Diet Coke

Phoenix_66

I noticed another person on this forum wondering if diet coke contributed to her husband's cancer.  I am curious to see how many cancer patients on here drink diet coke or another drink with aspertame.  When I was originally diagnosed in 2006 I was an avid diet coke drinker (many per day).  Shortly after my original diagnosis, I began asking those cancer patients I came in contact with what they drank and shockingly a large majority drank diet coke or another aspertame drink. 

I have read numerous articles on the negative affects of aspertame to our bodies and even though I have not completely stopped drinking diet coke, I have cut back drastically but with my 2013 and now 2017 reoccurences it makes me wonder if there might be something to this.

 

JanJan63

My friend drinks diet Coke

My friend drinks diet Coke like it's the only drink in the world and has had no issues. But I've read what you've read and I do not think aspartame is healthy. They talk about things like people being diagnosed with MS nd it turns out to be just the diet Coke.

I am a Pepsi addict. I always said that I never did drugs, drank only socially and never smoked so I had to have one addiction. My husband is a big Coke drinker. When I went to see the surgeon for the first time my husband blabbed that I drink a coule of cans of Pepsi a day. The tattletale. Anyway, my surgeon looked him in the eye and asked "do you think Pepsi gave her cancer?" and my husband responded "no" to which my surgeon replied "well, neither do I". On the way home I gave him hell for trying to throw me under the bus. Now, we're talking about regular, not diet, but note that my surgeon did not ask if it was diet.

So maybe this is helpful? Not sure. My biggest worry is the aluminum cans and getting Alzheimer's. I don't drink much Pepsi anymore anyway. While carbonated drinks are on the okay list for an ostomy diet, I find it to be harsh and usually just drink fruit juices. Which have more sugar than the pop does but whatever, I hate the taste of water.

Jan 

NHMike

I read a recent article about

I read a recent article about a paper that stated that about 66% of cancer is caused by random mutations. I work in a place that has free soft drinks including diet sodas. There are some folks that drink a lot of these and I haven't heard about them coming down with cancer.

betula

the doctor said no

My husband drank a lot of diet coke....his worst habit.  I asked our radiology nurse practioner if it could have been that.  She simply said no, and that if it was we would be seeing so many more people diagnoed with it due to aftificical sweetners.  With that said, I still believe that it is not good for anyone.

Trubrit

Never have and never will

I have never drunk (drank) diet anything, in my life and here I am, Stage IV. 

I do believe Aspartame is unhealthy, and may contribute to some patients diagnosis, but certainly not all. 

We just need to do the best we can with the knowledge we have, and move forward. 

Tru

beaumontdave

I grew up a soda drinker, but

I grew up a soda drinker, but quit around 30 years of age. One less bad thing. Now I find sugar or diet drinks repulsive. Water, tea, coffee, and, of course, beer. I don't think diet stuff has anything to do with CRC, certainly had nothing to do with mine......................................................Dave

Canadian Sandy

I don't drink pop or anything

I don't drink pop or anything with aspartame.....still got cancer.

Annabelle41415

Don't Think So

I'm thinking that people attributing one product or another to colon cancer is absurd.  You can never determine what it was and even my doctor said as much.  Don't stress about foods or drinks because you will drive yourself crazy.  Enjoy life and Life life.  My friend drinks lots of diet coke and is older than me and never had a problem.  Life shouldn't be feared so much as it is now - that isn't what life is about. 

Kim

NHMike

Annabelle41415 said:

Don't Think So

I'm thinking that people attributing one product or another to colon cancer is absurd.  You can never determine what it was and even my doctor said as much.  Don't stress about foods or drinks because you will drive yourself crazy.  Enjoy life and Life life.  My friend drinks lots of diet coke and is older than me and never had a problem.  Life shouldn't be feared so much as it is now - that isn't what life is about. 

Kim

Warren Buffett is 86 years

Warren Buffett is 86 years old and he drinks 5 servings of Coca-Cola per day. He likes to drink them with a can of Utz Potato Sticks. Some mornings he has a bowl of chocolate chip ice cream for breakfast. He also famously has someone fetch him breakfast from McDonalds. Can a particular food do you in? Maybe, I don't really know.

But you'll find that the healthies people in the world, be it in terms of diet, exercise, fitness. And the most attractive people in the world. And the richest and poorest. And the happy and unhappy. And those with kids and those without kids.

Get cancer.

I worry more about recovery as that's something that I can work on.

PamRav

Nope

Stage IV and have never touched any of the fake sugars.   My mom died of pancreatic cancer and she was a big into the fake sugar of the sixties.   Saccharine I think it was.  I've always wondered if that contributed.  Esp since the neighbo lady across the street died of the same and used the saccharine too.  It was very important for the two of them to be skinny.   UGH!!!!

Annabelle41415

NHMike said:

Warren Buffett is 86 years

Warren Buffett is 86 years old and he drinks 5 servings of Coca-Cola per day. He likes to drink them with a can of Utz Potato Sticks. Some mornings he has a bowl of chocolate chip ice cream for breakfast. He also famously has someone fetch him breakfast from McDonalds. Can a particular food do you in? Maybe, I don't really know.

But you'll find that the healthies people in the world, be it in terms of diet, exercise, fitness. And the most attractive people in the world. And the richest and poorest. And the happy and unhappy. And those with kids and those without kids.

Get cancer.

I worry more about recovery as that's something that I can work on.

You're Spot On

Don't worry about all that stuff.  You can do what you need to do to get you healthy but I've never been an eater of high greasy foods, always ate low fat, exercised and watched my diet and weighed 123 pounds and guess what - yup got it.  I'm now to the point I'm going to eat ice cream, take that fried chicken and LIVE LIFE.

Good luck and I'm sure you will succeed. Kim

lp1964

Dear Friends,

Nothing is absolute! We can only say that certain things may increase or decrease the chance of getting a disease. Denying that smoking causes lung cancer because your grandpa smoked for 50 years and got nothing is absurd. Smoking only increases the chance of getting lung cancer. 

Regarding the diet sodas my opinion is that artificial sweeteners like artificial anything in large quantities is not good for us. Plus there is the carbonation. The acidity of sodas is 2-3, just a bit above stomach acid which is one of the strongest acids. Sodas create acidity in our bodies which many believe are damaging to our entire metabolism. I believe excessive natural sugar is also bad for us for many reasons.

Just a couple of generations back nature limited the amount of food people could consume and obviously there was nothing artificial in the diet. In this wonderful world today where food is in endless supply to most of us, we have to be conscious of what and how much we consume. 

All the best!

Laz

JanJan63

Another point would be that

Another point would be that cancer has been around as long as we have. They're found evidence of cancer in skeletons that are thousands of years old. Back when people only lived to be around 40 to 45 on average so many could have had it if they'd lived to be older. And most cancers don't show up in bones so many more people could have died of it and there's no way to tell now. Most people died of things like the flu long before they'd have had the chance to develop cancer.

My point is that people ate very basically then. No diet sodas or sodas at all. No processed foods. Nothing like how we eat or live today. 

Jan

jordanmiller91

Diet Coke

Hi, my husband wad diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer earlier this year in May just a few weeks before our wedding. He had just turned 27 years old. He is otherwise healthy, not overweight at all, young, etc. With his advanced cancer diagnosis they thought it was definitely genetic- which it turned out it wasnt. I belive it is environmental for sure. Even though he is otherwise healthy, he was obsessed with Diet Coke & Mt. Dew. He drank so much of them...it was an absurd amount. I definitely think it had a lot to do with his cancer especially with his age and not being genetic. He has obviously given all of that up since being diagnosed but you can't help but to question what it is that would cause this! 

camie265

Diet Coke

I have wondered the same thing. I would typically drink 1-2/day, and I used Nutrasweet in my coffee every morning. I have tried to stop. I'll just need to try harder.

Mickeyclaude

Genetics.?

i have none of the risk factors for colon cancer. I don’t eat red meat,poultry.or pork...I have always been thin. Dr. Wants to do the genetic testing...anyone on here done that? 

Trubrit

Mickeyclaude said:

Genetics.?

i have none of the risk factors for colon cancer. I don’t eat red meat,poultry.or pork...I have always been thin. Dr. Wants to do the genetic testing...anyone on here done that? 

Welcome to the forum, Mickeyclaude

There are folks here who have done the genetic testing. You may get a more replies if you create/strart your own thread on the forum home page here:

https://csn.cancer.org/forum/128

That way folks can answer your specific question and not the discussion about Diet Coke. 

Looking forward to getting to know you. 

Tru

Mikenh

Mickeyclaude said:

Genetics.?

i have none of the risk factors for colon cancer. I don’t eat red meat,poultry.or pork...I have always been thin. Dr. Wants to do the genetic testing...anyone on here done that? 

The two types of testing

The two types of testing related to cancer are genetic testing and genomic testing. Genetic testing refers to the person and is done with a blood sample. Genomic testing is done on the tumor and they can usually tell you what your gene mutation (specific type of cancer) you have and the knowledge of your mutation can affect your treatment. There's also point testing of the tumor biopsy where they perform individual tests for things like Microsatellite Instability High which may be an indicator of Lynch. I've had the Genomic Tumor testing done. I haven't had genetic testing done though a sister has and she tells me about things that they found in her from time to time.

Minor note: your picture is sideways.

Mickeyclaude

Mikenh said:

The two types of testing

The two types of testing related to cancer are genetic testing and genomic testing. Genetic testing refers to the person and is done with a blood sample. Genomic testing is done on the tumor and they can usually tell you what your gene mutation (specific type of cancer) you have and the knowledge of your mutation can affect your treatment. There's also point testing of the tumor biopsy where they perform individual tests for things like Microsatellite Instability High which may be an indicator of Lynch. I've had the Genomic Tumor testing done. I haven't had genetic testing done though a sister has and she tells me about things that they found in her from time to time.

Minor note: your picture is sideways.

my pic

my pic is not sideways oin my file, only on here, I did not see a rotate feature., At any rate, I look better that way.............

I appreciate knowing the difference between the genomic and genetic. Thanks

 

ReeRee2

Mickeyclaude said:

Genetics.?

i have none of the risk factors for colon cancer. I don’t eat red meat,poultry.or pork...I have always been thin. Dr. Wants to do the genetic testing...anyone on here done that? 

Genetic testing

the doctor has ordered genetic testing on me and that could happen in two weeks.

Annabelle41415

Mickeyclaude said:

Genetics.?

i have none of the risk factors for colon cancer. I don’t eat red meat,poultry.or pork...I have always been thin. Dr. Wants to do the genetic testing...anyone on here done that? 

Welcome

Not everything is a bad thing.  You don't necessarily get cancer from foods you eat - my doctor told me that.  I'm thin also and also watched my diet.  It would be good if you start a new thread as this is old.  My brother did genetic testing and it told him nothing - guess it depends on what type it is.  Wishing you well.

Kim