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As you may know, I was diagnosed with MS in my twenties and I overcame it with implementing a natural lifestyle and natural remedies. One of the key factors I credit to my recovery was eliminating diet soft drinks. What is the link between diet soft drinks and MS?

While I was researching how to heal, I came across Lady Cilento mentioning in her books the importance of a fresh food diet and staying away from sugar, soft drink etc. While I didn’t consume too much sugar, up to that point, I had been a big consumer of diet soft drinks. In those days consumers did not know of the potential dangers.

In high school it had become the ‘in thing’ to have a can of diet soft drink (or soda) for lunch, no food. Diet soft drinks were the new trendy beverages of choice in Australia at that time. So as teenage girls wanting to stay thin, we’d stand around in our lunch break (had no energy to do much else) slowly sipping our drink and chewing on the straws – we were so hungry!

My diet soft drink habit continued at university and was then supplemented with heavy coffee drinking, particularly at assignment and exam times. As well as overloading on saccharin, I had unknowingly become addicted to caffeine. Later when I finished university studies, I decided to wean myself off coffee even though it was then, and still now, totally socially acceptable to be a caffeine addict.

However going cold turkey was quite an unexpected and unpleasant experience. 

I had excruciating migraines for three days and all over body aches, etc. Needless to say having gone through caffeine withdrawal once, I have a very healthy respect for its powerful addictive effects. I now mostly drink organic herbal teas or an occasional water-decaffeinated organic coffee and of course lots of filtered water.

But during that same period there was little information in Australia about the dangers of consuming artificial sweeteners and diet soft drinks, and so I continued to drink them until my MS diagnosis. However I then followed Lady Cilento’s writings and eliminated them completely from my diet.

Studies since then as noted in Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing Traditions, have indicated that the sugar, artificial sweeteners and phosphoric acid, etc., in soft drinks can have a negative impact on bones and joints. Elaine Hollingsworth in Take Control of Your Health and Escape the Sickness Industry contends that artificial sweeteners are a major cause of MS. I strongly feel my recovery was greatly assisted by eliminating the consumption of diet soft drinks. 

I had learned a lot from my research and had taken immediate action to have as many physical treatments I could manage and to clean up my diet plus supplementing with high quality vitamin C powder (with bioflavonoids). My focus and determination was very high and of course I was buoyed by a decrease in my MS symptoms from that first week of corrective treatments.

Do you notice any ill effects from drinking diet soft drinks and products with aspartame?

You can read more about my MS journey here.