There are a ton of myths out there about diet soda.
- It supposedly makes you gain weight.
- It’s supposedly bad for your health.
- It’s supposedly something no one should ever drink.
How much of this is actually true? Let’s find out…
Can Diet Soda Make Me Gain Fat?
Nope, it can’t.
The one and only thing that makes you gain fat is consistently consuming too many calories.
Since diet soda contains little to no calories, it’s not capable of causing fat to be gained.
Anything that claims diet soda magically causes fat gain some other way (e.g. insulin spikes, slowing metabolism, etc.) is horseshit.
Regular soda, on the other hand, is a very well-known cause of fat gain. The same is true for any drink that contains calories (fruit juice, sports drinks, alcohol, etc.). But drinks that don’t contain calories can’t cause fat gain.
What About The Studies That Link Diet Soda To Obesity?
These studies show correlation rather than causation.
Meaning, they don’t show that drinking diet soda causes people to have obesity, but rather that people with obesity happen to drink diet soda.
Stupid people look at this correlation and say “this shows that diet soda CAUSES obesity!”
But smart people look at this correlation and say “this shows that people with obesity are likely drinking diet soda in an effort to reduce their calorie intake and lose weight.”
And that’s the true source of this association.
Not to mention, every controlled study I’ve ever seen involving some type of intervention with diet soda only helps to cause weight loss. Not weight gain.
Speaking of which…
Is Diet Soda Good Or Bad For Someone Who Wants To Lose Weight?
Diet soda has been shown to mostly only have positive effects on weight loss.
Reason being, if you replace drinks that contain calories (e.g. regular soda) with drinks that don’t contain calories (e.g. diet soda), you instantly end up consuming fewer calories.
And that’s a good thing for weight loss.
Which is why in every study that creates this scenario, the participants go on to lose weight.
In fact, one study had some participants replace regular soda with diet soda while others replaced regular soda with water. Similar improvements were seen in weight loss and health in both groups.
And from personal experience working with clients, I’ve had plenty of people who drank soda daily replace it with diet soda and go on to lose weight without any other changes being made to their diet.
This won’t apply to everyone, of course. It depends on how much soda you’re drinking and how much of a reduction in calories this substitution causes.
But the point remains the same: diet soda is a positive thing for weight loss. At worst, it’s neutral and won’t have any effect.
Is Diet Soda Bad For My Health?
Unfortunately, we don’t know everything with 100% certainty at this point.
In some areas we know a decent amount, and in others we know very little. And long-term data is lacking overall.
But based on all of the available research as of today, diet soda appears to be safe when consumed in moderation.
Another factor to consider here is the positive effects diet soda can have on weight loss when it replaces regular soda.
Because, if you didn’t know, weight loss comes with tons of positive health benefits across the board when going from overweight or obese to a healthier body fat range.
So if diet soda helps you lose weight, it’s indirectly playing a role in these positive effects on health.
(Note: one exception is phenylketonuria, which is a super rare metabolic disease that affects only 13,500 people in the US. If you have this disease and drink diet soda that contains one particular artificial sweetener (aspartame), it could be dangerous.)
But I Thought Studies Showed It Was Bad For Health?
There are only 3 types of studies I’ve ever seen showing anything negative about diet soda:
- One is correlation studies, like we talked about before, which mainly just show that unhealthy people happen to drink diet soda (likely as an easy “good thing” they can do for themselves) rather than that diet soda is what caused them to be unhealthy.
- Another is studies where calorie intake wasn’t controlled for. Which is kinda important.
- And the other is rodent studies, where they gave mice a shitload of some diet soda ingredient and bad things happened. The good news is that 1) this has never been seen with humans, and 2) the mice were given far more than any human would ever come close to consuming.
Is Diet Soda Bad For My Teeth?
Sugar is a well-known cause of dental problems.
But since diet soda doesn’t contain sugar, that’s avoided. Which is nice.
However, diet soda can still cause dental problems due to its acidity.
Doing all of the usual good things you should be doing for your teeth (brushing and flossing, regular dental visits and cleanings, etc.) would probably minimize or prevent any issues. Drinking through a straw might help, too.
Plus, just not going too crazy with how much diet soda you’re drinking and keeping it in moderation is also beneficial.
Does Diet Soda Cause Dehydration?
Nope, it does not.
Diet soda counts toward your daily fluid intake just like water does.
Can Diet Soda Affect My Gut Health?
The majority of questions people have about gut health and the microbiome are most accurately answered by saying “ummm, we don’t know yet.”
Because ummm, we don’t know yet.
This applies outside of the topic of diet soda as well.
If you want to play it safe, keep your diet soda consumption to moderate levels.
Does Diet Soda Negatively Affect Muscle Growth Or Strength In Any Way?
Nope, it doesn’t.
Do You Recommend Drinking Diet Soda? Do You Drink It Yourself?
The thing I recommend is drinking a sufficient amount of water each day and making water the primary source of your daily fluid intake.
That’s what I personally do.
I don’t drink any soda myself—diet or regular—because it’s just not something I crave.
But if I did, it would probably be diet soda only.
More importantly, if you’re someone who does crave it, and enjoys it, and wants to drink it from time to time, diet soda is the version of soda I recommend.
And if you’re someone who currently drinks regular soda, I’d highly recommend replacing it with something that doesn’t contain calories.
Whether that’s water, diet soda, or a combination of both is totally up to your own preferences.
