The Study
Effects of Sugar‐Sweetened, Artificially Sweetened, and Unsweetened Beverages on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors, Body Composition, and Sweet Taste Preference: A Randomized Controlled Trial
This study gave people free drinks for a year and saw what happened to their weight and health. Because people were randomly assigned to drink different things, we can say the drinks probably caused the changes we saw — but only for people who already had extra belly fat. For everyone else, the drinks didn’t make much difference.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave people either regular soda, diet soda, or water for a year to see what happened to their weight and how sweet things tasted to them.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 578 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — if you have extra belly fat, swapping soda for diet soda or water may help you avoid weight gain.
- 2Water also helps you gradually like sweet tastes less, which could help you stick to a lower-sugar diet long-term.
- 3People with extra belly fat lost weight when they switched from soda to diet soda or water (about 4.2 kg less gain).
- 4Water made people like sweet things less than diet soda did — they needed less sugar to feel satisfied.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease
Year
2020
Authors
C. Ebbeling, H. Feldman, Sarah K. Steltz, N. Quinn, Lisa M. Robinson, D. Ludwig
Related Content
Claims (6)
Adults with high trunk fat who switch from sugary drinks to diet or plain drinks for a year gain 4.2 kilograms less weight than those who keep drinking sugary beverages.
After 12 months of drinking artificially sweetened beverages, the minimum amount of sugar needed to taste sweetness does not change. Drinking unsweetened beverages for the same time lowers the amount of sugar needed to detect sweetness.
Switching from sugary drinks to drinks with artificial sweeteners for 12 months does not change how sensitive a person is to sweet tastes.
In adults who regularly drink sugary beverages, switching to diet or unsweetened drinks for 12 months does not change the ratio of triglycerides to HDL cholesterol in the blood.
After 12 months, people who switched from sugary drinks to unsweetened drinks preferred less sugar in their drinks than those who switched to drinks with artificial sweeteners.
Switching from sugary drinks to drinks with artificial sweeteners does not change body weight, blood sugar levels, insulin resistance, cholesterol levels, or blood pressure in people who participate in randomized controlled trials.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.