How do zero calories soft drinks work in relation to weight gain/loss?

Question

Is it safe to drink non-sugary drinks (like coke zero) while on a diet? Or do the artificial sweeteners just make you fat in some sneaky way?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Artificial sweeteners are definitely less fattening than sugar, at least in the short run.

Some people are worried that over the long run they’ll teach your body not to associate sweetness with food value, so you’ll start eating more because your sweet thing doesn’t feel like food. Some other people are worried that some artificial sweeteners might be chronic cumulative poisons, so people will eventually start getting sick from them in a few decades and by then it’ll be too late to do anything about it. But if you want to lose weight right now and aren’t worried about those uncertain long-term effects, there’s no doubt that artificial sweeteners work better than an equivalent amount of sugar.