The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of sugar-sweetened beverage intake on energy intake during an ad libitum 6-month low-fat high-carbohydrate diet. The study sample included 47 overweight to obese men and women who participated in the randomized controlled CARMEN trial. Participants were assigned to a control diet group (CD), a low-fat high simple carbohydrate (SCHO) or low-fat high complex carbohydrate group (CCHO). The SCHO and CD groups were able to select nondiet sweetened beverages (SBs), including soft drinks and fruit juices, while the CCHO group received diet SB alternatives. Over the 6-month intervention period, total energy intake was significantly reduced only in the CCHO group compared with the CD group. The intake of SBs in all groups was around 5.3% of energy intake at baseline. In the SCHO and CD groups, energy intake and total simple carbohydrate intake from SBs increased significantly compared with the CCHO group. Thus, these results indicate that diet SB consumption was associated with significanlty lower energy intake compared to nondiet SBs.
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