ParrotPalParrotPal Data · short read
Diet cola is logged twice as widely as regular cola
Key findings
17.2% of UK ParrotPal members logged a diet or zero-sugar cola between February and August 2026, about twice the 8.5% who logged regular cola.
In Britain’s calorie diaries the cola is mostly diet. 17.2% of members logged Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Pepsi Max or similar, against 8.5% who logged a regular cola.
17.2% vs 8.5%diet or zero cola vs regular cola
Soft drinks members logged
Share of membersAmong diet drinkers, cola dominates: 84.9% of members who logged a diet or zero-sugar drink logged a cola. Energy drinks reached 8.3% of members, and men were more likely to log them than women.
Fruit juice and smoothies were logged by 23.1% of members. Other fizzy drinks and squash (lemonade, Lucozade, tonic) reached 19.1%.
People counting calories may log the zero-calorie drink, or may switch to it. The diary can’t tell which.
What this means
Among people tracking food, sugar-free is the default cola.
The figures
| Drink | Share of members who logged it |
|---|---|
| Fruit juice and smoothies | 23.1% |
| Other fizzy drinks and squash | 19.1% |
| Diet or zero cola | 17.2% |
| Cola | 8.5% |
| Energy drinks | 8.3% |
| Diet or zero fizzy drinks and squash | 6.7% |
| Milkshake | 6.7% |
| Kombucha | 1.8% |
Method in brief. UK ParrotPal members’ anonymised food diaries, 1 February to 31 August 2026 (members whose app is set to UK time; internal accounts and deleted entries left out). A share is the share of members in the group who logged the item at least once, so it counts people, not entries. Diet or zero means the drink was logged as diet, zero, max, light or sugar-free.
Aggregates only: every group shown has 50 or more members and no share rests on fewer than 10. Patterns in what members logged, not causes. who’s counted · the 50/10 rule · logged isn’t eaten · how foods are named and counted.
Full report: What Britain logs.
Questions people ask
Do people drink more Diet Coke than regular Coke?
In ParrotPal food diaries, yes: 17.2% of members logged a diet or zero cola, against 8.5% regular.
How many people logged energy drinks?
8.3% of UK members.
Is this national data?
No. It’s app members tracking their food, who aren’t a random sample of the UK.
Cite this
Free to use with credit and a link to the source page. The figures and chart are licensed CC BY 4.0.
Credit line
Source: ParrotPal food diary data, parrotpal.com/data/diet-vs-regular-cola/
Citation
ParrotPal (2026). Diet cola is logged twice as widely as regular cola. ParrotPal Data. https://parrotpal.com/data/diet-vs-regular-cola/. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Embed the chart (an image with the credit link)
<figure><img src="https://parrotpal.com/data/diet-vs-regular-cola/chart.svg" alt="Soft drinks members logged: chart by ParrotPal" width="760" style="max-width:100%;height:auto" /><figcaption>Source: <a href="https://parrotpal.com/data/diet-vs-regular-cola/">ParrotPal food diary data</a> (CC BY 4.0)</figcaption></figure>
Download the chart (SVG) · The figures (CSV)
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Please read. This page reports patterns in anonymised, aggregated app data. It’s general information, not medical or dietary advice.
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