Diet drinks work as well as water for weight loss

A two-year randomized clinical trial involving 493 adults with overweight or obesity found that diet soft drinks were essentially as effective as water for long-term weight loss and weight maintenance. Participants drinking beverages sweetened with aspartame, acesulfame-K, or sucralose lost a similar amount of weight to those drinking water, while both groups also saw improvements in waist size, body composition, and several metabolic measures. Diet drinks work as well as water for weight loss, major trial finds.

Non-nutritive sweeteners are low-calorie or calorie-free sugar substitutes commonly used in foods and beverages. The 104-week study found that NNS beverages, including diet soft drinks, performed similarly to water when it came to long-term weight management. Professor Jo Harrold, Dean of Psychology at the University of Liverpool, led the peer-reviewed research with Professor Jason Halford, Professor, Biological Psychology & Health Behaviours at the University of Leeds (formerly of the University of Liverpool).

The study was funded by the American Beverage Association. According to the researchers, the study team operated independently from the funder and retained full control over the analysis and reporting of the results. Diet Drinks Compared With Water Over Two Years The findings, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, provide long-term clinical evidence on beverages containing aspartame, acesulfame potassium (acesulfame-K), and sucralose.