Diet coke and headache :(

hellybelle1

Hiya, this is probably a stupid thing to ask, but I've been on a no carb and low calorie diet. I drank half a can of diet coke last night and almost instantly got a raging headache that I can't shift! Does anybody know if the cause was the coke or just plain coincidence - I'm scared to drink it now. This was the first time I drank anything other than water or tea since I started cutting down. Any comments would be appreciated, thanks

ToriaStitch

I'm the same with tea at the moment, I can only drink water, not sure why hope some one can help x

gaynorv

Perhaps the caffeine in coke .... ? If I drink the wrong kind of coffee I get the same

FlippinNora

Quite honestly, the more I hear about diet drinks the more I'm inclined to avoid anyway. No/low carb diets are notorious for providing sledgehammer headaches in the first little while anyway. hard to pinpoint the culprit.

Make sure you are drinking plenty of water

Freedom125

Caffeine and sugar withdrawal can both cause ridiculous headaches. Try another caffeine free diet soda and see if you get the headache again?

LilMissDB

It might be a coincidence, low carb diets can cause pretty bad headaches.

hellybelle1

I was fine up until I had the coke lol with no headaches at all, but I think I will avoid and add some carbs back into diet. I'll stick to my tea and water while dieting seems to work thanks for all your comments, will take on board the advice. Helen x

kayla2709

Think this is interesting to know:Phenylalanine (In diet Coke)can cause mental retardation, brain damage, seizures and other problems in people with PKU. Phenylalanine occurs naturally in many protein-rich foods, such as milk, eggs and meat. Phenylalanine also is sold as a dietary supplement. Its not a good thing to be drinking to be honest! Your body is probably just resonding to the chemicals your pouring in!! If your looking for something different try making a cold mint tea using spices. Can send you a recipy if you like x

seahorse29

Firstly sorry to hear about your experience - headaches like that can really knock you and it must have been quite a shock.

As others have mentioned, it is really difficult to say what exactly caused it and it isn't unusual to look to the last food consumed as the culprit.

So here's my take on it:

If your diet meant that you cut out a lot of processed food for a period of time, including preservatives and additives, and this was the first time you re-introduced it then I think that your headache could be a reaction to a chemical in the drink. I would suspect additive 951 which is a sweetener because "Aspartame, NutraSweet, Equal Measure (derived from phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol ... accounts for over 75% of adverse reaction to food additives reported to the FDA". But your headache could also have been due to the effect the drink had on your blood sugar levels.

That quote came from a quick search I did. If you want to read more this is a link which you may find useful:

http://www.lookingforalternatives.com.au/chemical-soft-drinks/

or google chemical soft drinks artificial additives and preservatives

There is plenty of information on the harmfulness of sweeteners in foods. Others may not agree, but my experience is that eliminating foods from the diet for a time and re-introducing can certainly cause a reaction such as headache.

Depending on the severity of your reaction you might even consider repeating the experiment. But then there are so many additives to diet drinks you won't know which one caused the problem.

If you want to know more you can always chat to a naturopath or your health practitioner.

hellybelle1

Thanks Seahorse, I agree with what you say, as I have cut out all additives etc, so reintroducing them possibly did have an affect! But I've not cut them out for very long, so if this was the case, WOW, and maybe its better for us all to scrap man made products in our daily diet.

yksdoris

somewhat related but I saw this today. the news is covered all over the media this morning, just type diet coke and depression into the search. No idea how scientifically accurate the findings are or why this correlation (and correlation is not the same as causation) was found, but apparently drinking (diet) soda correlates with a higher rate of developing depression.

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S2889938.shtml?cat=566

TheVimFuego

I used to get crushing headaches when I overdid the Diet soda, I don't react well to the chemicals.

I can do them in moderation these days but I do find they stimulate my appetite.

They'll remain a guilty pleasure, I think I may switch to the full-sugar stuff, at least I'm getting some energy from it and not trying to kid my body.

Sweet Misery is a documentary worth a look (available online) if you're interested in the possible health issues (yes, it's been tested as safe, etc, etc ... I prefer to think for myself).

As an aside I drank them during my low carb phase with pretty much the same effects.