Aspartame (Crystal Light, and other 'diet drinks')

liquidleaves

So we always here conflicting stories about aspartame and sucralose. I keep hearing that those 'chemicals' are actually good for you and help you lose weight. Is this true. I currently do not drink diet anything...but water is getting so boring. Suggestions and or input?? Thanks in advance.

coll450

So many mixed messages about aspartame! My cousin is a holistic nutritionist and she is VERY anti-aspartame. However one my magazines from work (nursing magazine) said they really are not that bad and don't cause all the memory loss or cancers that some believe they do. I also read a study they did on rats that did not show a real risk to them. I have read however that people who drink a lot of diet drinks tend to have a higher waistline. I think that is more diet pop related though. I buy the MIO bottles, they flavour your water with the tiniest bit and are so tasty! And it's still water in the end as opposed to diet pop.

crandos

Everything in moderation so dont drink 15 cans of coke zero a day and you should be sweet.

lstroth1

I am trying to cut back on the chemical sweetners because I am not sure about their long term side effects. Also our body really does better with stuff that is grown naturally. So I have been adding a few more things with truvia in them and reducing the aspartame and splenda.
I still have the chemical sweetners time to time but just have cut back on how much and how often. Moderation is always better, even with stuff that is natural.

snazzyjazzy21

In moderation, it's fine. If you drink 50 cans of diet soda a day, not so much.

Some people do find that aspartame makes them crave sugar, but if that's not you then I say feel free to drink diet.

mistigoodwin

This topic has got me so confused, there is so much back and forth on it, I don't know what to think. I quit drinking regular pop all together, once in a while a diet soda is ok, but it makes me feel hungry. I always wonder if its aspartame or something else in it. I drink a lot of water, and add lemons to it when I get sick of regular water.

Cheeky_and_Geeky

I find water boring & add a diet Snapple packet in a water bottle once or twice a day. I don't feel anymore hungry & I have no idea what it's sweetened with. I don't drink diet soda so that's my treat. Everything in moderation.

rhye

There was a study that showed that people who consumed artificial sweeteners via diet soda tended to weigh more and the hypothesis was that it caused them to crave sweets. I didn't read that study, only the notes from it. Conversely I did recently read a study that found that people who drank diet soda actually ate less sweet food compared to people drinking water, but that water drinkers ate more fruits and vegetables than the diet soda drinkers. They all lost weight, but that was because both groups (diet soda and water) were switched to their respective beverages from sugared soda.

It's widely understood that aspartame is the least healthy of artificial sweeteners on the market. Sucralose should not have any negative biological effects. Sodium saccharine was shown to cause bladder cancer in mice when they were fed, you know, like 10 times their body weight in the stuff per day until they were practically just peeing it back out. If you consume ten times your body weight in anything you would likely get bladder cancer as well...

Water > Sucralose > Saccharine > Aspartame

Sincerely, someone who has read enough studies to have no reason for drinking as much aspartame as she does but cannot seem to make the switch from Diet Coke to Diet Rite because OMG HAVE YOU TASTED DIET RITE? THAT STUFF'S NASTY.

Achrya

There was a study that showed that people who consumed artificial sweeteners via diet soda tended to weigh more and the hypothesis was that it caused them to crave sweets. I didn't read that study, only the notes from it. Conversely I did recently read a study that found that people who drank diet soda actually ate less sweet food compared to people drinking water, but that water drinkers ate more fruits and vegetables than the diet soda drinkers. They all lost weight, but that was because both groups (diet soda and water) were switched to their respective beverages from sugared soda.

It's widely understood that aspartame is the least healthy of artificial sweeteners on the market. Sucralose should not have any negative biological effects. Sodium saccharine was shown to cause bladder cancer in mice when they were fed, you know, like 10 times their body weight in the stuff per day until they were practically just peeing it back out. If you consume ten times your body weight in anything you would likely get bladder cancer as well...

Water > Sucralose > Saccharine > Aspartame

Sincerely, someone who has read enough studies to have no reason for drinking as much aspartame as she does but cannot seem to make the switch from Diet Coke to Diet Rite because OMG HAVE YOU TASTED DIET RITE? THAT STUFF'S NASTY.

Do people who are overweight drink diet soda or does diet soda make people overweight? I tend to lean towards the former, tbh,

rhye

Oh and truvia is supposed to be the "best" artificial sweetener. The stevia sweeteners are plant extracts with sugar alcohol added to "pad" them. These are the ones that are safe, per my pediatrician, to give to my toddler, and per my midwife, to drink while pregnant. Truvia is essentially dried stevia tea and sugar alcohol. Crystal Light used to have those water bottle flavor packets with stevia but I couldn't find them. I did find an off-brand powdered lemonade sweetened with stevia but it's in pitcher-sized packets.

snazzyjazzy21

There was a study that showed that people who consumed artificial sweeteners via diet soda tended to weigh more and the hypothesis was that it caused them to crave sweets. I didn't read that study, only the notes from it. Conversely I did recently read a study that found that people who drank diet soda actually ate less sweet food compared to people drinking water, but that water drinkers ate more fruits and vegetables than the diet soda drinkers. They all lost weight, but that was because both groups (diet soda and water) were switched to their respective beverages from sugared soda.

It's widely understood that aspartame is the least healthy of artificial sweeteners on the market. Sucralose should not have any negative biological effects. Sodium saccharine was shown to cause bladder cancer in mice when they were fed, you know, like 10 times their body weight in the stuff per day until they were practically just peeing it back out. If you consume ten times your body weight in anything you would likely get bladder cancer as well...

Water > Sucralose > Saccharine > Aspartame

Sincerely, someone who has read enough studies to have no reason for drinking as much aspartame as she does but cannot seem to make the switch from Diet Coke to Diet Rite because OMG HAVE YOU TASTED DIET RITE? THAT STUFF'S NASTY.

Do people who are overweight drink diet soda or does diet soda make people overweight? I tend to lean towards the former, tbh,

I know a person who's overweight and drinks normal soda. Does normal soda make you fat? Correlation or causation? We may never know...

Achrya

There was a study that showed that people who consumed artificial sweeteners via diet soda tended to weigh more and the hypothesis was that it caused them to crave sweets. I didn't read that study, only the notes from it. Conversely I did recently read a study that found that people who drank diet soda actually ate less sweet food compared to people drinking water, but that water drinkers ate more fruits and vegetables than the diet soda drinkers. They all lost weight, but that was because both groups (diet soda and water) were switched to their respective beverages from sugared soda.

It's widely understood that aspartame is the least healthy of artificial sweeteners on the market. Sucralose should not have any negative biological effects. Sodium saccharine was shown to cause bladder cancer in mice when they were fed, you know, like 10 times their body weight in the stuff per day until they were practically just peeing it back out. If you consume ten times your body weight in anything you would likely get bladder cancer as well...

Water > Sucralose > Saccharine > Aspartame

Sincerely, someone who has read enough studies to have no reason for drinking as much aspartame as she does but cannot seem to make the switch from Diet Coke to Diet Rite because OMG HAVE YOU TASTED DIET RITE? THAT STUFF'S NASTY.

Do people who are overweight drink diet soda or does diet soda make people overweight? I tend to lean towards the former, tbh,

I know a person who's overweight and drinks normal soda. Does normal soda make you fat? Correlation or causation? We may never know...

But wait. My husband drinks normal soda and has never been overweight!

Could it be that soda has no effect and it's simple about amount of consumption vs what you're consuming?!






Nah. That's crazy.

pseudomuffin

I consume artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols daily as I'm on Atkins... I wish I could cut out sweets all together but with my sweet tooth it's either something or EVERYTHING and so I'll take my chemical sweeteners over no progress at all. At least with sugar alcohols overindulgence is a self correcting problem :blushing: But having cut out sugar I can say that my hypoglycemia has pretty much disappeared and I have less cravings than I did before.

ryry_

There was a study that showed that people who consumed artificial sweeteners via diet soda tended to weigh more and the hypothesis was that it caused them to crave sweets. I didn't read that study, only the notes from it. Conversely I did recently read a study that found that people who drank diet soda actually ate less sweet food compared to people drinking water, but that water drinkers ate more fruits and vegetables than the diet soda drinkers. They all lost weight, but that was because both groups (diet soda and water) were switched to their respective beverages from sugared soda.

It's widely understood that aspartame is the least healthy of artificial sweeteners on the market. Sucralose should not have any negative biological effects. Sodium saccharine was shown to cause bladder cancer in mice when they were fed, you know, like 10 times their body weight in the stuff per day until they were practically just peeing it back out. If you consume ten times your body weight in anything you would likely get bladder cancer as well...

Water > Sucralose > Saccharine > Aspartame

Sincerely, someone who has read enough studies to have no reason for drinking as much aspartame as she does but cannot seem to make the switch from Diet Coke to Diet Rite because OMG HAVE YOU TASTED DIET RITE? THAT STUFF'S NASTY.

Do people who are overweight drink diet soda or does diet soda make people overweight? I tend to lean towards the former, tbh,

I know a person who's overweight and drinks normal soda. Does normal soda make you fat? Correlation or causation? We may never know...

But wait. My husband drinks normal soda and has never been overweight!

Could it be that soda has no effect and it's simple about amount of consumption vs what you're consuming?!






Nah. That's crazy.

KayteeBear

Aspartame gives me headaches. I don't believe it gives you cancer and stuff like that but one glass of Crystal Light is instant headache for me.

ryry_

Aspartame gives me headaches. I don't believe it gives you cancer and stuff like that but one glass of Crystal Light is instant headache for me.

This would be classified as a good reason to avoid products containing aspartame

kellyskitties

I consume artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols daily as I'm on Atkins... I wish I could cut out sweets all together but with my sweet tooth it's either something or EVERYTHING and so I'll take my chemical sweeteners over no progress at all. At least with sugar alcohols overindulgence is a self correcting problem :blushing: But having cut out sugar I can say that my hypoglycemia has pretty much disappeared and I have less cravings than I did before.

This is not uncommon on low carb diets - you may be experiencing reactive hypoglycemia.

I cut out sodas all together, then allowed one now and then - I drink 1-2/month. I've always drank diet. The diet coke now tastes like an ashtray. I'd rather have water (the earth may shatter just at me stating this publicly). I drink water, black coffee, unsweetened tea most of the time. My 1-2 sodas are diet root beer - it's all I like of them now. Seriously. The diet coke tasted so bad I ate my popcorn dry at the movies and only sipped it 3-4 times just to keep from choking on it. I should have skipped it, but didn't know my taste had changed so much.

I don't have any issues with using stevia plant - but they are even developing this into a processed food now. It's getting away from anything natural quickly.

roadrunnergreg

Personally I avoid the artificial sweeteners, aspartame has been shown to be carcinogenic. Plus I read a report last week showing that people are ending up with MS like symptoms and loss of use etc, and being mis understood by a lot of doctors as MS when the underlying problem is aspartame poisoning, and once the sweeteners had been removed from their diet, normal bodily function returned, but it's your choice...

Also sweeteners of any kind are acidic to the body's PH balance along with other chemicals that we use on a daily basis, and the body needs to naturally retain fat to neutralise them as fat is alkaline. This is in part why people that are dependant on meds really struggle with their weight...

blah2989

I honestly do not know what to think either. This is my take, however, Soda is bad for you, diet or not. ( moderation is fine) The carbonated diet flavored "water" things. Similar to soda, but not as many chemicals in it. Diet teas, crystal light, flavored water... still have aspartame. I still drink them. But again, Im not sure how aspartame itself affects you. Too many articles with opposing points. The studies are, to me, not made clear enough.

snazzyjazzy21

This is in part why people that are dependant on meds really struggle with their weight...

:indifferent:

fairyt4l3s

I've read that aspartame can actually help store fat on your thighs/bum area.... Eeek!

snazzyjazzy21

I've read that aspartame can actually help store fat on your thighs/bum area.... Eeek!

Untrue. Aspartame plays no part in fat storage, or where it is stored. Excess calories on the other hand, will cause you to gain fat.

Achrya

I've read that aspartame can actually help store fat on your thighs/bum area.... Eeek!

Note to Self: Increase aspartame intake.

KeepCalmNGetyaSweatOn

Everything in moderation so dont drink 15 cans of coke zero a day and you should be sweet.

I agree with ^^^ %100 everything in moderation. Unsweetened ice tea is a good alternative to water. Also cut up pieces of fruit in water adds taste and very few calories. There is also flavored stevia that you can add to water. Just some suggestions.

lessfatmatt

The best thing you can do if you're interested in aspartame safety is to look at the actual evidence. There have been lots of peer reviewed studies on aspartame safety. You can find papers yourself by searching on www.scholar.google.com - which is like regular Google, except for scientific papers. Here are some examples:

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/149/10/2318.pdf

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/6011307_Aspartame_a_safety_evaluation_based_on_current_use_levels_regulations_and_toxicological_and_epidemiological_studies/file/d912f50bb9773d3e4f.pdf

Peer reviewed science is what you should rely on, not people's opinions (whether those people are randoms on the internet, or supposed nutritionists).

And if you're worried about consuming "chemicals", remember that water and sugar are chemicals too...

benol1

Aspartame consumption has been linked to fibromialgia, certain cancers, diabetes and obesity.

http://nutritionfacts.org/topics/aspartame/

Brenda4105

I have been addicted to TAB, which has aspartame for more years than I care to admit to. A few years ago I was drinking a 12 pk a day. Not good I know. I was so hooked that if I didn't have it I went through caffine withdrawal. I decided I wanted to save money so I started drinking a bottle of water between each soda. Slowly raising it to two waters, then three....

Now I only drink water all day long. I have one soda in the morning, my form of coffee and then water until after 6pm. I went from a 12 pk a day to a 12 pk a week. I can't say that it made me crave sweets any more than normal. I do know that the sodium levels in soda are ungodly high, which might be some of the weight that "people" talk about when making comparisons of diet soda and over weight people.

Bottom line, if you want a soda or something else with artificial sweetners - have it. You are the best judge of how it makes you feel. Health wise everything you do has a health risk or so we are told any more. Personally I think we all have to pick our poison. Your going to die from something, so make sure you enjoy it.

BrainyBurro

Aspartame consumption has been linked to fibromialgia, certain cancers, diabetes and obesity.

http://nutritionfacts.org/topics/aspartame/

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

that's a crackpot vegan website run by a crackpot!

http://www.humanewatch.org/hsus_doc_exposed_as_schlock/

Thomasm198

Ignore me. I'm just here waiting for the fun when the "aspartame is the work of the devil. It's a conspiracy between the government and big corporations to slowly kill us all so their alien overlords can take over the planet" brigade turn up.

dennymau

I drink Crystal Light everyday!!!

BrainyBurro

I drink Crystal Light everyday!!!

well, in that case... you probably died in 2003 and are now a zombie. sorry to have to break the news to you this way.

:laugh: