Determined to break the (Diet Coke) caffeine habit

How about some scare tactics?

7 Gross Side Effects Of Diet Soda

Wait 'til you hear what it’s really doing to you

By Mandy Oaklander

This August marks the 30th birthday of Diet Coke, and to celebrate we’re going to douse you with a bit of caramel-colored truth-telling: The beverage you probably feel pretty good about drinking—No calories! No sugar!—is anything but good for you.

Unfortunately, what seems like a healthier habit—hey, it’s not like you’re drinking a can of empty calories, right?—could actually be making you fat. In fact, a University of Minnesota study of almost 10,000 adults found that even just one diet soda a day was linked to a 34% higher risk of metabolic syndrome, a group of symptoms including belly fat and high cholesterol that put you at risk for heart disease.

But people are still sipping the stuff, and in record numbers. Kids consume diet soda at more than double the rate of the last decade, according to research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Among adults, consumption has grown almost 25%.

Need the motivation to kick your soda habit for good? Put down the can, and check out the 7 Side Effects of Drinking Diet Soda.

Kidney Problems

Here’s something you didn’t know about your diet soda: It might be bad for your kidneys. In an 11-year-long Harvard Medical School study of more than 3,000 women, researchers found that diet cola is associated with a two-fold increased risk for kidney decline. Kidney function started declining when women drank more than two sodas a day. Even more interesting: Since kidney decline was not associated with sugar-sweetened sodas, researchers suspect that the diet sweeteners are responsible.

Messed-Up Metabolism

According to a 2008 University of Minnesota study of almost 10,000 adults, even just one diet soda a day is linked to a 34% higher risk of metabolic syndrome, the group of symptoms including belly fat and high cholesterol that puts you at risk for heart disease. Whether that link is attributed to an ingredient in diet soda or the drinkers’ eating habits is unclear. But is that one can really worth it?

Obesity

You read that right: Diet soda doesn’t help you lose weight after all. A University of Texas Health Science Center study found that the more diet sodas a person drank, the greater their risk of becoming overweight. Downing just two or more cans a day increased waistlines by 500%. Why? Artificial sweeteners can disrupt the body’s natural ability to regulate calorie intake based on the sweetness of foods, suggested an animal study from Purdue University. That means people who consume diet foods might be more likely to overeat, because your body is being tricked into thinking it’s eating sugar, and you crave more.

A Terrible Hangover

Your first bad decision was ordering that Vodka Diet—and you may make the next one sooner than you thought. Cocktails made with diet soda get you drunker, faster, according to a study out of the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia. That’s because sugar-free mixers allow liquor to enter your bloodstream much quicker than those with sugar, leaving you with a bigger buzz.

Cell Damage

Diet sodas contain something many regular sodas don’t: mold inhibitors. They go by the names sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate, and they’re in nearly all diet sodas. But many regular sodas, such as Coke and Pepsi, don’t contain this preservative.

That’s bad news for diet drinkers. "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it - they knock it out altogether,” Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology at the University of Sheffield in the U.K., told a British newspaper in 1999. The preservative has also been linked to hives, asthma, and other allergic conditions, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Since then, some companies have phased out sodium benzoate. Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi have replaced it with another preservative, potassium benzoate. Both sodium and potassium benzoate were classified by the Food Commission in the UK as mild irritants to the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes.

Rotting Teeth

With a pH of 3.2, diet soda is very acidic. (As a point of reference, the pH of battery acid is 1. Water is 7.) The acid is what readily dissolves enamel, and just because a soda is diet doesn’t make it acid-light. Adults who drink three or more sodas a day have worse dental health, says a University of Michigan analysis of dental checkup data. Soda drinkers had far greater decay, more missing teeth, and more fillings.

Reproductive Issues

Sometimes, the vessel for your beverage is just as harmful. Diet or not, soft drink cans are coated with the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA), which has been linked to everything from heart disease to obesity to reproductive problems. That’s a lot of risk taking for one can of pop.

I realized that what I craved about my Diet Cokes was the carbonization. (thankfully I didn't have any caffeine withdrawal issues). So, I started drinking La Croix type sparkling waters....0 calories...very low sodium. I also 'treat' myself to a diet drink that doesn't taste like a diet Coke. I don't know if you've noticed that there is a 'harsh' taste with the Diet Cokes...but weirdly, I will crave that every now and then. Between the sparkling water (and you can get it flavored and no sweetener) and my Diet Barq's (little caffeine) I've been able to kick the Diet coke habit. Oh, and when I'm home, I try to drink more water (I like ice...so being home it's easier to do).

I know I'm still 'treating' myself with the fake sugar drink...but it's just one every now and then so I do feel better! Probably could get myself off of that too, but I'm ok with it right now!

Good luck!!!

OH...and other board members, please don't tell me that my La Croix is a problem!! I love that stuff!!!

granddi, you are not alone in your pursuit to kick the habit. I have a bad diet coke habit myself so I appreciate any tips noted here. I find I really dig the carbonation-I like the "bite", so I need to try some more of the bubbly waters, I don't like club soda at all. Will experiment with teas too as an alternate. I do drink water, but sometimes you need some flavor and for me some bubbles. Good luck!

I made the switch from diet soda to Polar and LaCroix, but I also like the Kroger store brand of lemon/lime carbonated water.

What you might try is cutting back gradually by watering down the diet coke with carbonated water over a period of a week, a little more water to coke ratio every day. Stopping cold turkey can be hard.

Isn't this a nasty addiction? I've been off/on diet coke for years. I find that when I'm ""off"" that I crave sweets less and sleep better - extremely sensitive to caffeine. I was going to try to water it down w/club soda at some point. I usually have one 16 oz bottle a day - lots less than what I used to drink.

Good luck everyone!

I have quit before and most often cut down to one a day, but eventually I get sick and just want that carbonation again. So I need to once again wean myself off it. I've never gotten the headache though - and I drink the regular kind.

I miss the fizz so I used the waters out there with carbonation to kick my DC habit.