Is my unborn baby in danger if I drink 2 cans of diet coke a day?

Answer 1

Diet Coke itself is not bad.

Caffeine is FINE; it's a myth that it harms the baby. You can drink up to two cups of coffee a day, or the equivalent in other caffeinated beverages, which would be about 4 cans of Diet Coke. If you're really worried, try the caffeine-free stuff (but that's not necessary).

The one real worry is that the artificial sweetener in Diet Coke isn't processed by the body ... it goes straight to the liver and is converted into a potentially harmful substance that is similar to formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is not good for anyone, especially not a baby. But there haven't been any studies showing WHAT AMOUNT is produced, so nobody knows if it's really enough to harm a baby.

If you're worried about that (keep in mind there's no evidence that it's enough to hurt the baby), there's a Diet Coke made with Splenda, which is made from real sugar and wouldn't harm anything. I like it better than regular Diet Coke.

The only problem with soda is if you only drink soda. If you're drinking other beverages, like milk, juice, tea, water ... 2 cans of Coke won't hurt anything. If that's all you drink in a whole day you might need to change that part of your diet, but for a normal person the Diet Coke won't hurt a thing.

Answer 2

Caffeine is OK in moderation. Remember that your Coke isn't the only potential source of caffeine in your diet. (Coffee, chocolate, etc.) Up to 2 cups of coffee per day is considered OK, so see how the Coke compares to that in caffeine content.

Another concern is that caffeinated drinks can cause you to end up dehydrated. Be sure to drink a glass of water for every caffeine drink you have because dehydration can cause contractions.

Caffeine isn't the only potential concern, though.

Doesn't Diet Coke contain aspartame? Too much aspartame during pregnancy isn't a good idea. (It takes A LOT to be bad though.....just something to be aware of when you look at your diet as a whole.)

Personally, I chose to eliminate soft drinks from my diet while PG because it didn't model the eating habits I wanted to teach my kids after they were born. Now we only have soft drinks as an occasional treat. I used to drink about 3 Cokes per day, so at first it was kind of hard to cut out the caffeine! But I did it and I'm glad I made that choice. My kids all would choose water over almost any drink now. :-)

Answer 3

Diet sodas usually contain aspartame...that is not good for the baby. However...even if you have been drinking 2 cans a day since the beginning of your pregnancy, it probably didn't cause any harm. There are a lot of people out there that will tell you that caffiene is bad for a fetus, and that is partially true. Someone who drinks only soda and does not drink any water or juices are more likely to have problems. If you want to have soda, switch to regular soda, and just keep it limited. I recently read an article that listed the things that aren't worth worrying about. It included things like dying your hair, drinking coffee, etc. etc. It said that up to 3 cups of coffee a day would be acceptable....3 cups of coffee is equal to 6 cans of soda. Just try to keep it limited and drink plenty of water too. I drank some soda with all of my kids...and they all turned out just fine.
Good luck and Congratulations!

Answer 4

I don't drink anything diet because of the additive aspartame. It is known to cause some birth defects. Plus you need to keep hydrated for you and the baby. Pop will just dehydrate you and that could have some effects. If you do not like the taste of water, try filling up a glass of fruit juice a 1/4 of the way and then fill remaining with water.

Answer 5

It is a percaution but it is not healthy I would try to drink more water so you don't get dehydrated. I worked full time and was not drinking enough water and develooped a UTI and thought I was having a miscarriage from then on I stayed well hydrated! Plusthe sacrene is Diet Coke is bad if not worse then drinking regular cokes!!!

Answer 6

no. I have had two girls and a currently pragnant with a boy, and I am severly addicted to drinking coca cola. My doctor told me that if I cut down from 6 a day to 3 a day then I would be fine. The caffeen is what is not great. I would think if my doctor told me three regular cokes were ok then two diet cokes would be fine. congrats and good luck

oh also, I did drink coke with both of my girls and they turned out great.

Answer 7

No. All the pregnancy things say you can have 2 cans of pop a day. I drank at least that with my last two and they were fine. You do want to limit the caffeen cause you could have hyper kids like mine. More caffeen than that isn't good for you or the baby but it's not going to cause any defects or really put your baby in danger.

Answer 8

Why risk it? The stuff in coke even if it is diet and caffeine free; is still not good for your or the baby. Why not try drinking some sugar free juices or herbal tea instead.

Answer 9

I don't think there is any big danger, however You should be cutting down on caffeine and I think that real sugar is more healthy than artificial sweeteners. Just talk to your doctor. They will tell you what is safe and not safe to eat when pregnant.

Answer 10

While you should try to avoid caffeine totally while pregnancy, you may have up to 2 caffeinated beverages a day to remain at a safe level.