Do Prebiotic or Diet Sodas Make You Gain Weight? The Simple Swap That Helps You Drop Pounds Fast
Find out if trendy prebiotic sodas really live up to the hype
Key Takeaways
- Sugary soda can add calories without filling you up, making weight loss harder.
- Diet soda has fewer calories, but experts say it may not be the best everyday choice.
- Swapping soda for water or unsweetened sparkling water can be a simple weight-loss win.
If you look forward to that afternoon fizz—the crack of the can, the icy sweetness of a refreshing Diet Coke—you’re not alone. But if the scale has been creeping up, you may be wondering whether your daily soft drink is working against you. Does soda really make you gain weight? And how can you shed unwanted pounds without feeling deprived? Here’s what the research and top doctors actually say about regular soda, diet soda and the trendy new prebiotic sodas—plus the swap that beats them all.
Does soda make you gain weight?
Okay, you know that sugar-sweetened beverages aren’t the best for you. But what about diet drinks or prebiotic-infused sips? Here’s how they all stack up, especially when it comes to weight loss and certain health risks:
Regular soda: sweet, but tough on your waistline
Sugar-sweetened drinks add calories that don’t fill you up and may actually stimulate hunger. “Large studies consistently link sugary drinks to weight gain,” says Chicago-based internal medicine expert Francesco Bajani, MD, founder of the telehealth platform Checkup MD.
But the bigger concern may be what soft drink consumption does to your blood sugar. Regular soda “delivers a rapid liquid sugar load” that Dr. Bajani calls perhaps the single biggest driver of the diabetes epidemic. A major BMJ meta-analysis found each additional daily serving of a sugary drink raised type 2 diabetes risk by 18 percent.
Sugary drinks also send a heavy dose of fructose straight to the liver, which converts a lot of it into fat—setting the stage for fatty liver disease, higher triglycerides and heart trouble.
The one small point in regular soda’s favor? Mental health. A large NIH-funded study of 263,925 adults found people who drank 4+ cans of regular soda per day were 22 percent more likely to develop depression, while those drinking 4+ cans of diet soda daily were 31 percent more likely.
Diet soda: fewer calories, but not a free pass
Here’s the thing about diet soda: It satisfies a sweet craving with no calories, and in a year-long University of Colorado study, diet-program participants allowed sugar-free soft drinks lost three times more weight than those only allowed water.
Still, artificial sweeteners appear to affect appetite control, and a University of Texas study found that the more diet soda older adults drank, the more belly fat they had. The same BMJ analysis showed each daily serving of diet soda raises diabetes risk by about 8 percent.
“For someone with diabetes or prediabetes, I would recommend reducing both regular and diet soda and moving toward unsweetened drinks,” Dr. Bajani says.
Heart health is another caution flag. Women’s Health Initiative data on more than 81,000 older women linked high diet soda consumption to a 23 percent higher risk of stroke and 29 percent higher risk of heart disease.
Prebiotic soda: a better swap, but not a health drink
Brands like Poppi and OLIPOP promise a gut-friendly alternative to Coke and Sprite—and dietitians say they’re a meaningful step up to drinking soda. “A regular can of Coke has 39 grams of sugar—that’s almost 10 teaspoons,” says Emily Spurlock, RDN, of the Institute for Digestive Wellbeing. “Prebiotic sodas have five grams of sugar or less and contain beneficial fiber,” meaning fewer of those blood sugar highs and lows that can derail weight loss.
OLIPOP delivers about nine grams of fiber per can (thanks to ingredients like cassava root, chicory root and Jerusalem artichoke), while Poppi contains around two grams, using apple cider vinegar as its main prebiotic. (Learn more about the link between high-fiber foods and drinks and weight loss.)
Just don’t overdo it. “I’d recommend people stick to one can a day,” Spurlock says. Too much fiber at once can trigger cramps, gas and bloating. And if you have IBS, SIBO, GERD, Crohn’s or colitis, talk to your doctor first.
The healthiest sip for weight loss: water
If weight loss is your goal, plain water beats every kind of soda in the long term. In a University of Nottingham study, “women who just drank water lost 17 times more weight” than dieters allowed diet soda, reports nutrition researcher William Li, MD, author of Eat to Beat Your Diet.
Water helps in three big ways: It revs your metabolism (sipping 16 ounces spikes calorie burn 24 percent for a full hour, per German research), curbs appetite (drinking 16 ounces before meals helped middle-aged dieters lose 44 percent more weight in a Virginia Tech study) and supports the gut microbes that regulate blood sugar and fat burning.
Craving that satisfying fizz of soda, but don’t want the health problems it can cause? Unsweetened flavored sparkling water is a great stand-in, Dr. Bajani adds. You can even make it at home with the Drinkmate OmniFizz Sparkling Water and Soda Maker. Up to four cups of unsweetened coffee or tea a day also count toward hydration.
One woman’s water-powered weight-loss transformation
After shattering her ankle during a yoga headstand, Miami reader Scarlett Espinoza spent months on the couch surviving on delivery food, soda and lemonade. “I gained a lot of weight, and I just did not feel good,” she says.
When she joined a 60-day fitness challenge at her local Life Time gym, a trainer told her to drink half an ounce of water for every pound she weighed. She kept a bottle on her nightstand and downed it every morning; at every red light, she took another sip.
“I’d drink water and it felt like coming back to life,” she marveled In 60 days, “I cut my body fat almost in half”—and won the challenge’s $10,000 grand prize.
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