I'm not offended, I just disagree. There are many substances that are beneficial at one level, and toxic at another. So "poison" often is very much a subjective term. Fat soluble vitamins, eventually become poisons if the concentrations are high enough.
If the formaldehyde concentrations were higher from aspartame than for natural foods, you would have a point, but it's my understanding that that is not true at all. In graduate school we studied PKU. PKU is the genetic disorder which was once the leading cause of preventable mental re- tardation, before the test was developed that is now administred at birth. Children with PKU have to follow a low phenylalanine diet until brain development is complete (at least until age 7, but many doctors recommend the diet until puberty). The diet is reportedly so limited and unpalatable, that most people following it say that "if it tastes good, you probably can't eat it." The professor teaching the class taught us that normal foods are a much higher risk to those with PKU than aspartame - because the concentrations of phenylalanine from food are actually much higher, but natural foods do not require a warning label, because PKU patients and their families have already been told which natural foods contain phenylalanine (and apparently, it's almost all foods, except for a few unpalatable choices).
I'm not saying that aspartame is healthy or harmless, but chemistry is chemistry, and while there may be dangers in consuming aspartame, the danger probably is not from the formaldehyde. Formaldehyde just sounds "scary," so it's very useful in anti-aspartame propaganda, because it's much more likely to think "formaldeyhyde - poison," than to think "formaldehyde - natural product of protein/amino acid metabolism."
HFCS is a bit of a different animal, in that, as I understand it, the biochemistry of HFCS is significantly different than most naturally occuring sugars, thus the chemistry is actually different.
I hate diet soda and think it isnt good for weight loss
However the formaldehyde thing is a myth. Tomato juice produces just as much formaldehyde in the system as diet coke. It is a temporary step in the metabolism of methane. So basically you can fart out your gas, or some of it may be absorbed and you will metabolize it and it temporarily will go through formaldehyde before it is metabolized to something else.
well aside from all the mumbo jumbo..... there is one thing that should make sense to everyone no matter what research you follow...
The problem with diet soda and any other drink or food that is artificially sweetened and contains little to no calories is the communication between our taste buds and the brain....... you eat or drink something overtly sweet, and your body thinks its receiving calories, when no calories are present, things go into overdrive and your brain tells your stomach somethings missing, you get hungry, and alot of times eat even though you dont need to...
I cut out all diet soda 3 weeks ago, I rely strictly on water and a glass or two of skim milk a day, and just doing that cut my hunger dramatically, and i'm not drinking anymore than I was when I was drinking Diet Coke.
I just feel that if you are drinking diet sodas instead of real sodas, you are not really changing your habits. Why not just cut them out all together?
And yes, the artificial sweeteners are scary. If you want something sweet, either use actual sugar, or grab a piece of fruit. It seems a much safer choice.
This is completely false. There's a tiny grain of truth in that aspartame does produce a tiny amount of formaldehyde in the digestion of it's two componemnt amino acids - but what is NOT said, is that one or both of these amino acids are in many, many, many foods - and they also break down into small amounts of formaldehyde.
So, while it's true, that aspartame breaks down into trace quantities of fomaldehyde - so do all other foods containing those amino acids, yet no one is afraid of the banana or thousands of other foods that have the same break down.
You've got to be very careful in assuming that small amounts of a harmful substance is harmful. Vitamin C breaks down into oxalic acid. Oxalic acid is toxic in large amounts, but perfectly safe in smaller amounts (which is why rhubarb leaves are poisonous, but the stalk is edible). Tea leaves are extremely high in oxalic acid, but because you don't eat a salad of tea leaves, tea is not considered poisonous, because the amount that transfers into the tea is significant, but not toxic.
Digestion and body processes produces a lot of "toxic substances," including formaldehyde, oxalic acid, hydrochloric (stomach) acid... There are many substances that are beneficial or benign at specific concentrations or circumstances and toxic or injurious at others.
However, it is much more effective for me to think of diet coke being turned into formaldehyde & preserving my fat. =P
Thanks for sharing the link--my grandma always bugs me saying that anything carbonated makes you bloated. I know that diet sodas are unnatural and for the most part, I want to avoid anything that's unnatural.
You know, though, I have been exercising a whole bunch and am finding it hard NOT to eat, eat EAT in the evenings. I never seem to feel FULL! But I find that having 2 cans of diet soda (Diet ginger ale is my favorite) gives me that feeling of fullness.
I know my calorie intake is where it should be. I just want to feel "full". And Diet Soda does the trick for me.
Kira
Every so often I vow to give up my beloved Coke Zero after reading a report on how bad it is for you or that it can actually cause you to overeat. This usually last a few days and then I find myself giving in when I see my boyfriend drinking his cans of regular Coke with glee.
I finally decided that for me a a few cans a week was not going to kill me, or at least not in the immediate future.
great thread and very informative from all sides (and passionate I love that).
so here's my take: of course Diet sodas are not good for you! Especially when ALL you drink ALL day long is diet soda. I drink *maybe* one a day if that. ONE. What about moderation? As I stated in the other thread - when I only have ONE diet soda a day (IF I have one) I am not affected in any way shape or form by cravings, mental or physical. So, what if moderation were actually the key here and you DON'T have to cut it out if you don't really want to?
How many people still eat chocolate and ice cream and chips and fast food on a regular basis? Guess what? McDonald's is NOT good for you. "Fake" ice cream and chips are not good for you. Cookies are not good for you, but does that mean you should NEVER have those things again? Moderation is the key, IMHO, otherwise, people could argue that pretty much everything is bad for you. Vegans or Vegetarians argue that meat is not only murder but it's also bad for you. Atkins Advocates will tell you that bread/potatoes/rice is bad for you. Weight Watchers will tell calorie counters that eating (what they consider) too little calories is bad for you. We can't do anything right here!
So, yeah. Diet sodas are not good for me. I know. That's cool. I quit smoking, I hardly drink alchohol anymore, I never eat fast food (NEVER), I never buy nor consume "snack" foods or have them in my house, heck I hardly even go out to eat at a nice restaurant! I think one Diet Soda a day is not going to kill me or even wreck my planned day.
If I have eaten all my points for the day and its late and I'm hungry, I'll drink some diet pepsi and I feel all full and make it until bed time without eating.
All things in moderation. Sure, if you sit around all day and drink diet soda it can't be good for you. News flash, sitting around all day and drinking sugary soda isn't good for you either. Let's not get too conclusive about these studies for people who drink a couple of 8 oz glasses of diet Coke per day. I have a master's degree is molecular biology and I still consume Aspartame in moderation. It's been a god send. I don't have headaches or digestive problems and as far as these artificial sweeteners being converted to formaldehyde, everything we eat is converted into smaller molecular molecules in our body - its called metabolic digestion. Non-scientists need to be very careful before handing out recommendations that they do not truly understand nor have they scientifically evaluated the research data. FYI, Aspartame is one of the most highly researched food additives - EVER!
I have to point out that I began to get mysterious, excruciating headaches last year, which eventually progressed to the point that I couldn't even get out of bed for over a week. No TV, no music, no reading; I couldn't do anything but draw the curtains, put a mask over my eyes to block out even the dimmest light, and pray that the awful pain would go away.
There was an afternoon when I realized that I'd felt relatively normal all day, and when my boyfriend came home he brought me a bottle of diet green tea. After downing it my headache immediately came back.
It was then I made the connection: aspartame. I'd been having the occasional diet soft drink for months after I moved, hoping to lower my sugar intake. And I'd also noticed I'd been getting headaches since I moved as well, which I originally attributed to stress and the extreme change in climate. I have a feeling that whatever it is that messed with me had a chance to build up over the months to get me to that awful point of not being able to get out of bed.
It took several weeks to clear out of my system, but except for the occasional slip-up I haven't touched the stuff. And if I do slip up over forgetting to check labels, I end up paying for it with a mild headache and/or a foggy feeling in my head. But at least in those cases it's a small amount that hasn't built up.
Interestingly, my overactive bladder issue that I'd had for about the same amount of time cleared up as well.
Regardless of what people say for or against aspartame and what supposedly is good or bad about it, I consider it poison and was appalled after not only what i went through, but from reading the side effects listed by the FDA itself.
Wow, how does this stuff stay on the market? How many more people are getting unknown side effects that they attribute to other issues?
But how do you break the soda habit!!! I am totally addicted to diet coke. Got to have my Sonic diet vanilla coke almost every day. I know it's not good for me, when my stress levels are through the roof, which is always, I have trouble keeping away from it.
I have to admit that I am addicted to diet pepsi and coke zero. And I drink a lot of it during the day. However, I have not noticed any of the side effects described. In fact, I find drinking the regular sugary versions gives me headaches, makes me feel dizzy and spacey - probably from the quick concentration of sugar all at one time.
Diet soda has really helped me in eliminating calories. Sometimes I feel like binging, but I have a glass of ice and diet soda and gets rid of the temptation.
