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Will a Daily Diet Coke Lead You to a Stroke?

February 3rd, 2012 Leave a comment Go to comments
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Yesterday we talked about the potentially addictive properties of sugar and the extreme public policy measures suggested by some scientists to reduce America’s sugar consumption.

One solution already exists – artificial sweeteners. To many a dieter, aspartame and friends are the perfect solution to sweet cravings – enjoy your favorite soft drink, but with zero added calories.

We have outlined in the past why this naive approach, championed by the beverage industry, is actually faulty.

And today, another data point for your consideration. Researchers from Miami Miller School of Medicine and Columbia University analyzed data of over 2,500 people and found that daily consumption of diet drinks increases the chances of stroke, heart attack, and vascular disease by 43% compared to drinking regular soft drinks, or drinking diet soft drinks less than once a day.

The findings were published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

The finding don’t exonerate regular soft drinks, they simply show that even diet drinks are problematic from a health perspective.

What’s a Coke/Pepsi fan to do? Well, if Bill Clinton could give up completely on Big Macs, perhaps soft drink lovers can at the very least drastically reduce their sugar water / fake sugar water consumption?

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  • Jonathan

    My dad drinks diet coke like it is water :(

  • Jonathan

    My dad drinks diet coke like it is water :(

    • Wolf3166

      So did my mom. She lost most of her vision because of diet coke and its fake sugars. She became diabetic had to go on dialysis and 8 years later we lost her. Not all due to diet pop, but a large part. Did you know that artificial sweetners trick your brain into thinking you need insulin and due to that it causes your more damage than regular sugar. Thats from my doctor. I wont touch diet pop or let my kids.

    • Wolf3166

      So did my mom. She lost most of her vision because of diet coke and its fake sugars. She became diabetic had to go on dialysis and 8 years later we lost her. Not all due to diet pop, but a large part. Did you know that artificial sweetners trick your brain into thinking you need insulin and due to that it causes your more damage than regular sugar. Thats from my doctor. I wont touch diet pop or let my kids.

  • Matt B

    Great study and I definitely do believe that diet sodas and the over consumption of artificial sweeteners can lead to health risks.  However, I also do think this merits further study before any policy conclusions are made. The study conducted controls for several factors such as age, race, physical activity, and etc but one factor I did not see controlled for was stress on the job.  Stress is also associated with strokes and if not controlled for in this study I think it may bias the results.  If daily stress is controlled for and these diet sodas still have a statistically significant impact on the rates of strokes, then I’m sold and diet sodas are definitely off my list.  

  • Anonymous

    Anecdote: I quit my daily diet coke (only one a day at lunch) a few years ago. This was the only dietary change I made a the time. I lost 5 pounds within two weeks. Mostly retained water I am sure. I also felt better in the afternoon.

  • Gerome

    While drinking diet sodas certainly is not good for you, I sure wish I had the $35 to spend to see the full study from which you have determined that there is a 43% increase in stroke.

    Here’s what the title of the study says: “Diet Soft Drink Consumption is Associated with an Increased Risk of Vascular Events in the Northern Manhattan Study”. ASSOCIATED — not causal. It also compares results in the abstract with daily drinkers versus non-drinkers. How much do the daily drinkers consume? 12 oz or 48?

    I don’t think the researchers would make the same broad claim that this post has made.

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  • Jim

    You must surely know that this study is far from definitive and has been discussed many times before for its weaknesses. See http://exm.nr/fwVrNM for example. This is at best correlation, not causation and no mechanism is suggested.

  • Critical Thinker

    You might want to read this physician’s take on the report.  He cites a few flaws in the study that are interesting to consider. http://www.weightymatters.ca/2012/02/why-that-diet-sodastroke-paper-is.html

  • http://www.rainwatergrill.com/restaurant/ restaurant for anniversary

    This sound hilarious and i would love to spread these words. but i would like to ask one thing that is there any other alternative of this or the fan have to boycott the soft drink?

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