Can diet cola, sugar free drinks cause cancer? Diabetes patients must keep away from aspartame, here's why

Coca Cola and its low-calorie option Diet Coke is one of the most popular soft drinks of all time. However, a very common misconception is that since diet sodas contain no added sugar, they are healthier, but now the WHO has lifted the veil on these products, which use artificial sugars like aspartame.

A new study released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that aspartame, which is a common ingredient of Diet Coke and other sugar-free drinks, has been classified as "possibly carcinogenic to humans", meaning that it can likely cause cancer.

Aspartame, used in products from Coca-Cola diet sodas to Mars' Extra chewing gum and some Snapple drinks, will be listed in July as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" for the first time by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization's (WHO) cancer research arm, the sources told Reuters.

While the research does not list how much aspartame can one safely consume without any risk, diet soda when consumed in excess amounts does have other health problems attached to it, apart from the carcinogenic threat now put up by WHO.

Decades ago, research had suggested that one would have to consume 12-30 cans of Diet Coke containing aspartame to have a real risk of cancer. However, WHO has now specified any amount of aspartame that can be considered safe for consumption.

For the unversed, aspartame is an artificial sugar substance which is a non-saccharide sweetener of drinks and foods, considered to be 200 times sweeter than natural sugar. Aspartame is considered the healthier alternative to natural sugar and is usually taken by diabetes patients and people trying to control their weight.

However, several researches have shown that aspartame is safe to consume within the set limit according to each person’s body. For aspartame, this limit is 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram of body weight per day.

(With Reuters inputs)

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