Crystal Light — Healthy or Harmful?
A Bite-Size Read for Your Health and Waistline
Remember Crystal Light from the ’80s and ‘90s? It was powder you mixed into water to give it a flavor, like lemonade or iced tea, while keeping the drink low or zero calories. A friend of mine recently asked about my thoughts on it. Truthfully, I was shocked it was still on the market! I hadn’t looked at Crystal Light in years; I told her I’d check it out.
There are many similar products on the market today like Mio, Stur, and SweetLeaf, to name a few. But since Crystal Light is the OG in this category, and it’s the one recently asked about, we’ll focus on just the one.
I remember Crystal Light being advertised as zero calories. Looking at the nutrition facts today, there are typically 5–10 calories in 1 packet, depending on the flavor! Other than that, the nutrition label says it only contains sodium and 2g or 3g of carbs, once again depending on the flavor.
If you’re a Salad With A Side Of Fries fan, you know that’s not the whole story! Next, we look at the ingredients list. The lemonade flavor of Crystal Light has citric acid, potassium citrate, sodium citrate, aspartame, magnesium oxide, maltodextrin, acesulfame potassium, soy lecithin, yellow 5, and then less than 2% of natural flavors. Most of the other Crystal Light flavors contain the same ingredients. While many of these ingredients aren’t my favorites there are a couple I’d be remiss if we didn’t discuss in more depth.
One of the ingredients that raises a red flag for me is aspartame. In short, aspartame is an artificial sweetener that has been linked to behavioral and cognitive problems, like learning challenges, headaches, seizures, migraines, irritable moods, anxiety, depression, and insomnia.
Similarly, maltodextrin is in crystal light. Often used as a sweetening, thickening and stabilizing agent, it’s a highly processed additive made from corn, rice, potato starch or wheat. Beware if gluten doesn’t agree with you as there’s often no way to know which source of maltodextrin is used in a product. On top of this, Maltodextrin is high glycemic index, which means it can cause a spike in blood sugar. While considered safe to consume in very small amounts, people looking to maintain balanced blood sugar or healthy blood sugar ranges may want to minimize or avoid maltodextrin. Further, it may also negatively impact gut health. A 2012 study found maltodextrin may change gut bacteria composition, making a person more susceptible to disease, as it may suppress the growth of probiotics. A 2019 study concluded maltodextrin may impair intestinal mucus release, which can impair gut health. We could certainly use more research here but it’s worth noting!
Another red flag ingredient in crystal light is acesulfame potassium, which is about 200 times sweeter than table sugar but often used for sour flavor. Often referred to as Ace-K, this ingredient may not be as safe as originally thought. While many food-governing bodies say it’s safe within certain limits, a 2013 study showed the chronic use of Ace-K in male mice was linked to possible changes in brain function over a period of 40 weeks. This means we want to be cautious about how much we’re having at a time and how often.
All these artificial sweeteners can keep us addicted to that sweet taste, which means the more we have them, the more we want them and the more we have them, the sweeter something needs to be for it to register as sweet. In short, drinking crystal light in your water can potentially have you craving other sweet things and certainly more crystal light!
In fairness, there is a Crystal Light Pure option, which uses sugar and stevia (plus some other additives). For this option, it’s up to you; for me, I still don’t love the Pure version or what they’re calling “pure.”
Final thought, and I say this with all the love in the world, no one on this planet is deficient in Yellow 5, Red 40, or Blue 1. Technically, they are all generally regarded as safe (GRAS), according to the FDA. Yet, there is some research that links artificial colors in foods and drinks to allergic reactions and contributes to diseases, cognitive behavioral problems in kids, and autoimmune disorders.
So, where does this leave us with Crystal Light? For me, it’s a hard pass. There’s truly nothing in here that is health-promoting or even health-supporting in any way. And I know that water can be super boring. So, could a person have Crystal Light on occasion? Sure! As I say, you do you! These ingredients in small amounts, occasionally, probably won’t cause a problem. But I would also say it’s not doing anything positive for us either.
If you get bored with plain water, like me, I’m a big fan of flavoring it myself. I like to add berries, any kind of citrus fruit, or cucumbers. Pro tip: if you use frozen berries, they act like ice cubes in your water! Some of my favorite combos are cucumbers with fresh mint, oranges and lemons, cucumber and lime, or lemon and lime. The longer you leave them sitting in the water, the more flavor you’re going to get, and you can also do this with sparkling water. It’s Summer, friends. Stay hydrated…but maybe not with Crystal Light!
