Is Diet Coke Keto? Uncovering the Secrets Behind the Fizz

If you’re on a keto diet, consider drinking something to boost your energy after a long day. Enter the infamous Diet Coke. But is Diet Coke keto?

On the surface, Diet Coke is keto-friendly. It doesn’t seem to have any calories or carbs, right? It simply adds flavor and replaces full sugar drinks with your creative lazy keto meals.

It can seem almost impossible to give up soft drinks on a keto diet. Although it can be difficult, new keto dieters need to avoid high sugar intake at all costs. Diet sodas ease your soda cravings. But there’s a debate surrounding whether they’re truly keto or not.

This post delves into whether Diet Coke is keto. By the end, you’ll have a better sense of whether to incorporate the drink into your diet.

But first, let’s discuss what ketosis is.

Is Diet Coke Keto: The Science Behind Ketosis:

Keto-friendly drinks do not include sugar or artificial sweeteners. You can drink them in moderation if they contain artificial ingredients. But on a keto diet, you can’t consume them if they have sugar.

But what is a keto diet?

A keto diet involves limiting carbs to induce ketosis in the body. The body metabolizes protein slowly, which causes fat to become the body’s main energy source. This induces a metabolic state known as ketosis.

Ketosis occurs when the body burns fat to produce ketones. Regular blood or urine tests can detect ketones in your body.

There are lots of varieties of keto diets, with the most common consisting of more than 70% fat, 20% protein, and less than 10% carbs. Of course, everyone has a different carb limit to stick to when on a keto diet.

You could start a keto diet to cut down on the extra carbs and sugar you eat regularly. This means you won’t be eating any pasta, bread, rice and most fruits. You can continue to eat meat, low-carb vegetables, and other nutritious snacks.

Is Diet Coke Keto? Settling a Sweet Debate About Keto Drinks

You can consume a variety of diet sodas on keto. Sugar substitutes used in most diet drinks have little to no carb content. So diet soda users can fit into a keto diet. 

Several diet sodas use natural zero-calorie sweeteners such as stevia or erythritol. Erythritol is a maize sugar alcohol with fewer documented negative effects than other artificial sweeteners.

Diet sodas contain zero-calorie sweeteners such as sucralose or aspartame. You can also drink sparkling water with natural flavor, seltzer water or low-sugar fruit juices whilst in ketosis.

While you may be skeptical that diet coke is keto, there’s no proof that sugar substitutes affect your weight loss. In prepackaged keto foods, you can find carb-free sweeteners such as Stevia, Xylitol, Erythritol, and Sucralose. 

They make it easier to maintain a keto lifestyle for a longer period. Thus, it allows you to reach your health and dietary goals. 

Check the nutritional value of diet soda before drinking it. This is to make sure that it has less than 5 grams of total sugars or 20 calories from carbs. If there are any carbs, including sugars, you must count them against your daily carb limit.

Is Diet Coke or Coke Zero Better for Keto?

Neither Coca-Cola Zero Sugar nor Diet Pepsi is better than the other for a keto diet. 

Turns out they are all keto-friendly diet sodas. They all have zero calories, unlike their full-sugar counterparts. This is useful for people who are newer to the ketogenic diet. It gives them a flavorful drink they can enjoy to ease themselves into the keto diet. 

That being said, Diet Coke and Coke Zero might not be your best options.

Diet Coke uses an artificial sweetener called aspartame. Diet Coke contains no calories, and calories play a role in weight reduction and gain. So, in theory, Diet Coke does not cause weight gain.

But there can be more to weight gain/loss than simply consuming and burning calories. Specifically, the artificial sweeteners in diet drinks may be to blame.

This non-caloric artificial sweetener could harm the healthy bacteria in your gut. A single packet of the sucralose-based sweetener Splenda can destroy 50% of healthy gut microflora.

Is Diet Coke keto like Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Dr. Pepper, and Pepsi Zero? These sodas have zero calories and no carbs, fat, or protein. In this way, they are similar to Diet Coke.

So, there is almost no distinction between the Diet and Zero Sugar versions of soft drinks. They have no sugar and no calories. The only difference is the type of sweetener used and the amount of caffeine present.

Coke Zero contains both aspartame and acesulfame, whereas Diet Coke only contains aspartame.

Is Diet Coke or Coke Zero better for keto?

Neither is better than the other. They both have similar nutritional values. So if you want to limit your sugar intake, you can drink either and remain in ketosis.

Is Diet Coke Keto Friendly: The Caramel Question

Coca-Cola and other soda companies use caramel coloring to make Diet Coke. They do this by heating a GMO carbohydrate, such as maize, with an ammonia molecule. This forms an advanced glycation end-product or AGE.

These AGEs form sticky proteins in your arteries, brain, liver, pancreas, and kidneys. So, when shopping for diet sodas, keep an eye out for any unusual colorings. Instead, choose a drink with fewer ingredients and colorants.

If you’re concerned about the potential health risks, limit your diet soda intake to once every couple of weeks. This helps to limit the amount of unhealthy ingredients you consume.

Some people see the keto diet as an opportunity to eat what they like with low carbs. Whilst you may still achieve ketosis, it’s not the healthiest long-term solution.

Beginners must understand that whilst Diet Coke is keto-friendly, it may not be a healthy option. People use them to add some normalcy to their diets to maintain them in the long run.

Diet Coke on Keto: To Drink or Not To Drink

If you’ve learned how much weight to lose using a weight loss formula, starting a keto diet might interest you.

The ketogenic diet is an excellent approach to reducing weight. But you have to stick to a strict plan to achieve ketosis. That means you must stop or at least drastically decrease your consumption of processed foods and drinks.

So with that in mind, let’s explore the role of Diet Coke on a keto diet?

Is Diet Coke Keto: What Makes Your Diet Sodas So Sweet

Is Diet Coke keto, even with artificial sweeteners?

The artificial sweetener, Aspartame, is in Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper and Pepsi Max.

Ace-K is a high-intensity sweetener that is approximately 200 times sweeter than sugar. And, like aspartame, people have differing opinions on Ace-K.

People can have up to 15 mg of Ace-K per kg in a day. That is approximately 20 cans of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar per day. But these alternate colas aren’t any healthier.

Is Diet Coke Keto: Understanding Coke and Calories

Diet Coke contains no calories making it ideal for helping with weight reduction. Buy other factors can affect your weight.

Specifically, the artificial sweeteners in diet drinks may be at fault. If the brain expects sweetness and glucose but instead receives non-caloric sweeteners, it compensates by increasing appetite.

Because artificial sweeteners lack nutrients, you may want to eat more because you don’t feel full after eating.

So, even though Diet Coke contains no calories, it may promote overeating and lead to weight gain.

Can You Have Diet Soda on Keto?

To answer, ‘Can you have diet soda on keto?’ The answer is yes. However, there are potential health risks that may sway your decision.  This is because there is a link between drinking diet sodas and an increased risk of chronic kidney disease.

A study discovered that the number of glasses of Diet Coke drunk each week increases the risk of kidney failure.

People drinking over seven cans of diet soda weekly doubled their chances of kidney issues. Science believes that the high phosphorus content of soda increases the acid load on the kidneys, causing kidney disease.

Researchers created diet sodas in the 1950s for diabetics. Diet soda promotions targeted people wanting to lose weight and reduce sugar intake.

Diet soda is primarily carbonated water, artificial or natural sweetener, colors and flavorings. It usually has few to no calories and no nutritional value. Although they are sugar and calorie-free, diet soda users still debate the health consequences.

Can You Drink Diet Coke on Keto?

You can drink Diet Coke on a keto diet. However, they can impact your insulin levels due to artificial ingredients.

Carbonated water and caffeine are present in Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. Diet Coke also has caramel color, phosphoric acid, aspartame, potassium benzoate, and citric acid. Potassium citrates, acesulfame potassium and natural flavors are in Coca-Cola Zero Sugar too.

This causes people to wonder, ‘Can you drink Diet Coke on Keto?

Although these sodas have no carbs, your insulin levels could increase because Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar use aspartame.

Be wary of consuming excessive artificial sweeteners if you’re health conscious. However, these sweeteners can also backfire and give you more cravings, making dieting harder.

Is Diet Coke Keto? Let’s Look at Substitutes Instead

So, we’ve established that Diet Coke can affect your body differently. Now let’s figure out other diet sodas that act as substitutes.

Is Diet Coke Keto? Zevia Alternative

Zevia is a brand that offers delicious keto-approved alternatives to Diet Coke. They provide a wide range of items, most of which are low in fat and carb free.

Virgil’s Zero Sugar Cola: A Classic Flavor

Another low-carb drink option is Virgil’s Zero Sugar Cola. It is low in fat and carbs, just like Zevia.

Is Diet Coke Keto? Sparkling Water: Healthy Fizz

Perrier, La Croix, and Bubly are good sparkling water choices that do not include artificial sweeteners.

Green Cola: It’s Cola but Green

Green Cola is a keto-friendly soft drink. Per 355ml serving, it has only 1g of net carbohydrates. Furthermore, it is free of harmful substances.

Is Diet Coke Keto? Our History With Sweet Things

Honey and sweeteners from nature, such as honey, are all we have. For years, our sweet tooth was depending on the season for the best-tasting fruits and honey. Nowadays, we have access to excess amounts of sugar whenever we want it.

We have now accustomed our bodies to easy access to sugar. This results in a mental shift where people believe they crave something sweet when they may not actually want it.

Diets, such as the keto diet, are useful for giving us parameters to stick within. Drinks, such as diet coke, can help us adhere to these diets for longer.

If your main goal is weight loss, Diet Coke is fine to drink and won’t knock you out of ketosis. You can use diet sodas as a tool to help you stick to your diet.  

However, if you’re also health conscious, it’s best to limit your intake of diet soda.

So, that wraps up our post on “Is Diet Coke Keto?” We hope you feel more confident about diet sodas and their role in the ketogenic diet.