When taken at face value, diet soda seems like a health-conscious choice because it contains artificial sweeteners which satisfy your urge for sugar without adding any calories. But there’s more to these chemical cocktails than meets the eye.

1) Devoid of nutritional value

Soft drinks and diet soda are devoid of any nutritional value, and don’t contain essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals.

2) Enhances invisible fat

Artificial sweeteners in diet soda and sugar in sugar sodas trigger insulin secretion which leads to increase in the level of triglyceride in blood. It also leads to deposition of fat in organs such as the liver. This further leads to insulin resistance and diabetes.

3) Colouring chemicals-Cancer

Colouring chemicals which are found in soda and soft drinks (2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole) are carcinogenic in nature and lead to cancer.

4) Accelerate ageing

Studies shows that phosphate and phosphoric acid found in colas and soft drinks acidify the blood and affect the action of glutathione, which is an antioxidant enzyme. In addition, these drinks lack any vitamins or minerals. By consuming these drinks, people cut their intake of water and milk and deprive themselves of essential nutrients which keep the skin healthy and glowing. Thus, the skin becomes dull and more prone to wrinkles and aging.

5) Effects on kidney

Soft drinks remove Calcium from the body, causing an excess amount of Calcium to be deposited in the kidney, resulting in nephrolithiasis (kidney stones).

6) Effects bone

Phosphoric acid present in all carbonated beverages causes removal of calcium from the body and leads to osteoporosis.

7) Effects of Caffeine

In most carbonated beverages, caffeine is added to make it more addictive. Caffeine in carbonated drinks is more readily absorbed than in any other drink (like coffee, chocolate etc.). Caffeine disturbs sleep by stimulating the nervous system. It also makes premenstrual syndrome worse, causes dehydration and induces the stomach to produce acids, aggravating hyperacidity. Since caffeine disturbs sleep, the body is more likely to produce C - reactive protein, which plays an important role in heart disease.

8) Messed up Hormones

It's not just the soda that's causing all the problems. Nearly all aluminum soda cans are lined with an epoxy resin called bisphenol A (BPA), used to keep the acids in soda from reacting with the metal. BPA is known to interfere with hormones, and has been linked to everything from infertility to obesity and diabetes and even some forms of reproductive cancers.

9) Unknown Side Effects of GMOs

Take a look at the ingredients list for any soda and chances are that most of those ingredients are derived from corn. Independent scientists have found that, in animals, genetically modified crops, or GMOs (Genetically modified organisms), are linked to digestive tract damage, accelerated aging, and even infertility.