March 7, 2006
Meal Planning, Food and Diet, Other
Question from Farmington, Arkansas, USA:
I have been told by many people that Diet Coke is bad for you, that it has sugar in it, that it has rat poison in it, all kinds of things. Well, that’s all I’ve been drinking my whole life, because my mother has type 1. Diet Coke is what my daughter drinks, too. I was just wondering if you know anything about this? Please let me know. I have a fitness and nutrition degree, but I have never seen any effects of this.
Answer:
Diet sodas are certainly fine for people with diabetes to drink. There is a lot of unsubstantiated information floating around the Internet that aspartame or other artificial sweeteners can cause cancer, brain tumors, etc. There have been no clinical human trials to support these claims. Diet sodas are certainly better to consume than regular sodas because of the lack of carbohydrates.
JMS
