August 2, 2003
Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from Northville, Michigan, USA:
I have type 2 diabetes, treated with Glucophage [metformin]. Is it okay to drink diet soda pop? Is there a limit on the quantity?
Answer:
I would prefer that you limit your intake to one serving of diet soda pop per meal.
I don’t feel all that comfortable with artificial sweeteners, and prefer to limit the total daily intake to one serving per meal (and snack). I encourage my patients to also drink water or at least to vary the artificial sweeteners so that they limit the total of each one.
JS
Additional comments from Lois Schmidt Finney, diabetes dietitian:
I do think that plain water is the best drink of all, but if folks really like diet soft drinks and there is no other medical condition that would contraindicate the use of diet sodas, I do not think we need to limit to 2 drinks. Keep in mind that I do not really want to promote the use of diet sodas, especially since as with all sodas, they contain phosphates, which can damage the teeth.
LSF
