Drink diet soda, gain weight?

From Mercola.com

Artificial Sweeteners Ruin Your Body's Ability to Count Calories


A study revealed that eating artificially sweetened foods and drinking sweetened beverages might hinder your body's ability to estimate calorie intake, thus boosting your inclination to overindulge.

First Study on Artificial Sweeteners
The first group of rats were given two liquids, both of which contained natural high-calorie sweeteners. The second group of rats were given two liquids, one that was sweetened with saccharin. Both groups were given a sweet, high-calorie chocolate-flavored snack after 10 days into the study.

Findings From the Study
Rats that were given the artificially flavored liquids had a more difficult time differentiating their calorie intake and displayed the tendency to overeat.

The rats given artificially sweetened drinks were found to consume three times more calories than rats that didn't receive any sweeteners in their drinks.

Second Study on Artificial Sweeteners
For the duration of 30 days, two groups of rats were fed their regular food along with a high-calorie supplement. One group was given a supplement similar the heavy consistency of chocolate pudding. The other group was given a supplement that had the consistency of chocolate milk.

Findings From the Study
The rats that were given the chocolate milk-like supplement experienced a notable weight gain over the rats who received the pudding-like supplement. Researchers concluded that the rats who were given the milk-like supplement had a harder time estimating calories than the rats that were given the pudding-like supplement. Researchers compared the results of this study to the Pavlovian theory where dogs were conditioned to associate the ringing of a bell to food. Researchers also stated that the rats in the study showed a similar relationship between the taste or texture of a food and the number of calories it contained.

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