Is Diet Coke bad for you?

Great question and it has a complicated answer. When first asked this question my initial reaction was, “well it’s better than regular Coke!” But I thought I’d look a little more into it.

To make Diet Coke sweeter and taste more like the original, aspartame is added. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener and is the main ingredient in most of your coffee sweeteners. It is derived from sugar but it is manipulated in such a way that it no longer consists of calories which sugar would. Here lies the problem. When something is artificial it is typically unnatural to the body and raises difficulties for the body’s digestive system. Since aspartame is a fairly new product, adequate research has not been developed on its harmfulness but early studies have shown some issues. The unnatural aspect of the sweetener leads scientists to believe that it could be a carcinogen or cancer causing. There has also been cases of an “aspartame disease”. A more developed study found that those who drank Diet Coke with their meals actually ate more!!

If soda just has to be included in your day then I still recommend one of the diet variety but like everything else, drink it in moderation.