Key Takeaways
Alcohol is a known liver toxin, and heavy alcohol use increases the risk of liver disease and other health problems.Drinking soda, including both sugar-sweetened and diet soda, is linked to fatty liver disease.Less is known about how combining alcohol and diet soda impacts the liver. But mixing alcohol with diet soda in place of sugar-sweetened mixers might increase the blood alcohol concentration more rapidly.
What you drink can impact your liver health. The harms of alcohol on the liver are well known, but more recent research suggests that diet soda can also contribute to liver problems. There isn’t a lot of evidence on how combining alcohol with diet soda impacts the liver, but it may affect how quickly the body absorbs alcohol.
Alcohol as a Liver Toxin
The liver is responsible for breaking down alcohol. This process results in toxic compounds, such as acetaldehyde, that can cause liver inflammation. Binge drinking negatively impacts the liver, and the more alcohol you drink, the greater the risk.
Alcohol can lead to the following liver conditions:
Steatosis: Fat accumulation in the liver
Steatohepatitis: Fat accumulation along with inflammation in the liver
Hepatitis: Severe inflammation of the liver
Fibrosis: Scarring of the liver
Cirrhosis: Advanced scarring of the liver
Hepatocellular carcinoma: A type of liver cancer
Diet Soda’s Impact on the Liver
Alcohol is not the only beverage that can harm the liver. Diet sodas also appear to have an impact.
Diet sodas contain artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin. And while these sugars aren’t metabolized into glucose, they do have effects on the body and possibly the liver.
Research suggests that adults who frequently drink diet soft drinks have higher rates of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). However, the researchers attributed much of this effect to the effects of obesity.
More recent research found similar results. Tracking over 120,000 people with healthy livers, the researchers found that people who drank about one can of diet or low-sugar soda were 60% more likely to develop MASLD over a 10-year period.
What Is MASLD?
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a condition in which fat accumulates in the liver and is not due to alcohol use, infection, or autoimmune disease. It was previously known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The condition can progress to cause inflammation (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH) and cirrhosis.
MASLD is becoming more common, affecting approximately 1 in 3 people worldwide, as obesity and diabetes have also become more common.
Combining Alcohol and Diet Soda
People who are watching their calorie or sugar intake may be interested in mixing alcohol with diet soda rather than regular soda. The exact effects of combining alcohol and diet soda on the liver are not well studied.
However, replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with diet soda when you drink might increase peak breath alcohol concentration (BAC). This is because sugar slows the rate at which the stomach empties (gastric emptying time). Without it, alcohol reaches the intestines, where it is absorbed, sooner.
Keeping Your Liver Healthy
The World Health Organization recommends abstinence from alcohol, stating that no amount of alcohol is considered safe. It has risks for liver disease, cancer, and accidents.
The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend consuming less alcohol for better health, replacing previous limits for moderate alcohol intake of one drink per day for women and two for men.
Because alcohol can worsen the progression of liver disease, it’s best to avoid drinking alcohol if you have liver disease, including MASLD. To keep your liver healthy, it’s also wise to limit soda and diet soda consumption, as these are linked to fatty liver disease.
Your healthcare provider is a great resource if you need help cutting back on your alcohol intake or coming up with a healthy dietary plan.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Park WY, Yiannakou I, Petersen JM, Hoffmann U, Ma J, Long MT. Sugar-sweetened beverage, diet aoda, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease over 6 years: The Framingham Heart Study. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022;20(11):2524-2532.e2. doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2021.11.001
Stamates AL, Maloney SF, Marczinski CA. Effects of artificial sweeteners on breath alcohol concentrations in male and female social drinkers. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2015;157:197-199. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.10.015
Wu Y, Tan Z, Zhen J, et al. Association between diet soft drink consumption and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: findings from the NHANES. BMC Public Health. 2023;23(1):2286. doi:10.1186/s12889-023-17223-0
American Liver Foundation. Alcohol-associated liver disease.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcohol’s effects on the body.
United European Gastroenterology. Artificially sweetened and sugary drinks are both associated with an increased risk of liver disease, study finds.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Definition and facts of NAFLD and NASH.
Younossi ZM, Kalligeros M, Henry L. Epidemiology of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. Clin Mol Hepatol. 2025;31(Suppl):S32-S50. doi:10.3350/cmh.2024.0431
World Health Organization. No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health.
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2025-2030).
Rinella ME, Neuschwander-Tetri BA, Siddiqui MS, et al. AASLD Practice Guidance on the clinical assessment and management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology. 2023;77(5):1797-1835. doi:10.1097/HEP.0000000000000323
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