Hi gang! Great little tidbit from the Associated Press today.

If you are trying to cut down on those diet drinks, kudos. As you will see, they are a hindrance to health. The sooner you can completely get them out of your lifestyle, the sooner you will enjoy the fruits of your labor with full benefit.

Give it the good rip, just like a band-aid. ~j

Study: Diet soda linked to heart risks
Mon Jul 23, 6:55 PM ETExcerpts

People who drank more than one diet soda each day developed the same risks for heart disease as those who downed sugary regular soda, a large study found.

The results surprised the researchers who expected to see a difference between regular and diet soda drinkers. It could be, they suggest, that even no-calorie sweet drinks increase the craving for more sweets, and that people who indulge in sodas probably have less healthy diets overall.

The study's senior author, Dr. Vasan Ramachandran, emphasized the findings don't show diet sodas are a cause of increased heart disease risks. But he said they show a surprising link that must be studied.

"It's intriguing and it begs an explanation by people who are qualified to do studies to understand this better," said Vasan, of Boston University School of Medicine.
The research comes from a massive, multi-generational heart study following residents of Framingham , Mass ., a town about 25 miles west of Boston . The new study of 9,000 observations of middle-aged men and women was published Monday online in the journal Circulation.

The researchers found those who drank more than one soda per day — diet or regular — had an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, compared to those who drank less than one soda. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms that increase the risk for heart disease including large waistlines and higher levels of blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and blood fats called triglycerides.

Researchers expected the results to differ when regular soda and diet soda drinkers were compared, and were surprised when they did not, Vasan said. But Popkin said that result isn't that surprising. He said much of the market for diet sodas are people who have unhealthy lifestyles and know they need to lose weight — with the other portion being thin people who want to stay that way. That means many people drinking diet sodas have unhealthy habits that could lead to increased heart disease risks, whether they drink diet soda or not.