rats

First of all I have to say Gong Hay Fat Choy, that is, Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! It is now the Year of the Rat, which doesn't sound very glorious but rest assured it is a very good time in the Chinese Zodiac calendar.

Speaking of rats, there was a recent study conducted that shows that drinking diet sodas with artificial sweeteners may not help you lose weight; in fact, according to the study you may actually gain weight by drinking one or more diet sodas a day. Diet soda proponents will of course argue that it's still better than drinking a full-on sugar-laden soda instead, but watch this video and give it some thought -- the possible theory for the weight gain in rats (and I guess it somehow correlates to humans) who drank diet sodas is that somehow your mind thinks you're drinking something sweet but you don't actually get the sugar so your body adjusts in a way that leads to weight gain. Well to be fair all this study really means is that if you're a rat (and most of us reading this probably aren't), then the artificial sweetener may mess with your body and mind in ways you might not have expected. The one tidbit of truth that you can take away from all this? You should drink less soda, whether diet or not, and drink more water.