Are diet drinks better or worse than their sugary alternatives? Will they give us cancer?

A lot of us are guilty of suffering from a sweet tooth. 3pm comes around, you’re sick of staring at a screen and there is no sound as alluring as the ‘chshhhhhh’ hiss of a freshly opened bottle of coke. But in this health conscious (*cough fitbit tracking) world, myself and a lot of others have switched to sugar free alternatives to enjoy our sweet, fizzy beverages.

We’ve all heard the scary claims of “those additives in coke no sugar can give you cancer.” But is there actually any merit to these claims or has this game of Chinese whispers taken us for a ride?

Keeshia was joined by Dr Emma Beckett, food and nutrition scientist, to get to the bottom of whether diet drinks (sugar free) or their sugary alternatives were better for our health.

In this 2 minute chat, Dr Emma Beckett explains what the sugar free alternatives are made up of, why they taste so sweet and whether or not they are going to give us all cancer!

“remember the dose makes the poison, and in the amounts that we consume, these things are completely safe”

Dr Emma Beckett