Diet Drinks: Why They May Be a Better Choice for Diabetics

The WIBC News Special Beating Diabetes: Sweet Stories from Indiana, airs Friday, March 8, at 7 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS–You may have heard that diet drinks are dangerous. But, if you are diagnosed with diabetes, some doctors believe they are much better than drinking sugary drinks.

“For me it’s the lesser of two evils,” said Dr. Tamara Hannon, a diabetes researcher and endocrinologist with IU Health. “There are studies that show diet drinks are associated with disease states, but it’s really hard to determine the direction of the relationship, or if the relationship is causitive.”

Hannon said other factors may have contributed to the diseases of people in the studies.

Some recent studies have shown that people across the country are drinking fewer sugary drinks and soda, yet the diabetes rate continues to climb. The drinks may contribute to obesity, which can contribute to diabetes, but they are not a direct cause.

As many as one in three Hoosiers may have pre-diabetes and not know it. One in ten Hoosiers has type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Hannon said that when a person is diagnosed, some lifestyle changes are necessary to get the disease under control.

“If someone is drinking regular drinks, sugar sweetened drinks, we need to get them off of those as soon as possible.”

Hannon said that people with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes will immediately get high blood sugar from drinking regular soda.

“Sugar sweetened drinks definitely exacerbate diabetes. They cause immediate high blood sugar. They cause the need for more insulin,” she said. “So, sugar sweetened drinks, I would say, is the first thing we recommend to get rid of.”

Hannon said that the preference is to get people with diabetes to drink water. But, diet drinks are an acceptable alternative.

“I don’t believe that diet drinks have been shown conclusively to cause cancer,” said Hannon. “I do believe diet drinks do cause problems in some people who have sensitivity to the sweetener.”

But, she said they do less damage overall to a diabetic person.

PHOTO: Thinkstock/Kwangmoozaa