It's tempting to try to find investment opportunities based on diet fads. Shorting the pastamakers or going long Hormel as an Atkins-play could've been a strategy. But Atkins is all but over, and unless your timing was good, your strategy could have failed. Another problem isn't just that fads change, but that science is always debunking the studies made last year. Here's a shocker:
It's not surprising to hear that people who drink pop are more likely to gain weight.
But a recent study found that as bad as pop is for the waistline, diet pop may be even worse.
The study by the University of Texas Health Science Center followed 1,550 Americans, aged 25 to 64, for seven to eight years. It found that the more diet soda a person drinks, the greater the chance that he or she will become overweight or obese.
``It didn't matter whether people were drinking diet or regular soft drinks: drinking sodas of any kind seemed to increase the risk of weight gain,'' lead author Sharon Fowler said in a press release. ``In fact, drinking diet soft drinks seemed to be much more closely related to the incidence of becoming overweight or obese.''
This can't be good news for artificial sweetener company Tate & Lyle (LSE: TATE) which has had an an impressive run over the last several years. Considering that artificial sweetener doesn't even taste as good as real sugar, demand could easily drop off if it's not even percieved as healthier.
Comments