Diet Soft Drinks and Pregnancy

When a woman is pregnant, she is often given a list of foods to avoid. The list, however, often does not include diet soda, yet many pregnant women wonder if diet soda and the chemicals in it can affect the growing fetus. There is no cut and dried answer, but it is worth looking at the chemicals and their impact on a pregnant woman's body.

Theories/Speculation

• Scientist have studied rats' ingestion of chemicals found in diet soda to show how they might affect a growing fetus. Often, problems are detected at very high rates of exposure. However, the chemicals found in diet soda do have some harmful effects.

Aspartame

• Aspartame, a common sweetener found in diet soda, is made up of two amino acids, which the body digests much as it does a protein. One of the proteins--phenylalanine--may increase the risk of an infant to develop Phenylketonuria (PKU), which is a rare fetal disorder. In addition, aspartame converts to formaldehyde at 20 degrees C, which can cause headaches, dizziness, depression and fatigue. However, aspartame is considered safe for pregnancy in moderate amounts.

Sucralose

• Sucralose, or Splenda, does not elevate blood sugar and is considered safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use during pregnancy.

Saccharin

• Saccharin has been shown to cause abnormal fetal development and cancer in rats. Though human studies have not confirmed this, saccharin is a sweetener to avoid.

Warning

• Not all chemical sweeteners are considered safe. In addition to saccharin, cyclamate should be avoided by pregnant women, as it is not deemed safe by the FDA. In addition, though Stevia is a natural bush, some health care providers say to avoid it, because its use as a food additive hasn't been tested.