Diet Soda and Pregnancy

Now that you're pregnant, it seems like everyone you know is adding something new to the No-mile List. Take, for example, chocolate. For the good! Unless she's allergic to it, what kind of woman can live without chocolate? Then there's soda. You cannot drink regular soda because it is full of caffeine, sugar, empty calories and has no nutritional value. So what about soda diets? You look at the List, and sure enough, others add it!

In fact, studies show that aspartam, better known as Equal (TM), the artificial sweetener used in many diet sodas does not harm most pregnant women or their fetuses. Aspartam has been shown to be unable to penetrate the placenta barrier in the fetus. The only exception to aspartame safety for pregnant women is for those with a family history of PKU (phenylketonuria). These women cannot digest certain amino acids present in aspartam, and should refrain from using it unless their doctor is OK with their doctor after a simple blood test.

Another artificial sweetener found in diet drinks is saccharine. At the restaurant, she is sweet in a pink package. In laboratory tests, the offspring of mice given very high doses of saccharine had a higher rate of specific birth defects. Using the socket during your pregnancy is something you want to be careful about.

Sucralose (Splenda (TM)) is the latest artificial sweetener on the market. It is made from regular table sugar, and has not been widely tested for its effect on pregnant women. So far, it looks safe, but many experts recommend the limited use of Sucralose.

There are two reasons diet soda is the No-No List. The first is caffeine content.

Caffeine is a stimulant that causes heart attacks and blood pressure. Not good. Because it also causes more frequent urination, it can lead to dehydration. It's not good either. Caffeine crosses the placenta barrier in your fetus, which has the same effect as it does in you. The fetus cannot metabolize caffeine as much as you can, so any amount of caffeine can interfere with your baby's sleep patterns and affect normal movement patterns. So definitely not good!

But there is still hope! Most diet diets do not contain caffeine at all, and collagen and other dark food sodas also come in caffeine-free versions.

Other experts say that the reason for not drinking diet soda is that pregnant women often use it as a substitute for water, juice and milk. Both you and your baby need you to drink at least 6 - 8 glasses of water daily, and that is in addition to milk, fruit juice or any other liquid you may drink. Yes, tea and coffee are made with water, but they are not water, and do not count toward your water intake. Most experts will admit that drinking a 12-ounce diet daily may not harm you or your baby — as long as you drink at least the prescribed amount of water!

In the end, the decision on whether to drink diet soda, and how much, is up to you. If you choose to use any product that contains artificial sweeteners, be sure to check the label for the type of sweetener used and the content of caffeine. If you do well, your doctor may say that it is OK to attack the soda diet from the To-Do List and add one daily diet soda to my Thanksgiving Benefits! List!

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