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Trading Diet Sodas For Water Can Help Control Diabetes And Lose Weight

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on June 23, 2025.

MONDAY, June 23, 2025 — Want to lose weight and reverse type 2 diabetes?

Trade your diet soda for a tall glass of water, a new small-scale study argues.

Women were more likely to drop pounds and see their type 2 diabetes go into remission if they drank water rather than diet beverages, according to a study presented Sunday at a meeting of the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

"These findings challenge a common belief in the U.S. that diet drinks have no potential negative effects for managing weight and blood sugar,” lead researcher Dr. Hamid Farshchi, CEO of D2Type Health, said in a news release.

About 1 in 5 Americans imbibe a diet drink on any given day, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Although they’re calorie-free, diet sodas might have other effects on the body, researchers said in background notes.

A July 2023 study in the journal Diabetes Care found that people who consumed more artificial sweeteners were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

In that paper, researchers speculated that artificial sweeteners might disturb blood sugar and body fat metabolism, alter the gut bacteria that play a role in digestion, or cause increased hunger.

For the new study, 81 women with type 2 diabetes and excess weight completed a six-month weight-loss program followed by one year on a weight maintenance program.

Half the women were randomly assigned to drink water rather than diet soda, while the other half continued drinking diet beverages five times a week after their lunch.

By the end of the study, women drinking water had dropped about 15 pounds while those drinking diet soda had lost about 10 pounds, results showed.

What’s more, 90% of the women drinking water had achieved diabetes remission, compared with 45% in the diet beverage group, researchers said.

Other health markers also improved among the women drinking water, including blood sugar levels, insulin resistance and triglycerides, researchers said. Their body-mass index — an estimate of body fat based on height and weight — also improved.

“With most of women in the water group achieving diabetes remission, our study highlights the importance of promoting water, not just low-calorie alternatives, as part of effective diabetes and weight management,” Farshchi said. “It’s a small change with the potential for a big impact on long-term health outcomes.”

Farshchi and colleagues presented their findings Sunday at the ADA’s meeting in Chicago.

Findings at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted June 2025

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