How Do Diet Products Make You Fat?

This article is about products labeled as “diet”, “sugar free” or “light” that instead of sugar include artificial sweeteners in their composition. Besides the obvious ones like diet sodas, there are many other snacks and diet foods, such as sugar free yogurts, non-fat yogurts, protein nutritional drinks, sugar free cookies, nutritional bars, flavored water and many more that contain artificial sweeteners.

You have probably read or heard about the studies claiming that artificial sweeteners can cause weight gain but have you ever wondered what exactly happens in your body? How a drink with zero calories or sugar- and fat-free yogurt can cause you to gain weight? Here is how.

Every food or drink is alkaline, acidic or somewhere in between. Alkalinity and acidity are measured in units of pH on a scale called “potential hydrogen scale” or just “pH scale”. As we know from chemistry class, the pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. 0 is the most acidic, 7 is neutral, and 14 is the more alkaline. For example, if you look at the image below, you will see that our stomach acid has a value of 1, diet soda is 2.5, coffee is 3, artificial sweeteners have pH 5, pure water is 7 (neutral), human blood ranges from 7.35 to 7.45 (slightly alkaline), lemons are 9 and baking soda is 12 (very alkaline).

To put this scale into perspective, it is important to note that the scale is logarithmic. This means that a value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher value. For example, artificial sweeteners with pH value of 5 are ten times more acidic than foods with pH 6 and 100 times (10x10) more acidic than water (pH 7). The same holds true for pH values above 7.

Just like every other carbon based life form on the planet, the human bloodstream maintains a pH balance. Your body won’t allow your pH to become imbalanced because if it did, you will die. For example, at a blood pH of about 6.95, you would likely go into coma and possibly die, unless there is medical help. But what does this have to do with “diet” and “sugar-free” foods? Well, everything you eat intimately affects the pH balance in your body.

The trouble begins when your body has to work overtime to maintain its pH balance. People consume considerably more acid-forming then alkalizing foods and drinks and that leads to imbalance (say “hi” to acid reflux). Some of the acid-forming products that people consume too much of are: processed and fried foods, diet sodas, coffee, alcohol, animal proteins, prescription medications and of course the “diet foods” containing artificial sweeteners. The pH balance is also influenced by other factors such as unhealthy stress, insufficient sleep etc. but the imbalance is primarily due to the over-consumption of acid-forming foods and drinks.

An important thing to note is that foods are classified as acid-forming or alkalizing depending on the effect they have on the body after digestion and not on how they taste to us. Citrus fruits such as lemons and limes are extremely acidic in undigested form, but the minerals they leave behind after digestion actually decrease the acidity of the body, which makes them alkalizing foods. In general, most animal products and fish are acidic and vegetables and fruits are primarily alkaline.

Another important point – just because a food is acidic, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s unhealthy. Good examples are walnuts and blueberries. They are both acid-forming, but they have incredible health benefits.

When your blood pH becomes too acidic, less then 7.3, defense mechanisms kick in to restore alkalinity and bring it back to about 7.4. How? The body has its way of dealing with acids, but it comes with a very high price. Your breathing rate increases to remove carbonic acid in the form of carbon dioxide, the kidneys increase the acidity of the urine and alkalizing minerals begin to be leached out of the body. Iodine, calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium are all alkaline-forming minerals, so the body takes them from the tissues and bones to neutralize the blood pH. Yep, your bones and tissues need those minerals too, but the blood pH always comes first… And if you keep withdrawing from your bone bank on a daily basis you will eventually run out (now say “hi” to degenerative diseases).

Most “diet” and “sugar free” foods contain artificial sweeteners, which are extremely acid-forming products. Most diet sodas, as well as regular sodas, also contain phosphoric acid, which is right next to battery acid on the pH scale. If you are constantly flooding your body with those “diet” products, you are constantly losing essential minerals. One of those minerals is iodine. Iodine supports the health of the thyroid gland (the one located in the front of the base of the neck). The thyroid needs it to produce hormones that regulate the body's metabolism. The thing is that the gland doesn't get access to iodine unless the pH of the body is near perfect. Therefore, your metabolism slows down, and it's all downhill from there. Also, to protect itself from serious damage, the body creates fat cells to store the excess acids and carry them away from vital organs. And this is how a “diet” food with zero calories can make you fat.

So, read the label on anything labeled as “sugar-free”, “light”, “low calorie” or “diet” before you open your mouth, because most of these products will help you only if you are on a weight gain diet.