Diet Soda May Cause People to Eat More Sweets

In a small but insightful study researchers at the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University pinpoint a reward feedback loop in the brain that is tripped up by diet soda. Using functional MRIs the study was able to show that individuals who consumed a greater number of diet sodas had reduced activation in part of the brain involved in signalling reward and controlling food intake.

With regular consumption of diet sodas, the brain lost its normal ability to associate sweet tastes with calories, thus prompting people to eat more sweet foods overall.

"These findings suggest that there are alterations in reward processing of sweet taste in individuals who regularly consume diet soda, and this is associated with the degree of consumption," the researchers wrote in their conclusion.

The diet soda drinkers just didn't get the signal to stop...and apparently common sense did not fill the void.