Should pregnant women avoid ‘diet’ soft drinks?

Quite frankly, pregnant women should be mindful of taking just any food or drink. There are indications that pregnant women might play safe by avoiding ‘diet’ soft drinks, artificially sweetened, after a study linked them with premature birth, reports Sade Oguntola.

Pregnant woman

Until more experimental work is done, there may be the need for pregnant women to steer clear of artificially sweetened drinks but rather focus more on nutrient-rich drinks.

Wonder why the need for the word of caution? Well, research has suggested that artificially sweetened drinks such as diet soft drinks may be linked to premature birth in pregnant women.

Babies who are born premature are at higher risk of needing hospitalisation, having long-term health problems and of dying than babies born at the right time,”

According to a research carried out on almost 60,000 pregnant women in Denmark, it was found that those who drank artificially sweetened soft drinks, whether fizzy or still, were more likely to give birth early. But this was not the case with sugar-sweetened carbonated soft drinks or sugar-sweetened non-carbonated soft drinks, which contain much lower levels of artificial sweeteners.

It was found that those who drank one serving of diet soda per day were 38 per cent more likely to give birth before 37 weeks gestation and those who consumed four servings of diet soda a day were 78 per cent more likely to have their baby prematurely.

The researchers in this study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition thought the artificial sweeteners in diet soda are broken down in the body into chemicals which may change the womb.

The artificial sweeteners that are typically used to make soft drinks taste sweet are aspartame and saccharin, but aspartame seems to be the most popular. According to anti-artificial sweeteners advocates, aspartame, which has the ability to break down in the body to other toxic compounds like formaldehyde and formic acid, can cause cancer, seizures and memory loss.

Dr. Olu Edward-Jagun, a consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, Ogun State, in a reaction to the finding study stated “what they got was probably an epidemiological finding which could be affected by a particular substance in the sweetner in their country that they might need to remove.”

According to him, “it could also be due to market politics where an organisation sponsored a research so as to discredit a company and promote his own. I don’t know how the sweetener could have affected the womb if it is not uterotonic.“

Dr. Edward-Jagun declaring, that environmental factors definitely affect the delivery date of a pregnant woman, stated, “just as people do have heat stroke and collapse, in same vein, sudden extremes of temperature can promote preterm delivery. Also, the presence of noxious emissions in the atmosphere and smoking can precipitate labour just as intrinsic factors in the womb on its own can cause preterm delivery.”

However, Dr. Edward-Jagun declared “there is nothing in the diet soda to suggest it causes preterm delivery, a confounding factor however is that those women were dieting in pregnancy which is not allowed, poor weight gain in pregnancy is a cause of preterm delivery on its own.”

But, he stated that calling for caution on diet soda intake in pregnancy will be a false alarm, stressing “the research work needs to be validated”.

Dr. Bukola Fawole, a consultant Obstetrician and Gyneacologist, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo state, pointed out that in Nigeria, some of the factors that account for premature delivery includes the woman before pregnancy having medical problems like diabetes and hypertension. Also, a case where other medical conditions such as anaemia (inadequate blood) and malaria occur during pregnancy can also predispose a woman to premature delivery.

In addition, Dr. Fawole said a woman with excessive fluids surrounding the baby (amniotic fluid) or multiple pregnancies is at a higher risk of premature delivery.

However, Dr.Fawole pointed out “we are not aware of any study in Nigeria suggesting that the diet of a pregnant woman can predispose her to premature delivery.”

Nonetheless, the recommendation for pregnant women has always been that consuming these artificial sweeteners in moderation during pregnancy is acceptable. But, this new research study may prove otherwise and might require that pregnant women searching for healthier alternatives.

Some healthier alternatives with pleasant flavours to try include diluting fresh fruit juice with water, adding freshly squeezed lemon to water or a slice of apple or cucumber to a glass of water. Also, instead of soft drinks or other sugary beverages, drinking water, unsweetened iced tea and low-fat milk is also recommended.

A previous study also cautioned against intake of diet soda all in the course of quenching thirst and trying to avoid calories. It found that drinking two or more a day could decrease kidney function.
The Harvard study released at the American Society of Nephrology, which gave a reason for concern about how much of diet soda people drink on a daily basis, found that more than 3,000 women who drank even a couple a day saw a reduction in their kidney function.

The loss of kidney function can be serious. The kidneys process your blood, sifting out waste products and water. If the kidneys stop functioning, the best options are a transplant or dialysis.

Other studies have drawn a correlation between diet soda and an increased risk for heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and weight gain. Three studies have found that people who drink even one diet soda a day have a greater chance of developing metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes and heart disease.

Unlike it is believed, diet sodas do not help to lose weight. Worse still, there is some evidence that artificial sweeteners actually encourage weight gain, perhaps by fueling one’s taste for sweet foods.