Diet Soda Is Not Better Than Regular Soda

A new study further confirms that diet soda is bad for you. It's nice to know that some scientific studies follow the principles of common sense. From the New York Times:

Researchers have found a correlation between drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome — the collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes that include abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and blood glucose levels, and elevated blood pressure.

This study looked at the eating patterns of real people, rather than trying to calculate the nutrient value of specific foods those people ate. Take a look at this quote from ScienceDaily.com:

In general, the Western-pattern diet was heavy on refined grains, processed meat, fried foods, red meat, eggs and soda, and light on fish, fruit, vegetables and whole grain products.

Prudent diet eating patterns, by contrast, favored cruciferous vegetables (e.g., cabbage, radish and broccoli), carotenoid vegetables (e.g., carrots, pumpkins, red pepper, cabbage, broccoli and spinach), fruit, fish and seafood, poultry and whole grains, along with low-fat dairy.

Guess which one is better for you.