Watch This If You Drink Diet Soda

26 Feb 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:17

In this YouTube monologue, Eric Roberts addresses common fears about diet soda by explaining how aspartame is metabolized in the body and putting its breakdown products— aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol— in perspective with everyday foods. He uses a personal anecdote about a friend stealing his Diet Coke and provides a weight‑based estimate, claiming that a 240‑lb individual could safely consume over 30 cans per day. By comparing the amounts of these chemicals in a can of Diet Coke to those found in chicken, apple juice, beef, and almonds, he argues that moderate consumption of diet soda is unlikely to pose a health risk.

Chapters

Sometimes you may just want a nice cold glass of Diet Coke, but just as you pour it, your friend Karen steals it and pours it down the drain, claiming it's going to kill you. And I know if you've read any of the news about diet soda, you'd be at the very least concerned if you had a pet rat. But if you're watching this and you don't have a pet rat, you've probably wondered how many cans of soda could you drink per day and still be safe? Being 240 pounds, I could drink over 30 cans per day and still be considered Safe. And I know what you're thinking, Eric, it's the aspartame in the soda that breaks down in your body and that's what causes cancer. Well, that's not true either. One can of Diet Coke in the human body gets broken down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. And I know those sound like scary chemicals, but for context, 4 ounces of chicken has more aspartic acid than one can of Diet Coke. 12 ounces of apple juice has more methanol than one can of Diet Coke. And 100 grams of beef or a handful of almonds, both have more phenylalanine than one can of Diet Coke. So when it comes to things to be worried about for your health, enjoying some Diet Coke in moderation is not going to be something to worry about.