Smoking cigarettes is one of the worst things you can do for your health, fueling a trend of comparing anything that could potentially be unhealthy to smoking. Diet Coke is the latest product to get the “new smoking” label, with people on social media calling it a “millennial cigarette.”
“It is time for my Friday afternoon millennial cigarette break: A large Diet Coke,” announced Kelly Sites in one TikTok post. “It’s my weekly little special treat.”
Some people even mimic smoking while drinking Diet Coke from a straw to really hammer the effect home. Also dubbed a “fridge cigarette,” the idea of sipping a Diet Coke as a form of smoke break seems to have staying power.
A growing body of research suggests that regularly drinking soda (diet or not) isn’t great for your health, but is it really as bad as smoking a cigarette? We tapped two dietitians to find out.
There are no studies that specifically look at the impact of Diet Coke on your body. Instead, researchers will generally study sweeteners used in diet sodas or overall soda-drinking habits and stack that against health data. “The concern people are generally talking about is the artificial sweetener, usually aspartame or acesulfame potassium,” Scott Keatley, RD, co-founder of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy, tells SELF. (Asparatame is the sweetener used in Diet Coke.)
“Mechanistically, these sweeteners do not raise blood sugar, do not increase insulin, and do not provide calories,” Keatley continues, noting that there’s been no link between having Diet Coke (or any diet soda) and cancer at levels that most people would drink them at.
But there is some data to suggest that having low- and no-calorie sweeteners like you’d find in diet soda isn’t great for your health. A research article published in the journal Neurology in September analyzed health and dietary data from nearly 13,000 people and found that those who regularly had low- and no-calorie sweeteners (like aspartame) had an “accelerated rate of cognitive decline” compared to those who regularly didn’t have the sweeteners.
A scientific review of 21 studies published in 2023 found that “excessive” amounts of diet soda may have a negative impact on mental and health and raise the risk of diabetes complications. The researchers also linked a diet soda habit to faster cell aging.
“Yes, traditionally-sweetened soda has no nutritional value whatsoever, [but] that doesn't mean it will cause imminent and irrevocable harm the moment you drink it—same with diet soda,” Lisa Moskovitz, RD, CDN, CEO of NY Nutrition Group and author of The Core 3 Healthy Eating Plan, tells SELF. But Moskovitz says there are short-term side effects to consider like bloating, acid reflux, and poor sleep due to the caffeine content.
She also notes that there’s the possibility of other consequences from drinking diet and regular sodas like weight changes, digestion issues, and dental problems. But this depends on several factors, including how often you drink them, your medical history, genetics, and other lifestyle factors, Moskovitz says.
Keatley says that comparisons of drinking Diet Coke to lighting up a cigarette are overblown. “Occasional intake is not a health problem,” he says. “Artificial sweeteners clear the bloodstream quickly, have no demonstrated toxic effect at normal doses, and don’t shift the gut microbiome in any clinically meaningful way when consumed infrequently.”
He also says he has “close to zero” concerns about the negative health impacts of drinking more than one can of Diet Coke a day. However, he does flag this: “The artificial sweetener may change your perception of sweetness, making you crave sweet foods.”
Keatley says that his biggest concerns with a Diet Coke habit are hydration and tooth enamel erosion, which can be fixed by drinking plenty of water between cans.
A representative for Coca-Cola, which makes Diet Coke, did not respond to SELF’s request for comment by deadline.
If you’re drinking Diet Coke (or any diet soda) multiple times a day, Moskovitz says it’s important to get to the bottom of why. “Is it because you're trying to restrict calories, you need an energy boost from the caffeine, or because you truly enjoy it? Is it replacing plain water?” she says. “Generally, I would recommend weaning down. Regardless of the type of sweetener, dark colas consumed in larger quantities over a period of time can leach calcium from your bones and be detrimental for gut and dental health.”
Keatley suggests being “strategic” about when you have diet soda, making sure you can really savor it. Moskovitz agrees. “As an occasional treat, Diet Coke or colas can fit into a healthy lifestyle,” she says.
Beyond that, dietitians just recommend that you be mindful about when and how often you have the soda. “Don’t let Diet Coke become your primary hydration source,” Keatley says. “But [Diet Coke] is not ‘millennial smoking.’ That comparison is scientifically empty.”
