Good Advice
Do you have a dirty little dietary secret? And is it called Diet Coke?
For lots of healthy types, the frequently stated fact that Diet Coke might be “empty calories” actually goes down just fine compared to office cupcakes, which they’re not regularly scarfing.
And reaching for a diet soda fits nicely into the “allowable-exceptions” category of a healthy New York lifestyle. You know, along with a glass of Sancerre, the occasional dinner at Eataly, and watching the Real Housewives.
But should you allow Diet Coke a free pass? (Ditto: Housewives.)
Studies abound that caution against drinking diet soda
While sipping diet soda seems harmless, especially in the context of a generally healthy life, a surprising number of substantial studies show the opposite, that drinking Diet Coke and Aspartame can greatly interfere with your health.
As Dr. Helen Hazuda, professor of medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, found last year, “[Diet soda] may be free of calories, but not of consequences.” And she wasn’t talking about the caffeine.
Interpreting the data of two studies, Dr. Hazuda pointed out that it caused a blood sugar spike in mice, and suggested that diet sodas may inhibit the signal that tells you when you’re full.
Here are 6 more reasons to give up diet soda:
1. It messes with your skin. Diet Coke lowers your pH levels, which can cause acne, and zap you of radiance. We need a high level of alkalinity for our bodies to be healthy and expressed in our glowing complexion, explains Dr. Jeanette Graf, author of Stop Aging, Start Living: The Revolutionary 2-Week pH Diet. As Dr. Graf told us recently, “If there’s one thing you should never consume, it’s soda. Soda is an extreme acid-forming substance which will lower your pH level dramatically.”
2. It alters your mood. The mood-food connection is ever-rising, and Aspartame in Diet Coke can really do a doozey on those with anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Aspartame is also on an EPA list of potentially dangerous chemicals contributing to neurotoxicity, right under Arsenic. So that’s kind of saying it could alter your brain, too.
3. Weight gain and belly fat. Ironically, we actually gain weight from Diet Coke. In two studies conducted by the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, those “who said they consumed two or more diet sodas a day, experienced waist circumference increases that were 500 percent greater than those of non-users.”
4. It causes diabetes and heart disease. When waist circumference (belly fat) increases, this contributes to diabetes and heart disease, which a 2010 study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine confirmed.
5. It makes your kidneys sluggish. Diet soda may interfere with the kidneys, found the Harvard Nurse’s Study, which reported a 30% drop in kidney function with just two servings of diet soda each day.
6. Aspartame’s been linked to cancer. A lot. Aspartame is “generally recognized as safe” by the FDA while substantial data has shown its link to cancer. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) cautions against Aspartame because it’s poorly tested, and contains three well-recognized neurotoxins. Aspartame was found to increase cancer risk if exposure begins in the womb, reported a study at the Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center. And various studies have linked lymphoma and tumors in rats. And beware the BPA of cans and caramel coloring, reports Grist.
Kind of takes the fizz out of it, right?
Do the best experiment out there—the one on your own body. We dare you to lower your soda intake for a week and see if you notice any changes in skin, weight, or mood. Report back in the Comments! —Jennifer Kass and Melisse Gelula
More Reading
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Coconut water: Should you keep drinking it
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I can attest to this. Recently my local grocery store did a buy 2 get 2 free so I got 4 cases of diet soda. Within a week I felt different and didn’t know why. Into my second week I noticed my gut was significantly larger… ick…
Diet Mountain Dewer: Awesome you were able to acknowledge the connection and save yourself from more damage! I think a sparkling water with a splash of juice is a great way to transition from the habit and the bubbles in a less harmful way. Next stop: lots of fresh lemon water for alkalinity–the best cleansing, weight loss tool.
I took the challenge in 2009, after drinking 3lt of diet coke a day my colleague told me i should stop drinking it. I did for one month drink anything else but soda’s. After this month i tried a can of diet coke again, and was seriously on the verge of throwing up. Neeldess to say i never touched that stuff again.
I don’t drink a ton of diet soda, but more than I should. I have since quit on the suggestion of a friend and feel so much better! I was a big coke zero and diet coke fan. Now I think it’s gross!
i drink it occasionally – any at all is more than i should be having! i don’t know if i actually notice any difference when i’m drinking it or not but i’m sure there are subtle things and i know it’s terrible long term. it’s odd how so many of us “healthy eaters” have this vice.
Wow finally a advice backs up what I have been stating for years. Who would have thought that you would actually consider drinking this anyway.
Great story and well done well+good.
Let me know if I can post this on our BLOG soon as it is great.
could not agree more. see my views from last year: http://iamyoustudio.tumblr.com/post/6589376611/dietcoke
I gave up diet soda 2 years ago. I took a sip of my cousin’s recently and it tasted like chemicals. It also felt like it was burning the inside of my mouth. How is that enjoyable?
Such a great article. I drank Diet Coke years ago in college and haven’t touched it since! So scary and gross. Love this article; thank you for sharing, ladies! Great work, as always!
xo
Diet soda is also dangerous because it pulls the calcium out of your bloodstream to bond with it’s phosphates. Basically, it causes brittleness in your bones which can increase likelihood of breaks as well as other calcium deficiency issues. I preach all the time about how terrible soda is, but I probably drink at least 1 12oz can per day of regular/diet soda.
It has not been proven that pH affects acne or that diet coke contributes to acne. I am not saing that this is not true but there is no convincing scientific evidence.
I believe in everything IN MODERATION. What sort of dosages were people consuming in this article? I’ve been an insulin-dependent diabetic since age 11 and consume a moderate amount of Splenda, aspartame, etc. My skin glows, I have tons of energy, I stay positive and have NONE of the issues listed above. It’s a suitable sugar-alternative for me; IN MODERATION.
Dear Jennifer and Melisse, please think again, just for a few seconds and with a bit of imagination, about this bit “Two servings or more a day increases waistline by 500%”. How would that look? If no bell rings, please check the source. ;o)
The number is huge and hard to believe, I know. From the San Antonio Longitudinal Study: “Diet soft drink users, as a group, experienced 70 percent greater increases in waist circumference compared with non-users. Frequent users, who said they consumed two or more diet sodas a day, experienced waist circumference increases that were 500 percent greater than those of non-users.” http://bit.ly/R7Qd3I
Your comment here is very different from what the article states…..
Waistline GROWTH increases 500%, not the waistline itself.
Ah, yes indeed. Thank you for being awesome copy editors. Clarification noted, correction made.
Totally agree with you, Well+Good! In fact the authors of the article did state that “frequent diet soda users” had a 500% increase in their waistline compared to the non users, over the 10 years or so that the data was recorded. But how can we say that diet soda is the cause of that weight gain? It can be anything else! It might just be that people in that group ate more calories overall from other food and/or exercised less, which makes sense as people who eat too much would try to “compensate” for their over-eating by drinking diet soda, which is not sufficient for preventing them from gaining weight anyway. There is no way that diet soda could make you gain weight since it contains no calories! Jennifer and Melisse, please be critical about what you read before drawing such foolish conclusions. I’m not saying that diet soda is healthy, but it is definitely not a weight-gainer!
So true, there is nothing natural in it. Drinking diet coke is drinking a cocktail of chemicals.
I can’t drink that crap. Not the regular, not the diet. Totally messes up my whole system. I take that as a signal NOT to do it! :)
Personally, regular soda will always taste better than diet ones. You don’t get the certain “kick” regular ones pack with them.
Ed
I used to be disgustingly addicted to Coke Zero. I basically had it with every meal. One day I just decided to quit it cold turkey and I never looked back! I feel like it is hard to just have addictive drinks / foods in moderation. For me, it’s all or nothing or it’ll never happen!
@superfit4life, while the weight gain might not be from calories, there’s no way to guarantee that the chemicals/coloring/etc. in diet sodas don’t mess with your metabolism enough to cause weight gain.
I’m not sure if people just misread it the first time or if the article has been updated about the 500% increase. But just to clarify for anyone confused. It says “increases that were 500% greater that non users.” That means that 2 people who would have been comparable at the beginning of the study (with all of the adjustments mentioned in the study) were measured at the end of the study. The non diet soda drinker could have gained just one inch while the diet soda drinker gained 5 inches. That would be a 500% greater increase.
I drink Diet Coke all day every day and almost nothing else. I have no mood or skin issues. The only time I have ever gained weight is from being pregnant and I never had belly fat problems before having babies. I tried to quit once for a month, but only made it 8 days while craving it constantly. It is my one and only vice and I have basically decided that since I have to die from something then death by Diet Coke it is!
Aspartame waa originally a laundry product.
At 90degrees it turns into a gas used by undertakers to perserve bodies. It was approved by the single vote of the head of the government program after three attempts failed. He then went to work for the company that produces it. It was suspected to cause the disease that struck so many of our soldiers in the
Iraq war.
I am 59 y/o. I have sever obesity, insulin resistance, urinary incontinence and heart disease. I drank 3-4 12 ounce servings of Diet Coke and Caffeine-Free Diet Coke since I was about 15 y/o. You all figure it out. The more I drank of it the more I wanted chocolate candy, cakes and cookies. I believe this article. I gave it up and within weeks my incontinence improved. I now eat whole foods only. I have given up artificial sweeteners and feel much better. If you haven’t give it up now before you are my age. I constantly wish I could go back knowing what I know now and be healthier.
Since reading this on July 31st I have been completely diet coke free. This is a HUGE feat as I have been a rampant diet coke drinker for years. Thank you for putting it so simply!
So I get that you shouldn’t drink diet soda, but where are the suggestions on how to replace it? I switched two weeks ago to drinking the sugar free white tea from Quik Trip, but I haven’t noticed any difference in weight. Does that contain aspartame? How can you find out these things. Thanks
I have tried to tell people that diet soda is harmful because of the aspartame, but in general, they don’t listen. I have a neighbor who is 90 and drinks diet Dr. Pepper (she has probably been drinking it for years); she has a long list of serious health problems. I have tried telling her that diet soda is harmful, but she won’t listen.
I am grateful that you are telling the truth by having written your article; there are other websites that say there is no harm in drinking a couple of cans of diet soda every day!
I needed to hear this re: diet coke. I am goig to tray and stop. As for the weight gain, I dont like drinking my diet sodas by themselves so i eat chips, crackers, whatever I can find to go with my diet coke! It makes me feel bloated, I feel edgy, crabby and bloated…..I am going to try and drink tea!
I drink a TON of diet soda. And i know its bad i just can’t seem to get unhooked. I am not overweight but i could loose a few pounds and look much better. I guess i try to sub in some OJ. Anyway, the Diet Dr.Pepper has to go :/
This one is a heart breaker, but I MUST write the for you to read. I had never imagined how connected Diet Coke was to cancer.
I met a woman last year, in the hospital, after she broke her leg. Ordinary discussion between us made me aware that she was going through chemotherapy and when I asked her where the cancer was, she said ‘Everywhere.’ Turned out later it was in her lungs (never smoked) in her panacreas, lymphoma, kidneys and liver. They were aggressively treating her with chemotherapy and radiation because she was 47 years old.
She had broken her leg when she slipped on her way to the fridge after one of these aggressive chemotherapy treatments.
While her bones were healing she could not do the chemotherapy and the tumors increased in size.
The only thing that she can think of that might be related was: Diet Coke.
She drank it from morning (first drink after brushing her teeth) and she did not eat breakfast. Therefore, by noon she had had 3-4 cans of Diet Coke on an empty stomach. She had more at lunch…ate extra because she was hungry…and then all afternoon, and with dinner.
She reported that she had between 8-10 cans of Diet Coke each day.
Weekends, even more as she had them all day and all night while others drank water and coffee.
She died in June 2012; 7 months after I met her. She had been diagnosed about 6 months before I met her…so 13 months between diagnosis and death.
Yes, must have been the diet coke??
You people are coo-coo to believe this article.
I hate when people post articles without any evidence to back their claims.
Note to readers- if you check the american cancer institute or american academy of nutrition and dietetics you can find evidenced based information on sweetners/soda.
Having said that, moderation to everything is the key.
I never drink more then maybe a can a day of diet coke, is this still a real bad thing ??
Funny that I stumbled across this. When I initially tried a healthier lifestyle/diet I switched to Diet sodas. I noticed two things within the first week & I didn’t even drink that much. 1) I seemed to become hungrier, esp for sweet, when I drank diet drinks. This didn’t help what I was trying to do. And 2) I began to get migraines frequently. My doc suggested to eliminate aaspartame & whaddya know, the migraines & major cravings significantly reduced. This time around, if I splurge, its on real soda and sweets…
I have been a diet soda drinker for 33 years and at the age of 55 I can say I look far better than my contemporaries. The only thing I have noticed is that my energy levels do drop slightly with over consumption of diet soda. One saving grace may be that I add lemon juice to my sodas as it is reputed to alkalize it. I know, an acid that alkalizes? True dat!
It drives me crazy when someone says. Everything in moderation. What is moderation. Once a day. Once a week. A month.? We can not see what is happening inside our bodies. We all have cancer cells. We have no idea when tumors are developing. I can’t control everything that happens around me. What I breath in etc. But I can control what I use on my body and what goes in my mouth. Considering that 1 in 3 people are diagnosed with cancer, and 1 in 3 with diabetes. I don’t think there is a lot of moderation happening. Do you?
Linda Murphy
Registered Holistic Nutritionist