Aspartame

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.

Fake sugars have real risks

Relying on aspartame to keep diabetes away is like relying on bacon to keep away dogs.

Yes, my friend, this chemical sweetener could actually BOOST your risk of getting the disease!

I know that's not how it's been sold. It's heavily marketed as the "healthy" alternative to sugar. As a result, millions of Americans have been hoodwinked into turning to aspartame-sweetened snacks and drinks -- especially "diet" soda -- thinking it's better for them and might even help them to drop a few pounds.

But as the latest research shows, that's just another Madison Avenue lie.

It's not safer. It's not better. It won't help you lose any weight. Heck, it doesn't even taste very good.

And if you make the switch yourself, you could watch your glucose levels spiral out of control, making it MORE likely you'll get diabetes.

Amazingly, this "side effect" doesn't strike everyone who makes the switch.

Only a certain group of people -- and it's the very folks most likely to turn to aspartame-sweetened foods and drinks in hopes of getting some control over their waistlines and diabetes risk.

Yes... the risk is in the obese. The folks who need BETTER glucose control are actually getting WORSE because of this "diet" ingredient.

Their control is so poor that the researchers behind the study say it looked more like the glucose control -- or, rather, lack thereof -- you'd expect to see in a diabetic patient.

This isn't some fluke.

Both animal and human studies alike have made the link between artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and weight gain, glucose control problems, and, ultimately, diabetes.

One new study on hamsters finds that animals given the equivalent levels considered "safe" for humans eat more food and gain more weight.

You're not hamster, but a study on people a few years back found the same exact thing: People who drink diet soda -- most of which contain aspartame -- eat 69 more calories on average per day.

That adds up fast.

It adds up so fast that a 2013 study on women found that just ONE SINGLE 16-ounce bottle of diet soda PER WEEK will increase the risk of diabetes by 15 percent... and three bottles a week will boost that risk by nearly 60 percent.

Fortunately, you do have some safe options for satisfying your sweet tooth: lo han and xylitol can bring the sweetness of sugar to your drinks and recipes without the risks.