The one New Year's resolution you SHOULDN'T make
In just a few days, it'll be out with the old... and in with the new.
It's a chance to change some bad habits and replace them with good ones -- but since bad habits are so tough to break, most of us settle for something a little easier.
We replace bad habits with ones that are slightly less bad.
And how does that work out for us? I think you already know the answer!
Now, the latest research shows why the most common "slightly less bad" habit so many people take on this time of year for weight loss won't help at all.
In fact, instead of losing weight... you could GAIN it!
So, if you're about to resolve to switch from regular soda to diet, don't even waste your time -- because the new study reveals the ugly truth about a chemical locked inside.
The artificial sweetener used in most diet drinks, aspartame, releases a substance called phenylalanine in the gut as it's digested.
In experiments on mice, phenylalanine blocked something called intestinal alkaline phosphatase, an essential gut enzyme that can stop metabolic syndrome or slow it down if you already have it.
Once aspartame entered the picture, however, all bets were off.
In fact, mice on a high-fat diet given moderate levels of aspartame gained more weight than mice on the same diet given plain old water.
This was a study on mice, but we see the same results in people out in the real world -- and maybe you've noticed it in the folks around you who've made the switch to diet soda.
Maybe it's happened to you.
You wouldn't be alone -- because other studies have shown that diet soda drinkers not only don't lose weight, but they also have a higher risk of developing diabetes.
And that's just ONE potential pitfall of diet soda.
The chemical sweeteners used in place of sugar can cause other changes in the gut, too, killing off the good bacteria you need for digestion and allowing "bad" germs to thrive.
They can even trigger migraine headaches in some folks.
Along with dangerous fake sugars, all sodas -- diet and regular -- contain enough chemicals to stock the lab on "NCIS," including preservatives and coloring agents that can wreck your health in so many other ways.
One of those ingredients has even been linked to cancer!
So, if you're going out with the old and in with the new for 2017, don't take any half steps.
Get rid of all soda -- regular and diet -- and drink water, seltzer, and tea instead.