Are diet soft drinks really a healthier option?
Recently, several parents have told me that they give their children sugar-free soft drinks because they are concerned about the sugar content of regular drinks and want to choose a healthier option.
Soft drink manufacturers have done a brilliant job of marketing their sugar-free products as a healthy drink choice, however there is a lot they are not telling us…
There is no denying that regular soft drinks contain a lot of sugar and have no nutritional value. Most soft drinks also contain artificial flavours and preservatives.
While diet soft drinks may sound like a healthier alternative for those of us who are trying to cut down on sugar, they are actually even more of a chemical cocktail as they also contain harmful artificial sweeteners.
Here are a few things the soft drink industry probably doesn't want you to know about artificial sweeteners:
⚠️ Artificial sweeteners are hundreds of times sweeter than regular sugar and are highly addictive, so people end up drinking more than they would with regular soft drink
⚠️ Artificial sweeteners are synthetic chemicals that have been linked with a wide range of adverse reactions, including aggressive behaviour and hyperactivity, asthma, headaches and migraines, depression, itchy skin and rashes, and sleep disturbance. There are also animal studies showing an association between artificial sweeteners and cancer
⚠️ Repeated exposure to artificial sweeteners during childhood can create a persistent preference for sweet foods, leading to increased intake of sugar throughout adulthood
⚠️ Regular consumption of artificial sweeteners is associated with slower metabolism, increased hunger and appetite, weight gain (especially in the belly area) and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes
⚠️ Artificial sweeteners damage the gut microbiome which results in unhealthy levels of bacteria in the gut
If anyone in your family has asthma, it is especially important for them to avoid diet soft drinks as both artificial sweeteners and preservatives are linked with asthma and breathing difficulties. The same goes for behavioural problems and hyperactivity.
My son has allergic asthma (asthma triggered by exposure to substances he is allergic to). We’ve always known he was sensitive to preservatives in food and drinks but asthma wasn’t usually one of his reactions. He was out recently and had a small bottle of a well-known soft drink (regular, not zero-sugar). Within half an hour of drinking it, he started coughing and he continued to cough on and off for the rest of the day. We had a look at the ingredients and discovered that this drink had both sugar and artificial sweetener - as well as preservatives and artificial flavours. Needless to say, he'll be avoiding that one in the future!
I am not a fan of soft drink in general but I’m a big believer in “everything in moderation” so my kids do have soft drink every now and then, mainly at social events.
We tend to choose Schweppes lemonade as, although it contains sugar, it has no artificial sweeteners, flavours, colours or preservatives. Interestingly, if you buy the zero-sugar Schweppes lemonade it has three artificial sweeteners and a preservative…🤔
Healthier alternatives to both regular and sugar-free soft drinks include:
✅ Sparkling water (flavour with fruit or add a small amount of fruit juice)
✅ Naturally-sweetened soft drinks, e.g. Nexba or CAPI
✅ Kombucha, e.g. Nexba or Remedy
As you can probably tell, I am passionate about improving children's health. Reducing or eliminating soft drinks (especially zero-sugar drinks) is a relatively easy step towards getting your child's health and behaviour on the right track!
References
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