What do you think? Does drinking diet
soda cause you to gain weight or not?
 |
| Too much diet soda? |
This is an old story; the media has
summarized some studies done several years back concluding what many
of you might fear—something with no calories can make you
gain weight. But a look behind the sensationalized headlines showed
something else.
Yes, there was a link; more people who
drank diet sodas were higher weight. But did drinking diet soda cause
it? And were you able to take in this correct conclusion and hold on
to it, or do you still fear diet soda?
Oh, this is dangerous. I am not
advocating for diet soda consumption! There’s no nutritional
merit—no calories, no vitamins or minerals—and it may even have
some negative effects. Namely, it may mask your hunger, making it
more difficult to trust your need to eat. And large intakes of
colas—regardless of type—may pose other consequences such as
impacting your bone density.
But really my intent was not to discuss
diet soda. Rather, I’m highlighting this example to prove a couple
of points.
Causation vs. correlation
Wasting way too much time on Facebook the other day, a post by a local, experienced dietitian caught my attention:
“Very interesting research about vitamin D's potential for significantly slowing MS. Adds to the body of research linking higher vitamin D levels with reduced risk for MS.”
The comment was, on the one hand,
harmless enough. The dietitian was referencing a recent article—just an
abstract,
really— presented at a recent medical conference. The abstract summarized
the study findings fairly, stating that average, baseline blood
levels of vitamin D link with disease symptoms and severity. Those
with a lower average level of vitamin D at the start of the study had
a worse disease outcome than those that started with higher blood
levels.
This may seem subtle to you, but it’s
not to me. The RD’s comment about the “potential for vit D to
significantly slow MS” is not, in fact, what the article stated.
It merely showed a connection, a correlation. Perhaps there’s
something about people with MS that utilizes more vit D when there’s
more active disease. Or maybe low levels are simply a marker for more
disease activity.
Nowhere did the study state that supplementing with
vit D improved the prognosis. I don’t tend to look at the half
empty, but I simply didn’t see the hope for vit D’s potential, at least not in this study.
Maybe it’s splitting hairs. I mean
she did, in fact, refer to this as a link. But what troubles
me—along with the image on the post showing supplements, is what’s
implied and therefore what we end up believing. No, vit D supplements
have not been shown to reverse or improve the health of those living
with MS. But wouldn’t we all like to believe that a magic pill
could do that for us—for our MS, for our cancer, for our anorexia,
for our weight struggles?
But besides the false hope, there’s
the issue of our getting sucked into believing that correlated
equals caused. No, diet soda doesn’t cause obesity. But
those living with obesity may be more likely to select diet beverages
than those who are average weight.
Similarly, maybe you gained a lot of
weight when you moved from a gluten free to a regular diet. That
doesn’t mean that non gluten free diets cause weight gain. Rather,
it may be that while being mindful of your intake—like you
do on any diet—you may have seen a weight shift—but not because
of what the diet was. But then when you regain the weight, you cling
to the belief that the gluten free (or carb free, or fat free or
whatever diet) was the reason for your weight loss, and therefore
subsequent regain. The regain may have been about overeating following deprivation from
denying yourself foods you enjoyed—and not a result of some
magic involved with the ingredients you omitted.
Unfortunately, misinformation sticks.
And trying to scream and shout that information is wrong only
solidifies it as fact. Misinformation can be dangerous, keeping us stuck in our ways, and preventing us from trusting ourselves. And conflicting info in the media confuses us and leads us believing that nothing we do makes a difference.
So instead, I ask you to question what you
read. And challenge educated individuals in the health field about
the articles and flashy news snips.
Focus on the facts, and work with your
team for concrete ways to counter your unhealthy thinking. I hope this blog helps to set you on a healthy path!
