What kind of damage does Diet Soda pop do?

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  • countscalories
    countscalories Posts: 418 Member
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    Many years ago, my craving for diet soda was so intense that I had to see a doctor about it. He suggested I avoid the bubbly stuff, so I made the switch to something more positive, as in "A+". Unlike some of you, my choice of beverage didn't cause me to grow a tail, but now I can fly, and I'm able to make myself invisible whenever I want to.
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
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    To me, Aspartame is poison. I stick to natural sweetners like agave or honey, or rarely, stevia/sucralose. Don't EVER bake with sucralose/Splenda. It turns into a toxic substance at high temps.

    Either way, it's your health. It's up to you if you want to trust it to some chemical cooked up in a lab. I mean, we all know the food manufacturers have our best interests in mind, right??
  • ABeautifulDistraction
    ABeautifulDistraction Posts: 348 Member
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    As I try to reduce the amount of sugar I consume each day by avoiding prepackaged and processed food. I find myself craving sweets as expected, I realize these cravings should go away or at least be significantly reduced in the next few days to couple of weeks. BUT diet soda pop has zero calories and zero carbs yet still has the sweet taste I am craving. I have heard to give up carbonated drinks to include diet soda pop, also the artificial sweeteners that is used in diet soda may also cause health risks.

    Juice has WAY to much sugar in it and so much water a day everyday gets boring. So is Diet soda pop worse than regular pop?

    I chill water with cut up lemons, limes and cucumbers. I also brew fruit flavored teas and drink them over ice. The soda cravings WILL dissipate. Takes a little time. I've been off soda long enough the last time I tried to drink one it tasted all sorts of wrong and I just threw it away. As for juice, I consume a lot of raw fruit and veggie juice that I make myself. No added anything there and I highly recommend trying it. PM if you'd like a few suggestions on blends. You would be amazed what adding an apple into vegetable juice will do for the taste profile. As your palate "cleans out" and you adjust to not getting hits of super sweet from artificial and added sugars, you'll be surprised by how good fresh food tastes.
  • EllieB_5
    EllieB_5 Posts: 247 Member
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    An overdose of certain artificial sweeteners can cause severe neurological symptoms and even permanent damage, I think also seizures and coma are a possibility. I forget what the OD dose was, but I do remember thinking that I couldn't consume that much artificial sweetener over the course of an entire day let alone in a short enough time to OD.

    Go to Google
    Type in: Google scholar, and hit enter
    Type in: side effects artificial sweetener, hit enter
    You should get pages upon pages of various scientific articles, and most of them should be related to your keywords. I recommend reading only the studies that use double-blind. After much reading you should be in a much better position to determine for yourself if diet soda poses any significant health risks.

    I tried it, and every study I'm reading says no side effects were detected, except for a study involving headaches. Then it said that a small subset of people may have increased headaches from aspartame consumption.

    "Consumption of the artificial sweetener aspartame raises plasma phenylalanine levels, thereby increasing brain phenylalanine and, conceivably, affecting the synthesis of monoaminergic brain neurotransmitters known to underlie various types of behaviour."
    We must be using two different Google's as I seem to be getting far more than "no side-effects".
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
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    "Using this method, we found no clear symptom complex that suggests a widespread public health hazard associated with aspartame use"

    "In no instance was there a detectable effect of the ingested aspartame."

    " Aspartame alone, or in combination with carbohydrate, did not alter any aspect of behavior that we assessed, nor did it produce detectable side effects."

    "No persistent changes over time were noted in either group in vital signs; body weight; results of standard laboratory tests; fasting blood levels of aspartame's constituent amino acids (aspartic acid and phenylalanine), other amino acids, and methanol; or blood formate levels and 24-hour urinary excretion of formate. "


    ETA: I searched "Aspartame side effects" and these are from different studies in the first page of results. Only the headache study had any negative results so far, aside from a mouse study which used extreme amounts.
  • Soccermavrick
    Soccermavrick Posts: 405 Member
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    Everybody seems to have an opinion on this. Personally, I have been trying to cut out soda, siet or otherwise out. Some days I am better than others. Water jusdoes not do it for me, so either juice or milk intake goes up replacing it. I am not sure how to get around the sugar, but I am not diabetic so that is not a major concern. I think it comes down to how much will power you have.
  • daybehavior
    daybehavior Posts: 1,319 Member
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    The CDC sees nothing wrong with aspartame, get over it.

    In summary, currently available information, based on data with limitations as described in the report, indicates a wide variety of complaints that are generally of a mild nature. Although it may be that certain individuals have an unusual sensitivity to the product, these data do not provide evidence for the existence of serious, widespread, adverse health consequences attendant to the use of aspartame. Reported by Div of Nutrition, Center for Health Promotion and Education, CDC.
    \
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
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    This one even has a positive result: "The aspartame group lost significantly more weight overall (P = 0.028) and regained significantly less weight during maintenance and follow-up (P = 0.046) than did the no-aspartame group. "

    "Clinically significant differences in laboratory parameters measured could not be demonstrated; all mean values were within normal limits. No unusual findings were observed in phenylalanine or tyrosine levels. All phenylpyruvic acid and methanol determinations were negative. No important physical changes occurred, and no product‐related side effects were reported."

    "Serum growth hormone showed no statistically significant changes in response to any of the experimental meals whereas cortisol and insulin fell slightly and glucose rose slightly during each of the meals. We conclude that these doses of aspartame do not alter secretion of prolactin, cortisol, growth hormone, or insulin in normal individuals."

    "Large daily doses of aspartame had no effect on neuropsychologic, neurophysiologic, or behavioral functioning in healthy young adults."

    " The results of this study suggest that following a single 15 mg/kg dose of aspartame, no detectable effects are observed in a group of healthy volunteers with no history of aspartame intolerance, despite significant increases in plasma phenylalanine concentrations."

    "The findings indicate that aspartame at greater than 10 times usual consumption has no effect on the cognitive and behavioral status of children with attention deficit disorder. In addition, aspartame does not appear to affect urinary excretion rates of monoamines and metabolites."

    Seriously, this is study after study after study which shows absolutely no effects from aspartame.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,046 Member
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    Anything that my husband uses to clean oil from our driveway is likely not the best thing to drink. Pass me the Fuji water, please!

    My husband uses buckets of water to clean our driveway - should I stop drinking water??
  • wannakimmy
    wannakimmy Posts: 488 Member
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    I wouldn't drink a 12 pack a day, but if you have one or two a day, it isn't the end of the world. There are MUCH worse choices you could make. If you try to cut out too much at once, you could be setting yourself up for failure. Small sustainable changes will work, just remember this will take time and dedication. You didn't get to be overweight overnight, and you won't lose it that way either. Good luck on your journey!
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,046 Member
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    To me, Aspartame is poison. I stick to natural sweetners like agave or honey, or rarely, stevia/sucralose. Don't EVER bake with sucralose/Splenda. It turns into a toxic substance at high temps.

    Either way, it's your health. It's up to you if you want to trust it to some chemical cooked up in a lab. I mean, we all know the food manufacturers have our best interests in mind, right??

    I'm not following this logic - I mean, orchard owners of fresh fruit don't have our best interests at heart either - they are running a business no more or less than manufacturers of diet sodas.
    But nobody is recommending not eating fresh fruit on account of that.
  • matuskap
    matuskap Posts: 131 Member
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    I thin the only real problems come when you drink large amount consistently like 2+ liters a day. Anyway, the only real problems that actually are seem to be valid are: tooth enamel damage and decrease in benefical bacetria numbers in you digestion tract which may cause intolerance toward dairy and so on...
  • earlyxer
    earlyxer Posts: 240 Member
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    I'm going to ignore the debate about the chemicals - because no one really knows if Diet Pepsi killed anyone haha.

    However, since this is a site focused on losing weight - it has been proven that diet soda spurs your appetite. If you can keep the cravings in check, then have at it. If it causes you to miss your daily target, then skip it.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    If I drop a crate of it on my head it really hurts
  • sadrithmora
    sadrithmora Posts: 121
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    tooth enamel damage and decrease in benefical bacetria numbers in you digestion tract which may cause intolerance toward dairy and so on...

    Seconding this. Drinking pop first actually helped me control the balance of weird mediciny stuff they told me about when I was 12, but then I got addicted to it (2+ litres/day). Now I'm having to skip grains and diary because it makes my stomach feel inflamed. Not sure if soda is what caused it, but I wouldn't disagree that it might have had something to do with it.
  • oxsarahhxo
    oxsarahhxo Posts: 51
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    no damage whatsoever, enjoy
  • lexlowe
    lexlowe Posts: 908 Member
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    Everything is harmful in excess. Eating something like 10lbs of raw potatoes is lethal to most people, but one baked potato is delicious and harmless!
    Enjoy a Diet Soda every now and then, but if you're drinking 2L of it daily, then it might cause some issues for you.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,629 Member
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    "Consumption of the artificial sweetener aspartame raises plasma phenylalanine levels, thereby increasing brain phenylalanine and, conceivably, affecting the synthesis of monoaminergic brain neurotransmitters known to underlie various types of behaviour."
    We must be using two different Google's as I seem to be getting far more than "no side-effects".
    But this isn't a concern for the general population. People with PKU, taridive dyskinesia, suffering from a sleep disorder or has an anxiety disorder or mental health issue should probably be concerned though.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • sweetcurlz67
    sweetcurlz67 Posts: 1,168 Member
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    An overdose of certain artificial sweeteners can cause severe neurological symptoms and even permanent damage, I think also seizures and coma are a possibility. I forget what the OD dose was, but I do remember thinking that I couldn't consume that much artificial sweetener over the course of an entire day let alone in a short enough time to OD.

    Go to Google
    Type in: Google scholar, and hit enter
    Type in: side effects artificial sweetener, hit enter
    You should get pages upon pages of various scientific articles, and most of them should be related to your keywords. I recommend reading only the studies that use double-blind. After much reading you should be in a much better position to determine for yourself if diet soda poses any significant health risks.

    I tried it, and every study I'm reading says no side effects were detected, except for a study involving headaches. Then it said that a small subset of people may have increased headaches from aspartame consumption.

    I gave up diet coke in January 2012 to drink (mostly) only water. Not only did I lose 20 pounds in a couple months just by giving up my DC addiction (even though it was only one or two DC's a day), but my frequent headaches became MUCH less. In addition, the caffeine gave me high blood pressure so giving up DC I: lost weight, reduced headaches, bp got better. but that's ME and my story... :glasses:
  • sweetcurlz67
    sweetcurlz67 Posts: 1,168 Member
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    tooth enamel damage and decrease in benefical bacetria numbers in you digestion tract which may cause intolerance toward dairy and so on...

    Seconding this. Drinking pop first actually helped me control the balance of weird mediciny stuff they told me about when I was 12, but then I got addicted to it (2+ litres/day). Now I'm having to skip grains and diary because it makes my stomach feel inflamed. Not sure if soda is what caused it, but I wouldn't disagree that it might have had something to do with it.

    wow! this could explain why I didn't have problems when I was younger and I DO have problems that I'm older! by GI doctor couldn't even explain it! could be... not gonna discount it...

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