Diet Soda Warnings

Options
1235»

Replies

  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
    Options
    That's just it, though, concentration. There is more aspartic acid in a 4 ounce piece of chicken breast than you would get drinking an entire 12 pack of diet soda. 4 ounces of chicken breast contains 3.1 grams of aspartic acid (3,096 mg) and a 12 pack of diet soda contains about 1.2 grams of aspartic acid, if my math is correct (one can is about 200 mg of aspartame, aspartame from what i've read is 50/50 aspartic acid/phenylalanine, so 100 mg aspartic acid per can or 0.1 grams,) so wouldn't this make eating chicken, or beef, or tofu, or nuts, beans, really any protein source more toxic than drinking diet soda? They all have a much higher concentration per serving of aspartic acid.

    Yes... very good point. You're absolutely correct. There are sources of aspartic acid that provide much higher levels than a diet coke can.

    @Brendalee

    I just spent my lunch break scrolling pubmed and basically the concentrations of aspartic acid needed to kill brain cells is much higher than you're going to get drinking aspartame or eating chicken or anything else. And that's assuming that it actually gets into the brain in the first place... I didn't find evidence that it gets in in large quantities. It doesn't cross the blood brain barrier. It IS transported into the CNS- but that's a controlled transport (think a gate that only lets a few molecules in at a time vs. and open field where hundreds can cross at once)... so unless you're eating kilograms of straight aspartame, the concentrations of aspartic acid in the brain are not going to rise significantly enough to do any damage.

    Also... for what it's worth... I didn't find anything to suggest that aspartic acid itself is neurotoxic. It can make a specific type of glutamate receptor more active, which makes the neurons more sensitive to glutamate, which might make glutamate neurotoxic... but i"m not finding evidence that aspartic acid is toxic in the absence of glutamate.
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
    Options

    Would, or could, an excess of histamine increase the toxicity of aspartic acid?

    I have no idea :D

    I'll have to make that my next project.
  • dennydifferent
    dennydifferent Posts: 135 Member
    Options
    Please do, this is really interesting stuff. Can we just keep asking you Brain Questions please? ;)
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
    Options
    Please do, this is really interesting stuff. Can we just keep asking you Brain Questions please? ;)

    You can! But my ability to answer may be limited- I'm willing to play around on pubmed on my lunch break for non-work related stuff, 'cause I think it's interesting, but once lunch is over, I really should get back to work.
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
    Options

    Would, or could, an excess of histamine increase the toxicity of aspartic acid?

    I have no idea :D

    I'll have to make that my next project.

    I'm finding some rather unexpected info. Looking just at histamine in the brain (levels in the brain are not always the same as levels in the rest of the body), I'm finding that histamine can actually DECREASE toxicity of N-methyl-D-aspartate, which is not aspartic acid, but is related (and that's the receptor a that aspartic acid helps glutamate activate).

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16478529

    I'll admit, I was really surprised by the data...

    But there was also a paper that said the histamine increased excitotoxic cell death (glutamate mediated)... so... it might be one of those "we're still trying to figure this out" things.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11145977

    So I guess I'd have to say I still don't know :P
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
    Options
    @Lab, how many studies do you need to be convinced?

    Oh hell... it depends on my mood and how biased I am. :laugh:

    But to be a bit more serious... one really good, quality study (that I can't poke holes in) is enough to make me say "hmm... maybe". But I won't say "yes, that's the way it is!" until I've seen several good, quality studies from different research groups, and even then I won't say it if there are quality studies contradicting the other findings. There's not really a set number. It's not like I can say "show me 10 and I'll believe you". It's really just about looking for consensus in the field, for repeatability, that sort of thing.

    That probably doesn't help much, does it?
  • JennW130
    JennW130 Posts: 460 Member
    Options
    Soda in general is bad for you; crazy amount of sugar and carbs.
    Diet soda is cool though. I wouldn't replace water with diet soda, but I'm not going to deny myself a coke zero.
    coke zero is my crack. i love that stuff man! I've limited myself to one a day though. 2 if I'm working in the evening and need some caffeine to deal with some people's shenanigans
  • TheDreadedJynx
    TheDreadedJynx Posts: 49
    Options
    The aspartame alone keeps me away. Well, that and the fact that I'm now content drinking just water and the occasional cup of tea.
  • marinaevgenevna
    marinaevgenevna Posts: 10
    Options
    While I don't think that diet soda is a good thing to drink regularly (I quit drinking diet coke a few months ago :) ), diet soda is probably a confounding factor in this study. For example, many diet coke drinkers would order a "supersize fries, big mac, and a diet coke". Although, who knows - you should still control your soda intake! Diet or not :)
  • Silverkittycat
    Silverkittycat Posts: 1,997 Member
    Options

    Would, or could, an excess of histamine increase the toxicity of aspartic acid?

    I have no idea :D

    I'll have to make that my next project.

    Please do!

    Oooh, check into the interaction between Nitric oxide and histamine too. All that up and down regulating of each other might lead somewhere..

    Might as well check the connection with that carb enzyme. Amylase?
    Maybe an excessive consumption of carbohydrates DOES chronically deplete amylase thereby increasing histamine-related health problems, you never know.
    Low carb people do not use this ^ !
    I'm just throwing some yoga woo around. :smile:

    I'm rambling and my mind is moving too quickly...sorry. :blushing:
    I'll message you tomorrow or the next.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    Options
    @Brendalee

    I just spent my lunch break scrolling pubmed and basically the concentrations of aspartic acid needed to kill brain cells is much higher than you're going to get drinking aspartame or eating chicken or anything else. And that's assuming that it actually gets into the brain in the first place... I didn't find evidence that it gets in in large quantities. It doesn't cross the blood brain barrier. It IS transported into the CNS- but that's a controlled transport (think a gate that only lets a few molecules in at a time vs. and open field where hundreds can cross at once)... so unless you're eating kilograms of straight aspartame, the concentrations of aspartic acid in the brain are not going to rise significantly enough to do any damage.

    Also... for what it's worth... I didn't find anything to suggest that aspartic acid itself is neurotoxic. It can make a specific type of glutamate receptor more active, which makes the neurons more sensitive to glutamate, which might make glutamate neurotoxic... but i"m not finding evidence that aspartic acid is toxic in the absence of glutamate.

    Thanks for looking into it and offering your perspective. It makes me feel a little better about my diet soda addic...umm...enjoyment.

Categories