Year 2, Day 184: Another Night Out for Dinner

Under the "I'm Sticking with Wine" Category:
(http://www.uthscsa.edu/hscnews/singleformat.asp?newID=1539&SearchID)

Can diet soft drinks increase your risk of becoming overweight?

Diet soft drinks are certainly as popular as the sugar-laden versions nowadays, but are the people who are drinking them getting any thinner? It may be exactly the opposite.

Statistics from the San Antonio Heart Study, a quarter-century-long community-based epidemiologic study conducted at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, paradoxically suggest that the more diet sodas a person drinks, the greater the chance that he or she will become overweight or obese. Extra weight is a strong risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes.

“On average, for each diet soft drink our participants drank per day, they were 65 percent more likely to become overweight during the next seven to eight years, and 41 percent more likely to become obese,” said Sharon Fowler, M.P.H., faculty associate in the division of clinical epidemiology in the Health Science Center’s department of medicine. She presented the finding June 12 in San Diego at the American Diabetes Association’s 65th Annual Scientific Sessions.

But Fowler pointed out that whenever someone is drinking a diet soda, he or she is drinking it to the exclusion of healthier alternatives such as milk, water, or juice. “Can you think of one good thing that comes from a diet soft drink can for your body? You’re giving yourself the taste of nourishment without any at all, so it may be that you then seek it from other foods, such as high-calorie desserts,” she said. “Even though you fool your tongue, you don’t fool your brain. It is not satisfied. I’ve seen people plunk down a doughnut and a diet soda on a convenience store counter. What our analyses indicate for sure is that drinking diet soft drinks will not protect a person from the health effects of the rest of his or her lifestyle.”


Breakfast
Kashi Go Lean/Heritage Flakes
Unsweetened Soy Milk
Bananas & Blueberries
Green Tea

Lunch:
Turkey Crumble
Cabbage, Lettuce

Snacks:
~4 oz. Almonds/Cashews
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
12 oz coffee
1 diet coke
a few wheat thins (consumed in the car)

Dinner @ Jills
Guiltless Gourmet Chips
Salsa
Gazpacho
3 Slices Salami, Cheese
2 Chicken/Onion Fajitas in Joseph's Net Carbs Oat Bran Wraps with Cheese, Salsa
3 Slices of Steak
Wine

We had a great dinner at Jill's house tonight, and though Ruby pretended not to want to go (anyone remember being dragged to your parent's friends for dinner?) Jill has two pugs— Stella and Blanche and they cavorted with Ruby and Magnolia and everyone had a great time. I had several glasses of wine, and at least two fajitas, as well as some chips. It was Labor Day, and I'm just starting to think about getting back to the ol' Phase One. Watch this space for details.