Have you ever been guilty of being that person at a fast food restaurant ordering the combo meal, a bit of ice cream and supersizing your order only to top it off with a diet drink? Yeah, me neither. But I have indulged in a weekly habit of diet soda or two with shame.

Diet soda is not your friend. In fact, it disguises itself as a better-for-you drink compared to sugary soda, tantalizing your senses with taste minus the calories so you don’t feel bad about going through a six-pack within a day.

Studies have shown that drinking diet soda can cause numerous adverse health effects. Here are a few reasons why you might want to ditch your habit.

• Dizziness – In his dosages artificial sweeteners found in diet sodas can cause dizziness, heart palpitations, anxiety and other serious side effects. If you’re a three to four cans of diet soda a day type person you’ll want to limit your intake indefinitely.
• Cancer – The Ramazzine Foundation, a European Cancer Research Center, conducted a study on aspartame (found in most diet products) revealed that aspartame increases the risk of certain cancers.
• Weight gain – Researchers from University of Texas Health Center San Antonio reported in a study that people who drink diet soda are likely to gain, not lose weight.
• Kidney Problems – Drinking more than two diet sodas a day has been found to double the risk of kidney function decline.
• Reproductive Issues – Majority of aluminum cans, are lined with the known endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) which has been banned in Europe, Canada and Japan.

Are you willing to leave your diet soda habit?