Is Diet Coke Bad for You? Learn More about Diet Coke Nutritional Facts and Health Risks
Introduction
The Coca-Cola company produces its Diet Coke product in a variety of flavors and styles. These include the traditional Diet Coke, caffeine-free Diet Coke, Diet Coke plus, Diet Coke with lime, Diet Coke with cherry and Diet Coke with SPLENDA®.
Small print on the website states, “Contribution by Diet Coke is made to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, and will be used to further the efforts of women’s heart health awareness and research.”
The Diet Coke website has a Wellness + Balance section with pages related to hydration tips, heart disease awareness and smart eating tips from the American Dietetic Association. This could imply some health benefit associated with diet coke, but is there? Or, is Diet Coke bad for you?
Artificial Sweeteners
In the “Sweeteners & You” section of the diet coke website, there is supposed to be a fact and fiction rundown about four low-calorie sweeteners. It is actually a disclosure about the high use of Aspartame, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium (Ace-K) and Saccharin in foods today.
Elsewhere, there are conflicting reports regarding the safety of artificial sweeteners. Despite removal of the warning, there is still a concern regarding the carcinogenic affect of saccharin. Additionally, aspartame has been associated with headaches and depression; sucralose (Splenda) contains the presence of chlorine (a carcinogen); and Acesulfame Potassium contains methylene chloride (a carcinogen).
Nutrition
Diet Coke Plus has been enriched with niacin, vitamins B6 and B12, zinc and magnesium. Eight ounces of diet coke plus provides 15 percent of the RDI of these nutrients. A can consists of 12 ounces. Bottles come in 20-ounce, one liter (approximately 34 ounces) and 2-liter (approximately 68 ounces) sizes. Interestingly, no ingredient or nutritional information regarding Diet Coke could be found on the Diet Coke website.
From a (regular) Diet Coke label, the ingredients are: carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, natural flavors, citric acid and caffeine.
The nutritional facts on the label list a serving size of eight fluid ounces, with a single liter bottle containing four servings. Each serving has zero calories, zero fat, 30mg of sodium, zero carbohydrates, and zero protein.
Heart Disease Awareness/Red Dress Campaign
According to the website, Diet Coke has partnered with The Heart Truth in a campaign to raise heart disease awareness. This is an interesting move considering the claims of heart problems caused by the consumption of caffeine.
Hydration and Diet Coke
Providing a hydration calculator on-site, along with a Hydration and You, tool, it would seem the Diet Coke is being promoted as a means of maintaining proper body hydration. A disclaimer on the tool clarifies: “Remember, foods and beverages contain water, so it’s not just plain drinking water that contributes to hydration.”
Though claims have been made that caffeine actually causes dehydration, there is not enough solid research to prove this claim.
Smart Eating Tips from the American Dietetic Association
The smart eating tips focus on butter, margarine, olive oil, dining out, fruits, vegetables and other topics completely unrelated to Diet Coke, cola or soda.
The Research
In order to answer the question as to whether Diet Coke is a health problem or not, further exploration is required, outside of the Diet Coke website.
In answer to a question about carbonation, Dr. Andrew Weil cited research from the 1990s that found a higher incidence of bone fractures in girls and women who consumed cola drinks. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (September 2001) concluded that the consumption of carbonated caffeinated beverages caused excessive urinary excretion of calcium. Dr. Weil further stated that the “unhealthy amounts of sugar, artificial sweeteners and caffeine” should be more of a concern than the carbonation in soda.
Other research indicates that consuming high amounts of sodium can contribute to hypertension (high blood pressure) in some individuals. In a related discovery, research cited by an American Heart Association article, states that, “There is little doubt that caffeine can cause a small increase in blood pressure in some individuals.”
Additional research regarding caffeine was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and stated that, “In particular, caffeine can decrease cerebral blood flow in adults (when present at levels that are probably higher than the doses recommended for therapeutic use in babies)3 and can inhibit adenosine receptors . . .”
A published report in Forensic Science International explored caffeine-related deaths. These deaths were a direct result of caffeine overdose. Others who consume excessive amounts of caffeine continually may experience severe headaches as well as congestive heart failure.
Summary
Reviewing the official Diet Coke website reveals good efforts towards good health education, but not much in the way of proving there is any nutritional or health benefit to consuming diet coke.
In answer to the question, “Is Diet Coke bad for you?” the answer is that while drinking it may not kill you, it certainly should not be considered the best choice for hydration.
The high sodium content in soda, including in Diet Coke, can be related to the development of hypertension. Additionally, because some research has shown that caffeine is related to heart problems and carbonation (combined with caffeine) is related to calcium loss in bones, it can be reasonably stated that Diet Coke can be bad for you.
Further Reading
Tips on How to Stop Drinking Soda
References
Official Diet Coke website. https://www.dietcoke.com/
Confused About Carbonation? Dr. Andrew Weil. Last updated April 4, 2005. https://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA157077
Sodium. Rutgers University. Last modified July 27, 2006. https://health.rutgers.edu/factsheets/sodium.htm
Hypertension. American Heart Association. Martin G. Myers. 2004. https://hyper.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/43/4/724
On the Caffeination of Prematurity. David K. Stevenson, MD. New England Journal of Medicine. November 8, 2007. https://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/19/1967
Fatal Caffeine Overdose: Two Case Reports. Sarah Kerrigan and Tania Lindsey. Oct. 4, 2005 Forensic Science International. https://www.fsijournal.org/article/PIIS0379073805002057/fulltext
Artificial Sweeteners. https://www.medicinenet.com/artificial_sweeteners/article.htm
