What Donald Trump Drinks In A Day

As Donald Trump gets ready to take office as the oldest president ever, it really makes you think about what people can achieve later in life. Although Trump's daily diet has never been known to be stellar and he gets limited exercise—mainly golf, often with the aid of a cart—he manages to maintain an incredibly active schedule. Even with the demands of planning his administration during the day, he frequently posts on social media during late hours or extremely early mornings.

How does Trump have so much energy at the age of 78? Perhaps it's the 12 Diet Cokes he reportedly drinks every day. Not water, Diet Coke, according to his friend, UFC CEO Dana White. "I've never seen him drink water. Ever," White said in an interview with Tucker Carlson (via Newsweek).

(Read what happens when you drink Diet Coke every day.)

Although people's hydration needs vary, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says most men need about 13 cups of fluid a day to keep their bodies functioning well. Women need about 9 cups. That could include caffeinated drinks such as Diet Coke, but you run the risk of taking in too much caffeine if your only hydration source is Diet Coke. Besides, those artificial sugars can be detrimental to your health.

It's no surprise that Diet Coke and similar beverages have a moderate amount of caffeine. Some sodas have more or less, but Diet Coke has 34 milligrams of caffeine per 12-ounce can. You'd have to drink about three or four Diet Cokes to get the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. If Trump does drink 12 Diet Cokes a day, that adds up to 408 milligrams of caffeine. That might sound like a lot for people who might only drink one or two cups of coffee a day, but is that much caffeine safe?

A 2017 systematic review in Food and Chemical Toxicology looked at almost 400 studies focused on the adverse effects of caffeine. In healthy adults, consuming 400 milligrams of caffeine a day isn't linked to cardiovascular, behavioral, and reproductive health problems, though there are some long-term side effects of caffeine.

That caffeine from 12 Diet Cokes might help Trump stave off cognitive decline, especially since his father Fred had Alzheimer's disease (per The Washington Post). A 2020 systematic review in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease found that caffeine can reduce the risk of cognitive decline. Caffeine also has a beneficial effect on people who already have dementia or some type of cognitive impairment. However, most of these studies focused on caffeine sources such as coffee and tea rather than Diet Coke.

The current Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting your added sugar intake to 10% of your daily calories. That can be difficult to do, considering that sugar can be hiding in many foods such as ketchup, breads, and even some cured meats. Reducing added sugar from your diet might be simple if you swap out sugar for artificial sweeteners. Rather than taking in 39 grams of added sugar in a Coke, you can choose Diet Coke, which is sweetened with aspartame.

However, those Diet Cokes don't do much for your waistline, according to a 2023 study in the International Journal of Obesity. Researchers tracked the diets and body composition of more than 3,000 young adults for 25 years and found that those who consumed more artificial sweeteners such as aspartame were more likely to have more belly fat and higher BMI. It might be best for Trump to try some healthy alternatives to diet soda.

Relying on Diet Cokes and other artificially sweetened beverages isn't good for older adults like Trump. A 2017 study in Stroke followed more than 4,000 older adults for about 10 years to see how their diet and lifestyle affected their risk of stroke and dementia. Compared to people who refrained from these diet drinks, those who had at least one diet drink per day had almost three times the risk of dementia or stroke.