Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
A ton of people turn to diet soda to get a relatively guilt-free soft drink fix that’s definitely healthier than the sugar-laden alternatives. However, there’s plenty of evidence that suggests you also want to enjoy them in moderation—a piece of advice Fat Joe has firmly ignored based on how many cans of Diet Pepsi he says he goes through each day.
The origins of Fat Joe’s moniker are pretty straightforward, as the Bronx native (who’s real name is Joseph Cartanega) definitely lived up to the label based on the physique he was sporting when he started rapping toward the start of the 1990s.
The Terror Squad frontman remained on the heavier side for the bulk of his career—longtime collaborator Big Pun was basically the only person who could make him look small by comparison near his peak—but he eventually underwent a pretty impressive transformation.
Earlier this year, the rapper revealed he’s lost around 250 pounds since 2015 and acknowledged he’s one of the many people who’ve turned to Ozempic in a quest to stay slim while warding off the cravings that have a tendency to interfere with that particular goal.
However, that regimen apparently hasn’t done much to curb the insane amount of Diet Pepsi he pounds on a daily basis.
Fat Joe might want to rethink the habit that has him drinking a staggering amount of Diet Pepsi each day
Fat Joe currently helms a podcast with Jadakiss, and the duo welcomed Drinks Champs hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN for an episode where the artist who’s probably best known for “Lean Back” expressed some concern about the amount of booze they routinely throw back on the show and beyond.
That served as a segue into a revelation about a different kind of drinking habit, as Fat Joe subsequently admitted, “I drink too many Diet Pepsis. I got a problem; 30, 40 a day.”
Based on what he had to say after fessing up, the habit can be traced back to the four months he spent in jail for tax evasion in 2013, as he first developed a taste for that particular vice due to how easily he was able to obtain them while behind bars.
It doesn’t sound like he has any plans to stop, although there’s evidence that shows it wouldn’t be the worst idea.
How much diet soda is too much diet soda?
The first diet soda ever created was first sold in Spain in 1949, and those sugar-free offerings really began to take off in America in the 1960s thanks to the introduction like Tab and Fresca. Most of those zero-calorie options contained a mixture of two artificial sweeteners in the form of cyclamate and saccharin, although companies were forced to reformulate after studies showed consumption of the former was linked with cancer.
Aspartame is currently the primary sweetener of choice in Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke, but there are also a number of studies that have linked the regular consumption of one or two cans of diet soda per day to an increased risk of stroke, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis (among other conditions).
I can’t find any studies examining the effects of having 30 to 40 cans of diet soda per day, but I have a feeling most medical professionals would tell you it’s not a great idea.
It’s worth noting he’s not the only notable name who’s copped to drinking a ton of diet soda, although he puts John Daly (who once drank 13 Diet Cokes over the course of one round of golf) and Donald Trump (reportedly 12 cans of the same beverage per day) to shame.