Many people think they are making a smart choice by choosing diet soda because they have no calories or sugar. Well, you may be surprised to learn that there are ingredients in diet soda that are, hands-down, worse for your health than sugar, so you are by no means doing yourself a favor.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the worst offenders:
 

• Aspartame: This chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet soda. There are over 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilepsy/seizures.

• Acesulfame-K: Another artificial sweetener, on which testing has been scant and some studies show the additive may cause cancer.

• Splenda: An artificial sweetener that may destroy up to 50 percent of your healthy intestinal bacteria, which are necessary to help maintain your body's overall balance of friendly versus unfriendly micro-organisms, and support your general health.
 

To learn even more information about artificial sweeteners, and why they’re not safe, I encourage you to ready my book Sweet Deception. There’s actually overwhelming evidence that consuming artificial sweeteners will likely wreak havoc on your body.

Ironically, the very reason many people choose to drink diet sodas, to prevent weight gain, is actually a myth. Numerous studies show artificial sweeteners may impair your appetite regulation and lead to weight gain.

For example, it’s been discovered that diet soda increases your risk of metabolic syndrome and, ultimately, heart disease.
 

The average American drinks more than 60 gallons of soft drinks each year, and whether it’s diet or regular, the following ingredients are part of what you’re slurping down:
 

• Phosphoric Acid: This is added to give soda its characteristic “bite,” but it can also interfere with your body's ability to use calcium, leading to osteoporosis or softening of your teeth and bones.

• Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.

• Sodium Benzoate: This common preservative found in many soft drinks has been shown to cause DNA damage. It actually has the ability to switch off vital parts of your DNA, which could eventually lead to diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver and Parkinson's.

• Benzene: Benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, is able to form in beverages that contain vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and the preservatives sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate. Exposure to heat and light can trigger the formation.

While the federal limit for benzene in drinking water is 5 parts per billion (ppb), researchers have found benzene levels as high as 79 ppb in some soft drinks, and of 100 brands tested, most had at least some detectable level of benzene present.
 

It’s because of these harmful ingredients, along with the fact that one can of regular soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar, that soda remains on my list of the five absolute worst foods and drinks you can consume.