Although diet drinks have a lower calorie content and may not contain sugar this doesn’t mean they’re good for us! In fact they contain some very scary ingredients that can have extremely dangerous effects on our health. Diet drinks are labeled as such because they don’t contain sugar. Instead most manufactures use an artificial sweetener (most often Aspartame) to make the drinks taste better.

Aspartame is the key ingredient in most artificial sweeteners. It is made of 3 main products; aspartic acid, phenylalanine and wood alcohol (ethanol). Both aspartic acid and phenylalanine are naturally occurring substances that the body deal with and can utilise effectively and efficiently (The warning that a drink or food substance contains phenylalanine is to notify those with phenylketonuria.) The concern with artificially flavoured drinks is the ethanol component of aspartame. Ethanol is a neuro (nervous system) and hepato (liver) toxin causing short and long-term damage to cells of the nervous system and the liver. In all cases this should be avoided by children and it’s better for adults especially those dealing with weight issues, to avoid it, as aspartame can be a contributing factor to insulin resistance.

Aspartame is present in diet drinks, sugar-free chewing gums, and is usually provided as a table condiment as a sugar-free sweetener. If you’re unsure check the label! It may be listed as simply as ‘sweetener’. Or better yet avoid items labeled ‘sugar-free’ or ‘diet’.