# Caffeine Free Diet Coke.... Safe or not safe??



## loving_life

So, i was excited to come across caffeine free diet coke (i've never noticed it before lol). I always drink Diet Coke or Dr Pepper but both of those are full of caffeine so i don't drink those now and when i found caffeine free diet coke, i got excited but i've had people telling me it's not ok to drink during pregnancy. 
Does anyone know how safe it is?


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## sjwebb

They worry about the amounts of aspartame in the diet coke but some dr's say its okay, others not. I'm sure in moderation its fine but its best to check with your dr.


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## Sunshine12

It has aspartame in it which some would say you should avoid. I personally believe its safe and drink it regularly (albeit less than I used to!). I have discussed with my midwife and doctor and neither have said its a problem. x


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## Robynx

I heard you should try to drink caffeine free coke instead of normal coke so should be ok :)


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## KahluaCupcake

Research has pretty much disproven the myth that artificial sweeteners are dangerous to an unborn baby. 

https://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/artificialsweetner.htm


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## jenmcn1

I think it's fine in moderation. When it comes to aspartame...there is research to support both sides of the coin. That being said...no study is in concrete...at the moment they say to drink it in moderation.


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## Makeupdubai

My doctor advised me not to drink any fizzy drinks whilst pregnant as the chemicals are not good for the baby. x


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## hellywelly

OK I was/am a massive diet coke drinker. When I became pregnant I would drink around 5 cans of caffeine free diet coke a day - me and Harry are perfectly healthy.


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## butterflyk1ss

My midwife told me the odd can of Diet Coke was fine, and caffiene free Diet Coke is even better. I have it every now and then


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## Kaede351

I drank quite alot of caffiene free diet coke up until a few weeks ago... I switched to Pepsi max because I was craving it haha. but Harrison seems to be doing fine, and is definitely strong! So I don't think it's as bad as they make it out.

XxX


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## erikab922

It's probably the best choice of all of those kinds of drinks, I don't have it 'cause I think aspartame tastes vile! So I am stuck with boring water all the time, can't even have squash 'cause most of it has the fake sugar in it.


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## whispernikki

I love diet coke and still drink it now, I don't drink it everyday but if u like to drink it on a daily bases i would recommend no more than one can a day or caffeine free as many as u like


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## beccad

I wouldn't drink any diet drinks, caffeine or not, because of the sweeteners they contain, not because they might harm the baby but just because they taste nasty (to me).


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## Tigerlilyb

Aspartame is a bit controversial, some people believe it's fine but others don't. Personally I believe there has to be some truth to the neurotoxin rumour since I always feel awful after I have anything with it in. Plus I agree with Erika, it tastes horrible!

I wouldn't worry too much about caffeine, I have a friend who drank buckets of black coffee during pregnancy and her little one is a star. I just tell myself everything in moderation.


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## Dorian

Aspertame has been related to blindness in people. I personally know a woman who drank about a 12 pack a DAY of Diet coke, and started going blind.

If you want to drink it, drink in moderation of course. 

To me, that stuff just tastes nasty. I'm glad that the soft drink companies are making soda with real sugar again. As high fructose corn syrup is bad for you too. 

But I don't drink soda often while pg, just occasionally.


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## Sunshine12

Dorian said:


> *Aspertame has been related to blindness in people. I personally know a woman who drank about a 12 pack a DAY of Diet coke, and started going blind.*
> 
> If you want to drink it, drink in moderation of course.
> 
> To me, that stuff just tastes nasty. I'm glad that the soft drink companies are making soda with real sugar again. As high fructose corn syrup is bad for you too.
> 
> But I don't drink soda often while pg, just occasionally.

Personally dont believe this. I used to drink 2 litres a day pretty much every day and did so for about 10 years. I got my eyes tested a few months ago and its perfect!


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## MommaCC

It's fine in small quantities I wouldn't go drinking a full litre bottle tho in
One day. Just a couple of glasses sorts me out lol xxxx


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## Dorian

Obviously it's not going to cause blindness in 100% of the people who drink it. I know this woman, and it happened to her. That's all I'm saying. 

Here's a report. You can goggle it too.

https://www.rense.com/general65/aspar.htm


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## mommylam

I have drank caffeine free dt coke every day this pregnancy.....and throughout my last 3....you'll be fine! I think sometimes they make too much of things. It amazes me that our parents generation ever even managed to have children with all the things we are supposed to stay away from today!!!!


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## Tigerlilyb

mommylam said:


> I have drank caffeine free dt coke every day this pregnancy.....and throughout my last 3....you'll be fine! I think sometimes they make too much of things. It amazes me that our parents generation ever even managed to have children with all the things we are supposed to stay away from today!!!!

While I agree with you here for 95% of things we're told to avoid, in my head there is a big red *!* over stuff like aspartame. It's man made and was being developed as a drug (I forget for what) before people found out it was sweet and calorie free and started putting it in drinks. It wasn't even widely tested or deemed safe before they did this. 

I'm not saying I'm some sort of E number nazi, but I'm a little more cautious about buying stuff with a lot of additives, especially while pregnant.


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## LilianA

I have about 2 a day :) and with my boys I had alot more than that and they are both healthy :)


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## Torontogal

Tigerlilyb said:


> While I agree with you here for 95% of things we're told to avoid, in my head there is a big red *!* over stuff like aspartame. It's man made and was being developed as a drug (I forget for what) before people found out it was sweet and calorie free and started putting it in drinks. It wasn't even widely tested or deemed safe before they did this.
> 
> I'm not saying I'm some sort of E number nazi, but I'm a little more cautious about buying stuff with a lot of additives, especially while pregnant.

I agree - not that I'm a health nut or anything but additives like aspartame give me the heebies - not a pop drinker myself but if I were I would actually consider a small amount of regular coke a day instead. We are allowed a certain amount per day of caffeine and a little sugar per day within the context of a healthy diet can't really hurt (unless GD is an issue, of course). But that's just my $0.02.


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## citymouse

I have two Splenda packets a day with my decaf coffee (which is sucralose), so I try to go easy on other artificial sweeteners. But lately I've been craving Diet Sunkist and indulging a bit.

I was much stricter first tri and didn't drink even decaf coffee every day--though part of that was that I went off the taste of it.

There are sodas made with stevia and I drink those from time to time, not constantly.


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## Anna2808

Personally, I don't worry too much about caffeine or aspartame. I keep under recommended limits of caffeine but don't cut it out completely and don't take any real notice of aspartame. Not sure if that makes me ignorant or 'real'. I don't touch drugs, alcohol or cigarettes, I eat pasteurised Brie with the rind removed, indulge in the odd hot dog and love ham sandwiches. I even ate a runny fried egg that was put on my full English breakfast at a restaurant the other day. I'm aware of the recommendations but they seem to vary from place to place and time to time so I say everything in moderation- why not live a little?! Saying that I am desperate for some pate and rare steak but have managed to resist temptation so far... I won't beat myself up about it if I do decide to have a little at some point. I like to think I'm making informed and balanced choices.


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## Jennifurball

Eeek, I hope it is ok, I used to have the full bottle to myself! I love it!


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## ls318

I have stopped drinking all coke, coffee and teas while pregnant...I have switched to just water, vitamin water, at times chocolate milk and juice. Figure I can just go without it. However, I have a few friends who still drink it but just one a day if they want it...others went to diet caffeine free.


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## staralfur

From my (short) stint in neuroscience, we were taught that - yes, aspartame can essentially be damaging. But the amount that you would have to consume for that to actually be an issue would be absolutely huge. 

That being said, I'm not totally sure of the effects on an unborn baby. My doctor told me to stay away from cigarettes, alcohol, and more than 200-300mg of caffeine per day. I'd like to think that if aspartame was a major concern, it would have been mentioned as well.


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## karla1

when i was suffering really bad hypermisis (or however you spell it) the only thing i could keep down was coke didnt matter if it was diet, caffine free or regular and i was drinking probably 3-4 glasses a day and midwife and doctor did not see a problem with it infact they didnt even mention it when i told them (dentist wasnt happy about it lol) since 18 weeks i have only drank about 1 glass a week think i have already drank enough for this year x


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## ohiomom

Or you could just drink Diet Coke - I promise the caffeine will not hurt the baby.


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## citymouse

Here's a chart with caffeine content for various drinks: https://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm

The guidelines for caffeine consumption in pregnant women allow for lower-caffeine content drinks. The problems come if you're drinking multiple coffee-shop coffees a day. That's a ton of caffeine--much more than you'd get by brewing your own coffee at home! 

And sodas rank pretty low, even the highly caffeinated ones (the figures in this chart are for 12-oz. cans, though, not 20-oz bottles).


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## NuKe

i live off the stuff!


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## Noelle610

This thread is interesting to me... I wonder if being told to stay away from fizzy drinks/artifical sugars is a regional thing. I've seen both a doctor and midwife here in the US and none of the literature I've been given has mentioned avoiding these things. I think it's common sense that you wouldn't want to eat too much artificial anything - pregnant or not. That said, I do drink Diet Coke in moderation. Maybe once every two weeks or so.


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## bubbles123

Research I saw said that artificial sweeteners do cross the placenta and they take a long time to be eradicated from foetal tissue. However, the researchers couldn't find any evidence that it did any harm at all to the baby. Aspartame is the most controversial of all the artificial sweeteners, with the most negatives suggested so for that reason I try to avoid it but I do have other sweeteners in my squash, mainly sucrolose. I did manage to give them up completely for the first 12 weeks but am back on it now. I'm not a big fan of fizzy drinks and rarely have them but will be having a diet coke on Christmas day and on New Years Eve. It's my treat and I reckon it's better than wine! I would say diet coke/ caffeine free diet coke is fine in moderation X


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## loving_life

Wow! So many replies, thank you :)

I am not really up on my nutrients etc and i've not heard of Aspartame before lol. Honestly, i thought Diet Coke just had the same as coke but with sweeteners instead of sugar. I really should educate myself on things like that.
I'm one of those people that can eat/drink what i like & never put on weight :) so i've never looked into artificial things, if i like it, i eat/drink it lol.

I switched from Diet Coke to Caffeine free because i am still drinking 3-4 cups of tea a day as i love my tea (I'm British, what can i say haha). I don't drink very much of it but maybe i should start trying to drink some water too.

Thank you everyone for your replies, i really will look into nutrients etc. :)


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## Arisa

Makeupdubai said:


> My doctor advised me not to drink any fizzy drinks whilst pregnant as the chemicals are not good for the baby. x

What?? thats crazy, thank god my doctor is not like that. I drink normal sugar laden caffeinated coke lol and guess what? baby is fine

Its amazing how many women are scared to eat or drink anything while they are pregnant. Unless its alcohol or a strong herbal blend you have never drunk before I would say its okay in moderation :happydance:


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## Tigerlilyb

loving_life said:


> Wow! So many replies, thank you :)
> 
> I am not really up on my nutrients etc and i've not heard of Aspartame before lol. Honestly, i thought Diet Coke just had the same as coke but with sweeteners instead of sugar. I really should educate myself on things like that.
> I'm one of those people that can eat/drink what i like & never put on weight :) so i've never looked into artificial things, if i like it, i eat/drink it lol.
> 
> I switched from Diet Coke to Caffeine free because i am still drinking 3-4 cups of tea a day as i love my tea (I'm British, what can i say haha). I don't drink very much of it but maybe i should start trying to drink some water too.
> 
> Thank you everyone for your replies, i really will look into nutrients etc. :)

Oops sorry, started wittering on about the stuff and didn't explain what it was :D Aspartame is a sweetener usually found in diet drinks etc, it won't be in normal coke. Hope that helps a little.


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## loving_life

Tigerlilyb said:


> loving_life said:
> 
> 
> Wow! So many replies, thank you :)
> 
> I am not really up on my nutrients etc and i've not heard of Aspartame before lol. Honestly, i thought Diet Coke just had the same as coke but with sweeteners instead of sugar. I really should educate myself on things like that.
> I'm one of those people that can eat/drink what i like & never put on weight :) so i've never looked into artificial things, if i like it, i eat/drink it lol.
> 
> I switched from Diet Coke to Caffeine free because i am still drinking 3-4 cups of tea a day as i love my tea (I'm British, what can i say haha). I don't drink very much of it but maybe i should start trying to drink some water too.
> 
> Thank you everyone for your replies, i really will look into nutrients etc. :)
> 
> Oops sorry, started wittering on about the stuff and didn't explain what it was :D Aspartame is a sweetener usually found in diet drinks etc, it won't be in normal coke. Hope that helps a little.Click to expand...

Yes, thank you. I only drink diet coke because i hate the taste of normal coke. My real love is Dr Pepper, but that's apparently packed full of caffeine! I still have 1 small bottle a week, if that but i used to drink it daily lol.


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