Everyone has done it. Whether it be a special occasion or simply your beverage of choice, we have all went into the fridge and grabbed our favorite soda to drink with dinner or maybe to quench our thirst after a long day in the sun. It is no secret that soda isn’t the always the best beverage of 
choice, with a countless amount of sugar that could lead to weight gain and bad health, but some people can’t do with the bubbly beverage in hand everyday.
The solution to this seems simple. Why drink regular soda everyday with the countless amount of calories and sugar that could lead to weight gain when you can drink diet soda? Diet soda contains zero calories, no sugar, and seems like the perfect healthy alternative, right? Seems too good to be true.
While diet soda doesn’t contain any calories or natural sugars, it does contain artificial sweeteners that give the alternative beverage the delicious and sweet taste of regular soda. So, so what? If it doesn’t have any calories it has to be healthy, right?
The answer to this question is often debated by researchers, who have not been able to find a definite answer to the question bothering everyone: is diet soda a healthy alternative for regular soda?
Artificial sweeteners vary and are seen in a lot sweet foods and drinks. Well known examples of 
artificial sweeteners are Splenda, Equal, Sweet and Low, etc. While low in calories, artificial sweeteners have been proven to be loaded with chemicals and sugar substitutes that could be equally as detramental to your health.
A possible side effect from artificial sweetener over load is aspartame poisoning. Common signs of aspartame poisoning are sudden decreases in your ability to see and hear, stomach aches, skin problems, and chest pain. Not only does aspartame poisoning serve as a problem in itself, but researchers suggest it can also trigger other diseases. While this claim can not be scientifically proven, some researchers believe ALS, MS, Lupus, post-polio syndrome and Lyme Disease can all be triggered by aspartame. Some studies also suggest that diet sodas can lead to even more weight gain than regular sodas.
So which is better: Diet soda or regular?
While researchers have put a lot of time and effort into answering this question, it is still unknown. Artificial sweeteners have not been around long enough to really know the long lasting effects. While there are many experiments working on this issue, it could be quiet some time before we really know the answer. For now, try sticking to the golden rule: moderation. If you want to treat yourself with your favorite bubbling beverage every once in a while, go for it. Just remember that too much of anything isn’t good for you and sometimes we may be best off grabbing a cold water instead.
I’m glad I clicked on this article while scrolling. For years my mom warned me about aspartame poisoning, but I never actually researched all the negative effects of it. She mainly brought it up when I chewed certain types of gum though. I never knew diet soda contained it as well. Here’s an article that discusses different types of sweeteners and which ones are good, and which ones are detrimental to one’s help.
This is a constant debate in my house. My parents like diet soda, and my mom is trying to give up her daily diet soda. She said she heard that diet soda causes formaldehyde to form in the body. I tried to research that and found conflicting information. What I have learned is that the body does not know how to digest and process the artificial sweeteners so it can cause health problems. Some diets such as South Beach recommend no artificial sweeteners because they believe they are too sweet and cause you to crave sweets. It would be interesting to see if a diet soda drinker gave it up, would it lessen their sugar cravings?
This was an interesting read! My sister and I have this debate with our oldest sister often because she prefers to drink diet. Personally, I think the taste of artificial sweetener is just way to sweet and regular sugar always seemed like the best bet, especially after reading this.
I definitely agree with Brooke and some of the points you make. Moderation does matter and it’s almost impossible to fully abstain from drinking soda, but I’d hope that one day there would be a better alternative so that people can be health conscious and drink soda because that would be a perfect world. I really think it’s scary that we’re allowed to ingest chemicals like that, and nobody really thinks about it until they see something like this.
I personally believe that regular sodas would be healthier than Diet sodas. Artificial sweeteners are not natural, have not been around long enough to be proven safe, and can even encourage people to drink more soda because they think they are able to have more from the lack of calories. While there are definitely poisonous natural substances, it is extremely dangerous to mess around with chemicals when they have not been highly studied. Overall, it seems as though regular sodas seem like a better idea for the few occasions when you want a soda.