Is diet coke really that bad in pregnancy?

[mama2moo]

Its the only thing I want to drink at the moment. Ice cold, fizzy diet coke.

I remember being the same when I was pg with dd.

Are there any medical reasons for it to be unsafe?

A lot of people seem to be telling me its very unsafe??

bounty just give you free promotional stuff. I don't think there is anything 'expert' about it, it's just about advertising and promotion.

Couldn't live without it, drank it throughout pregnancy with DD and same this time round. But then I also have the occasional glass of wine/cup of black coffee, sometimes highlight my hair while pregnant, and... horror of horrors... I ate smoked salmon the other day. I reckon we Westerners can be a little precious about these things - and I certainly don't think it's 'unsafe'.

But if it's worrying you then do ask your GP/MW

I had a can of coke and a mars bar every day when I was pregnant, didn't do me or my DS any harm! Don't drink it now or eat mars bars - weird, neither does he!

I drank gallons of Pepsi Max with previous 3 pregs and think I became addicted to it.
There was something in the after-taste that I couldn't get from Diet Coke.
Coke tasted like fizzy water compared to Pepsi.
I slowly reduced my intake and am off it now.

Anyway, I read somewhere the sweeteners in it can stunt babys' growth or some such story but seeing as last 3 were 9, 10 and 8 pounds I think we were ok.

This preg I have not craved it at all.

Theres always something bad in things that taste nice! I try and ignore that cos I love Diet Coke!!

I try to not drink anything with aspartame. Though I love Dr Pepper.

Diet Coke is very bad for you when pregnant. Contains aspartame and other nasty chemicals. I wouldn't recommend having Coke, Pepsi or Dr Pepper either. Better drink some carbonated water with fresh lemon juice or veggie juice.

While we all have our different opinions, the bottom line is that you WILL be fine. Just enjoy in moderation.

I lived on diet coke with my first pregnancy, 2nd pregnancy had the odd few, this pregnancy in the early days it was the only thing that eased off the sickness. I'm 16 weeks now and have weaned myself off onto fizzy flavoured water. I try not to drink it too often and that is mainly due to the fact that I had nothing but problems with my teeth afterwards!

I don't think it's the caffine that's an issue, as someone has pointed out you'd need to be drinking about 2l of coke a day to reach your recommended caffine limit and that's a whole lot of 'pop'.

It's the aspartame that's the issue. Studies have linked this sugar subsitute to brain problems and thyriod conditions and some countries ( I think the US but don't quote me) recommends avoiding it when pregnant. All sugar subsitutes are a bit dodgey in my view and, if I could, I'd go full sugar as it is a natural product.

I think it links to your own risk benefit rule while pregnant. I have gestational diabetes and do allow myself the occasional Diet coke as a treat as I get pig sick of drinking water. Pretty much all diet drinks have aspartame in them, along with low calorie versions of yogurts, squashes, biscuits etc. It's not impossible to avoid but it is in a lot of stuff these days. For me, the full sugar version is a more immediate danger to my baby and although I'm trying to be angelic I am only human so the odd diet coke gets drunk.

I drank DC with DD and DS1. I gave it up about a year ago, before becoming pregnant with DS2, who is due end of December. My first two children are perfectly healthy and I can see no ill effects.

I have up Diet Coke for my own health reasons. I have acid reflux and thought the acidity of Diet Coke was probably not doing me any good.

So, DS3 will be the only child of mine to have not had any DC at all during gestation.

I love DC and I miss it so.

I love it.

Used to drink about 2 500ml bottles per day. Have now banned bottles, and 2 cans per day is my max.

TBH I am not so worried - I've cut down on other caffeine (decaf coffee is DISGUSTING) and am extremely healthy in every other way - if we listened to every health warning on every TV show or from every thread, we wouldn't eat/drink at all.

Nah! I've been drinking it! Just have to try not to go over a safe caffeine allowance for the day, so if you fancy more than 1 or 2 check the caffeine content and look up how much caffeine you are supposed to be having and do some calculations. You can get caffeine free diet coke or will that not cut it?

I like diet coke too, but recntly it has been playing havoc with my heartburn so have been avoiding it ....x

I am in the everything in moderation camp! The only thing that made me feel better last week saw a huge Starbucks and I loved every but so prob not good but as long as I dont make a habit of it I wont beat myself up.

There is no medical reason not to drink it in moderation.

As you have seen from this forum there are some people who are concerned about aspartame but there is no conclusive scientific evidence that this chemical does any harm.

The fact that google throughs up a lot of articles saying otherwise does not mean this is true. There is an awful lot of nonsense on the internet and it isn't a substitute for proper scientific research.

I worried myself sick because of stupid articles like these after I had drank a lot of diet coke in my early pregnancy. My midwife basically told me not to be so silly, she didn't advise drinking gallons of the stuff but a few cans a day isn't going to do you or your baby any harm.

Blimey, I've never even heard of aspartame. I had no idea that drinks like coke etc are supposed to be bad when pg. I have been drinking more dr.pepper and coke than normal - it really helps when I feel sick. I don't have loads, def much less than a small bottle a day. However I have been drinking rather more lucozade.....is this bad too????

oh dear, if we pregnant women are to be beaten up for drinking a few cans of Diet Coke, what hope is there? seriously, if you analysed many, even most, every day foods that are not straight out of the vegetable patch in your back garden you'd find all sorts of nasties that in theory could be described as "very very bad".
every day in the world, millions and millions of women who've had diets that are way less than organic perfect give birth to wonderful, fully healthy babies. save the worrying for seriously toxic stuff.

i think we all should read labels of drinks/foods before consuming any products in pregnancy, and if ingredients do not sound natural, then why would anyone even contemplate taking a chance at having such a substance? perhaps, the answer is that we are too selfish..? in a great scheme of things, these are tiny sacrifices to make. no one would die without coke, wine, lucozade or whatever else in question. these are personal choices, however, i stick to water and herbal tea...

I wouldn't worry about aspartame in the quantities you will be drinking it. All additives (including sweetners) have been through lots of testing to prove they are save - I doubt coca cola would use them if they weren't imagine the money they would lose in law suits.

Aspartame can cause brain damage in people with PKU. If you had PKU you would know about it - its one of the things they test for with the heel prick test.

Caffiene free diet coke is fine in moderation and you would be very hard pushed to drink litres of the stuff anyway when the indegestion kicks in. Full sugar stuff may be worse for you as is 'empty calories' and may lead to more weight gain.

Drink your diet coke and don't worry millions of people have drunk it throughout their pregnanciesif it caused a problem we would know about it by now!

Aspartame is nutra sweet. Expect you have heard of that?

I agree with the moderation approach. As it happens I gave up Diet Coke and haven't had a single one since I did. This is not because I think one Diet Coke will harm me (or baby). It is because I am a true addict. I love the stuff. And I think if I drink one I will not stop at moderation. So, it's best I just keep it out of my life all together.

Did you know... you can clean your car batter cables with a can of coke? It's pretty acidic stuff. Probably not good for you. But, then, stomach acid is also pretty acidic stuff.

I wouldn't worry about it, really.

Wasn't there a recent study linking diet drinks/artificial sweeteners with prematurity? I remember reading it when I was in 1st tri (now 30 weeks) and chose to switch to fat coke! I think it said even 1 serving a day increased risk - I'll try to find a link. I have suffered with HG and coke has been one of the few things I can actually reliably keep down, so for me it's been a life saver! I drink far too much of it, but only 10 weeks left before I can get back to normality - sort of!

uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE66M4AF20100723

I haven't read the actual study, so can't comment on methods etc, but it was 60,000 women so not small.

I'm craving full sugar coke in this pregnancy. It was the only thing I could keep down when suffering from hypermesis. I had about 1 can a day. I'm 22 weeks now and sickness has improved so more like an occasional treat but I really crave the stuff. I figured real sugar was better than artifical and as I wasn't eating much in the early days I wasn't worried about weight gain

I don't drink coffee and stick to caffene free tea so I'm not worried about exceeding the recommended limits there.
now i'm hooked on the real stuff and reading this thread has annoyed me because I don't keep any in the house now!

See i knew i shouldn't have read this, i'm now asking DP to go to the shops and buy me a can of ice cold can of coca cola. I have the ice and lemon waiting. oooh I need one now

Honestly, sometimes I think it's great to be informed, but that too much information can be a bad thing.

In my three first pregnancies, I gave nothing much thought. I drank tea like it was going out of fashion with DS1, in the days they didn't suggest you avoid caffiene, and all was well.

Now, having had three losses, 5 babies, I am paranoid. I have been limiting myself to a maximum of one can of diet coke a day and try not to have that, but I am sat here with one now and thinking maybe I shouldn't have had it.