Is Diet Soda Bad for You?

I am doing this post in response to a conversation we had today with a patient who asked, "Is diet soda bad for me?"  In addition, I love diet sodas so it is a win win situation. This question has been debated for a long time, answers such as "It causes cancer" and "It can decrease fertility". Well as for the first one.. what doesn't cause cancer these days? and for the second one the reasons the "experts" say this is because SOME diet sodas contain caffeine which can, in extremely high, consistent doses, constrict blood vessels and and decrease blood flow to the uterus.  This does not mean that you will not be fertile. There also is this thing called diet, decaffeinated sodas if you are really concerned about that.

There is not credible study that shows that diet soda alone causes cancer. Now if you are washing down a Big Mac and large order of fries with a diet soda... it may lead to health consequences such as high cholesterol, diabetes, etc... however, I don't think that it is the diet soda causing any of these problems.  Another point that is misconstrued  is that "experts" claim that it increases your cravings for other sweet foods therefore causing people to gain weight.  Well if you do not eat these other "sweet foods" then you do not gain the weight! I can tell you that I drink diet soda everyday and I do not go around shoveling down everything sweet I can find. Its about self control; if you are choosing to drink diet soda, I would hope that you are trying to be conscious about other things you eat.  The diet soda ALONE is not going to cause a person to pack on the pounds. Its the actions that go along with the diet soda.  Saying that diet soda and regular soda are no different is an ignorant and misleading statement.  How we know this? LOOK at a soda can.

Here is what I see Diet Coke: No calories, 10 gms less of sodium, 0% carbs, NO sugars, NO high fructose corn syrup or sucrose.
If anyone can honestly read these labels and tell me there is no difference in Coke and Diet Coke, I would love to meet them.
In addition many diet soda companies also make diet soda fortified with vitamins and minerals... I think that has more nutrients than water.

 Now don't take that the wrong way.. of course our bodies need what but if you drink a coke plus instead of water every once in awhile you don't need to feel guilty about it.

Drinking diet soda doesn't make you fat... eating unhealthy foods such as ones high in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium and have an inactive lifestyle does. Nutrition 101. 

So if you have the choice and want to make a healthier one.. choose diet over regular sodas, if you want to make an even healthier choice drink skim milk or a glass of water.

And that was me on my soap box. Thank you for reading... Have a great day =)