If you are struggling with weight gain after 60, your diet soda could be to blame. That’s the conclusion of a new study by the University of Texas. Since diet soda is marketed as a healthier alternative to regular soda, we are often lulled into a false sense of security. In reality, diet soda may be one of the reasons that, as a generation, we are getting fatter.

Let’s not forget that food marketing is big business. In fact, with billions of dollars on the line, companies will do and say almost anything to get you to buy their products. Most countries have strict laws about what information should be displayed on food packaging. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop marketers from playing games with their products’ names.

Take diet soda, for example. Diet sodas are typically marketed as “sugar-free” and “no calorie” beverages. By using “diet” in the name of the product, soda makers are implying that their product will help you to lose weight. But, is this really true?

New Study Sheds Light on Weight Gain After 60

Well, according to a new study by the University of Texas Health Science Center, there is reason to believe that diet sodas may be making us fatter, not fitter.

In the study, scientists followed 749 people over a period of 9 years. Along the way, they asked the participants how much diet soda they drank.

They found that people who did not drink diet soda gained an average of 0.8 inches on their waistlines. During the same period, people who drank diet soda on a daily basis gained an average of 3 inches.

Of course, as the research team itself admitted, this does not prove that the diet soda caused people to gain weight. However, it does give us one more reason to doubt the implied health claims of diet soda producers.

As a Generation, We’re Running Out of Time to Embrace Healthy Aging

While this study focused on people over 65, it has implications for all baby boomers. Our generation will be the first in history to have the opportunity to take advantage of the coming revolutions in medicine, biotech and genetics. But, to do so, we need to make it through the next few decades in relatively good shape. Establishing healthy eating habits now is one of the best ways to do this.

Have you changed your eating habits as you have gotten a little older? What have you done to help ensure that your body stays in great shape in the coming decades? Please join the conversation.

Watch my latest interview on the topic of losing weight after 60.