Surprise Reasons You're Eating More

You've switched from regular soda to diet.

Yes, you're saving hundreds of calories. But nutritionists have recently become suspicious of artificial sweeteners. One theory is that by delivering intense sweetness without any of the calories that would accompany that taste in nature, these chemicals disturb the complicated feedback loops between the brain, stomach, nerves and hormones. Your body and brain are primed for calories and energy, and...nothing happens. "This can cause you to crave more sweet foods," say nutritionists (and diet-soda skeptics) Stephanie Clarke and Willow Jarosh, and that craving can be too strong to resist. Artificial sweeteners may also mess with your sense of satiety. While studies with humans are inconclusive, Purdue University researchers found that rodents who ate food sweetened with saccharine consumed more calories and gained more weight than did rats fed sugar-sweetened food. Treat diet soda like a treat, not a staple.

Next: 8 no-brainer tricks to save around 100 calories in a day