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Possible Duplicate:
Is diet soda less healthful than regular soda?

I've always assumed that diet drinks are indeed healthier than their counterparts (as that is what they're advertised for, they have no calories, no/little sugar, no fat, and very low sodium).

However, every time I get a diet drink, there is always someone to say "Ew, diet, its not even healthier" or something akin to that. Then someone always (half-jokingly) says "it causes cancer." But when I press them on why it is less healthy, they are never able to form a coherent argument beyond "It has artificial stuff in it."

Is there any evidence that drinking diet soda, is less or more healthy than drinking regular non diet soda?

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Zeldarulah
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  • (I think this is sufficiently distinct from the “duplicate”; in particular, the answers there don’t answer this question. And the notability of this question makes it quite a bit more relevant.) – Konrad Rudolph Nov 18 '12 at 10:23
  • Is this one notable, and distinct from the others? We have questions on diet soda connection with tooth decay, multiple sclerosis, etc. – Rory Alsop Nov 18 '12 at 12:56
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    Even is this question covers some new ground, having a link to the old question is still helpful for anyone interested in the topic. – Christian Nov 18 '12 at 16:37
  • @Christian, editing in the duplicate link when the question is not closed as a duplicate is rather confusing, if you want to link the related question a comment is much better. – Mad Scientist Nov 18 '12 at 16:49
  • Is this question asking something that hasn't been asked already? - http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/369/does-the-artificial-sweetener-aspartame-cause-cancer – Tom77 Nov 18 '12 at 18:32
  • I just noticed that the question that most closely duplicates this one was itself closed as a duplicate. But comparing tap water to diet drinks isn't the same as comparing diet drinks to sugary drinks so we should allow at least one question to answer this specific comparison. The general question (as opposed to one asking about specific types of harm) should get priority. – matt_black Nov 18 '12 at 19:18
  • a) [obesity is a disease](http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/8020); b) regular sodas are most often sweetened with HFCS, which can lead to [higher weight gain than regular sugar](http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/1263/is-sugar-in-fruit-juice-less-likely-to-cause-weight-gain-than-refined-sugar); and even with regular sugar excess of soda is excess of calories. – vartec Nov 19 '12 at 10:47
  • "that is what they're advertised for" -- Do you believe every marketing claim you hear? – Flimzy Nov 25 '12 at 04:01
  • the whole , aspartame causes cancer is a myth, check this out http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/aspartame –  Nov 25 '12 at 03:14
  • Obviously not? Otherwise I wouldn't be here asking for more information, would I? – Zeldarulah Aug 09 '13 at 14:51

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