Drinking diet soda regularly can lead to alarming health problems

Diet soda may have a few benefits, especially if you’re trying to lose weight. One recent study suggests that dieters have greater success losing weight drinking diet soda than kicking the habit cold turkey, for example. (Note: The study was funded partly by the American Beverage Association.)

But though the sweet carbonated pick-me-up bevvy is low in calories, an infographic on the health and diet website Prevention reveals that drinking diet soda is associated with several negative health consequences. Regular consumption is associated with the development of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and kidney disease.

Drink up to four diet sodas a day and increase your risk of developing depression by 30 percent, says the Prevention piece. Drink just one diet soda daily and your risk of heart attack climbs to 40 percent. The risk of developing type-2 diabetes is of the most concern, with one diet soda a day increasing your risk to 67 percent! And guzzling a pop too quickly may cause many soda drinkers heartburn.

The information should prove helpful in trimming the indulgence down or bidding adieu to it all together.