 Hello everyone. I'm Dr. Ergen. I'm an endocrinologist and a diabetologist. Today I'm answering the question, can you have diet soda with diabetes? Let's get started. Okay guys, so diet soda is something that a lot of people ask about and I will explain to you a few things and hopefully uncover some myths here. Now, there's no really clear kind of answer. If you ask me, hey, you know, I'm ready, you tell me stop the soda, I'll stop the soda. I'll be like, yeah, go ahead and stop the soda. This video is more like people who have been struggling with the soda, but if you're drinking soda like a canaday or something, a diet soda, it's okay. You know, I don't see any problem with it and I'll explain to you why soda is a problem, even if it is diet soda. So overall, if your sugars are running high because of a regular soda, definitely I would highly recommend to switch into diet soda, but that doesn't mean that this is a magic bullet and it will resolve all the problems. And here's why. The studies show that actually people who drink diet soda tend to have more diabetes and it's an association, not causation. So we don't think that diet soda causes diabetes, but we know that the people who drink diet soda or anything in that area, they tend to just eat unhealthy stuff as well. So let's say they'll have a diet soda with french fries, they'll have a diet soda with McDonald's burger or something like that. And you know, they think that they are saving calories by drinking diet soda, but they go ahead and eat something that's bad for them or they are overcompensating. They say, oh, I'm drinking diet. I can have a cookie or something. You know, then there's no point of doing that. So another problem with the diet sodas is that they have the sweet taste with encourages your brain to crave for sweets. So if you stop doing something after a few months, your body will stop craving for that food. So as a result, especially the sweetness, so your taste buds will change. But if you continue to remind your body, it's the same thing, just like an alcohol addiction or a smoking. If you continue to remind your body about that, then it's gonna be difficult to break that addiction. So even if you do diet soda, again, that sweet taste that you're used to will be reinforced. And you're going to crave more and more sweets. So even if you're switching to diet soda in the short term, it may help. But in the long term, you may compensate by eating more sweets as a result that may not be the best thing for you. Now what other harms associated with the diet soda? Well, it can actually in higher concentrations can increase your sodium consumption because there's sodium in there, which as you know, sodium can increase your blood pressure, can cause bone problems in the long term, etc. Now, when it comes to phosphorous content in that soda, that's another problem for your teeth and for your bones as well, because too much phosphorous will bind calcium and you're not going to be able to build the strong bones and teeth. Also, there are some other acids in that drinks. The acid definitely will degenerate the enamel on your teeth and too much acid is also detrimental for your bones as well. The bottom line is soda is not that horrible for you. If you're having one or two of them a day, if it's a diet, as long as you know, you're not over consuming, but actually not consuming anything and just going for water or in the worst case scenario, maybe some carbonated water that's not necessarily flavored or sweetened with non-caloric sweeteners. If you want to transition that way to the water, it will be your best bet. Last but not least is the cancer question. Does that cause cancer? The aspartame and some other artificial sweeteners that are used in the sodas tend to, people tend to think that that can cause cancer. Well, the studies have been repeatedly refused that hypothesis and there's really no evidence that these things necessarily cause cancer in rats in some of the artificial sweeteners did in a very, very high doses. But again, you can make anything toxic if you give high enough dose. So remember that. I mean, you can get water intoxication if drinking from too much water. So as a result, you know, guys, the occasional soda is not going to be a big deal. It's better to eliminate the soda totally and sweet beverages from your diet totally. But if you cannot, just try to cut it down to half a can or a can a day and they'll be the best thing for you. All right, guys, please leave a comment, like and share. We'll see you in the next video.