.
This study compared weight loss and maintenance effects, but it did not assess the overall health impacts of diet soda, such as risks for diabetes or cardiovascular disease.
Funding sources should also be considered. This research was supported by the American Beverage Association. The researchers stated that the association did not influence the study design, execution, data analysis, or interpretation of results. However, the association was given the opportunity to review the manuscript, and its funds were used for medical manuscript writing support. The final content of the manuscript was determined by the researchers.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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