Dr. Becky Maes - Is It Bad For You? Approved by Dr. Becky Maes

Is Diet Snapple Bad For You?

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Short answer

Diet Snapple is bad for you. Regular consumption over the long-term may lead to several complications, including cancer.

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Long answer

Diet Snapple, like most drinks with the "diet" label, leads people to confuse the terms "diet" with "healthy. A diet is a way to lose weight, not necessarily a way to be healthy (in fact, many diets are bad for your health). While Diet Snapple lacks the sugar content of its non-diet counterpart, it has to get its sweet taste from somewhere -- that somewhere is aspartame.

As recently as 2010, a Danish study showed a link between artificial sweeteners and pre-term delivery. Multiple studies with rats have shown aspartame to cause leukemia and cancerous growths. While human studies are limited, it is important to realize that the genetic makeup of rats is very similar to that of humans. In fact, 99% of our genes have counterparts in mice. Further, some people have mentioned getting muscle spasms, visual changes, and ringing in the ears after drinking beverages that contain aspartame. It should also be noted that the FDA gave aspartame GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status only after heavy lobbying and being given studies that were funded by aspartame companies themselves.

While malic acid occurs naturally in many foods and has a reputation for being good for your skin as well as helping reduce pain, there does remain a risk of side effects, such as nausea, constipation, muscle pain, chest pain, and itching.

Another ingredient, potassium citrate, which is commonly used as a medication in pill form to help treat kidney stones, may cause some minor side effects including diarrhea.

Apart from the possible reasons why Diet Snapple is bad for you, let's see if there are any reasons why it may be good for you. As mentioned, there is no added sugar. Also missing are cholesterol and fat. While a drink with no fat, sugar, or cholesterol may seem like a good thing, the fact is there is no fiber and antioxidants are lacking. Moreover, there are only a few calories in Diet Snapple which greatly lowers the energy-giving potential of this drink.

Lastly, the "natural flavors" contained in this drink are laboratory made and may contain things like glutamate, allergens, and animal products. In the case of glutamate, despite the Diet Snapple not contributing to your weight gain, the glutamate may lead to feelings of hunger and overeating. Furthermore, drinking Diet Snapple may lead some people to disregard getting their daily nutrients as the taste of fruit often tricks people into thinking they are getting the nutritional benefits of real fruit.