What makes soda so addictive?

By Lisa Drayer, CNN

Updated 1005 GMT (1805 HKT) October 28, 2019

When taken at face value, diet soda seems like a health-conscious choice. It saves you the 140-plus calories you'd find in a sugary soft drink while still satisfying your urge for something sweet with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose. But there's more to this chemical cocktail than meets the eye. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20645166,00.html" target="_blank">Health.com: The 25 best diet tricks of all time</a>
Photos: 10 reasons to give up diet soda
10 reasons to give up diet soda – When taken at face value, diet soda seems like a health-conscious choice. It saves you the 140-plus calories you'd find in a sugary soft drink while still satisfying your urge for something sweet with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose. But there's more to this chemical cocktail than meets the eye.

Health.com: The 25 best diet tricks of all time
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<a href="http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20424821,00.html" target="_blank">Artificial sweeteners</a> have more intense flavor than real sugar, so over time products like diet soda dull our senses to naturally sweet foods like fruit, says Brooke Alpert, author of "The Sugar Detox." Even more troubling, these sugar stand-ins have been shown to have the same effect on your body as sugar. "Artificial sweeteners trigger insulin, which sends your body into fat storage mode and leads to weight gain," Alpert says.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.health.com/2013/09/26/5-steps-to-quitting-artificial-sweeteners/" target="_blank">Health.com: 5 steps to quitting artificial sweeteners</a>
Photos: 10 reasons to give up diet soda
It confuses your body – Artificial sweeteners have more intense flavor than real sugar, so over time products like diet soda dull our senses to naturally sweet foods like fruit, says Brooke Alpert, author of "The Sugar Detox." Even more troubling, these sugar stand-ins have been shown to have the same effect on your body as sugar. "Artificial sweeteners trigger insulin, which sends your body into fat storage mode and leads to weight gain," Alpert says.