Flavored Water & Weight Loss? (Aspartame)

♥ChUbByCoyLe♥

I'm not sure if it causes weight gain. However, aspartame has been linked to infertility, it is linked to oesophageal cancer and is one of the ingredients used to preserve dead bodies!!!

Saying all that.....i love diet coke which contains aspartame and i love it!! :grumble:

spinqueen72

I won't eat or drink ANYTHING that contains Aspartame! Or high fructose corn syrup!
Yes....BOTH of those nasty little ingredients spike the blood sugars much higher than normal...and when the high is gone....there is a blood sugar crash!
People with diabetes....and hypoglycemic problems should AVOID them at all costs!!!
Artificial sweeteners are 3 times MORE sweet than regular sugar. I don't care what anybody says....the body DOES NOT treat them the same as sugar! ESPECIALLY if you have the above-mentioned health issues!
I have found that when I used to eat products that had HFCS in them, I would continually crave more of it! And Aspartame gave me headaches!
If you don't have a sensitivity to caffeine...then it will be fine.
However.....if it gives you jitters, sweats, heart palpitations, or anything else that seems strange...STOP CONSUMING IT!!!!
Anyways...that's just my honest opinion!

Thank you for your opinion. I was waiting for somebody from the opposing side!
I don't have any problems with my blood sugar, I don't have diabetes, and no hypoglycemic problems.

It has been proven that it does cause addiction and cravings, which is never good: but it's better than drinking 6 cans of soda everyday like I did a month ago!

Thanks again though, and I'll keep a look out for those things.

I used to use all those flavored packets (Crystal Light, Wyler's, etc) til I read the ingredients in them! I didn't want to put that garbage in my body...so I never wasted my money on them again!
I now put lemon or lime in my water...or even frozen fruits.
I have a Water U Fresh Sip 20oz filtered water bottle I fill up around 3-4 times a day. Filtered water definitely helps with the "taste" of regular water. I found it at Walgreens. The water bottle & filters are MUCH cheaper than the Brita...and easier to use!
Try one....you might be surprised that you end up liking water more!

k0nfyo0zed

don't opt for chemically altered flavors to ruin the health benefits of plain old water!

pretty sure unless you are some kind of chemist or physicist and can change the properties of water you can't ruin the benefits of water with a packet of crystal light.

i love crystal light (store brand cause i'm poor)... i have found that the 10 calorie bottle of water is a great way to help me when i'm having a sweet craving. i'll take that over noshing a 200+ calorie candy bar.

Darlis

There is much controversy over Aspartame, if it works for you then great in my opinion. I personally avoid anything with artificial sweetners, and not because of ANY advertising, rumors, or anything on the internet. Personal experience....artificial sweetners cause me to have massive migraines. I used them for several years, and was going to the dr on a regular basis for migraine headaches. A nutritionist suggested I try one month without any artificial sweetners....at the time I made no other changes.....no more migraines. I haven't touched them since.

LilRedRooster

I don't drink Crystal Light any more, but that's just because I've come to not mind the plain water as much, haha. But I drank it quite a bit before, when I was training several years ago, and I lost 20lbs and body fat easily, without issue. I think it's one of those things that could cause issues if you weren't eating right and exercising outside of drinking it, but if you maintain everything else, I really don't think it would be a problem at all.

spinqueen72

I drink Mio in my water. I find it tastes a little better than the powders and mixes very well. No effect on my weight loss sofar!

Diet soda, however, does make me retain a ton of water weight. Not saying it's bad, but I don't like seeing that much bloating.

That bloating would be from the salt they added in to the soda to make it taste better! Not to mention........sodium carbonate (carbonation) is nothing but chemically altered salt, that causes bubbling. Did you know that you can pour a can of Diet (or even regular) Coke down a clogged drain, and it will clean it? Or that some highway patrols use it to clean blood off of roads? gross, I know....but it's true! My brother is a cop. He's had to do it.

YoshiBF

There is much controversy over Aspartame, if it works for you then great in my opinion. I personally avoid anything with artificial sweetners, and not because of ANY advertising, rumors, or anything on the internet. Personal experience....artificial sweetners cause me to have massive migraines. I used them for several years, and was going to the dr on a regular basis for migraine headaches. A nutritionist suggested I try one month without any artificial sweetners....at the time I made no other changes.....no more migraines. I haven't touched them since.

You're right about that! It has been scientifically proven that artificial sweeteners do cause headaches. So anybody that has problems with headaches should stay away. I'm lucky enough to only have a headache about once every couple of months

katejkelley

I"ve been adding Mio to my water, too, and cutting down on my diet soda intake. I had one caffeine-free Diet Coke last night (I usually add some rum on weekends, but am trying to really be good until I meet my goal!), and this morning my weight was up a couple of ounces, which I attribute to bloating from the diet coke. There is a lot of sodium in soda (thus the name "soda"), so I think whatever helps me drink less of that and more water is a good thing!

Elizabeth_C34

I"ve been adding Mio to my water, too, and cutting down on my diet soda intake. I had one caffeine-free Diet Coke last night (I usually add some rum on weekends, but am trying to really be good until I meet my goal!), and this morning my weight was up a couple of ounces, which I attribute to bloating from the diet coke. There is a lot of sodium in soda (thus the name "soda"), so I think whatever helps me drink less of that and more water is a good thing!

There is almost no sodium in soda. This is a misnomer. Read the label.

What bloats you is the carbonation. I have the same problem with ginger ale an other carbonated beverages.

Elizabeth_C34

I drink Mio in my water. I find it tastes a little better than the powders and mixes very well. No effect on my weight loss sofar!

Diet soda, however, does make me retain a ton of water weight. Not saying it's bad, but I don't like seeing that much bloating.

That bloating would be from the salt they added in to the soda to make it taste better! Not to mention........sodium carbonate (carbonation) is nothing but chemically altered salt, that causes bubbling. Did you know that you can pour a can of Diet (or even regular) Coke down a clogged drain, and it will clean it? Or that some highway patrols use it to clean blood off of roads? gross, I know....but it's true! My brother is a cop. He's had to do it.

Did you know that water also cleans blood off the highway?

Sheesh. There's almost no sodium in soda. It's right there on the label. Read it.

Baking soda also cleans up dirt quite well and I'll bet you use it in your baked goods and your toothpaste as well.

I hate scare tactics like this. You can't find a single study showing reasonable intake of aspartame or diet soda causing any deleterious effects on human beings.

sl1ngsh0t

I drink Crystal Geyser Flavoured Sparkling Water. It helps. I don't like flat water, either.

Aspartame does intensify headaches. I have had migraines since childhood and have discovered this to be very true. One of my migraine meds used aspartame as a filler, and not only did I get a nasty headache FROM USING IT, but it also caused a bladder infection it took 2 different antibiotics to cure. AVOID IT!!!!!

tigersword

I won't eat or drink ANYTHING that contains Aspartame! Or high fructose corn syrup!
Yes....BOTH of those nasty little ingredients spike the blood sugars much higher than normal...and when the high is gone....there is a blood sugar crash!
People with diabetes....and hypoglycemic problems should AVOID them at all costs!!!
Artificial sweeteners are 3 times MORE sweet than regular sugar. I don't care what anybody says....the body DOES NOT treat them the same as sugar! ESPECIALLY if you have the above-mentioned health issues!
I have found that when I used to eat products that had HFCS in them, I would continually crave more of it! And Aspartame gave me headaches!
If you don't have a sensitivity to caffeine...then it will be fine.
However.....if it gives you jitters, sweats, heart palpitations, or anything else that seems strange...STOP CONSUMING IT!!!!
Anyways...that's just my honest opinion!

Thank you for your opinion. I was waiting for somebody from the opposing side!
I don't have any problems with my blood sugar, I don't have diabetes, and no hypoglycemic problems.

It has been proven that it does cause addiction and cravings, which is never good: but it's better than drinking 6 cans of soda everyday like I did a month ago!

Thanks again though, and I'll keep a look out for those things.

I used to use all those flavored packets (Crystal Light, Wyler's, etc) til I read the ingredients in them! I didn't want to put that garbage in my body...so I never wasted my money on them again!
I now put lemon or lime in my water...or even frozen fruits.
I have a Water U Fresh Sip 20oz filtered water bottle I fill up around 3-4 times a day. Filtered water definitely helps with the "taste" of regular water. I found it at Walgreens. The water bottle & filters are MUCH cheaper than the Brita...and easier to use!
Try one....you might be surprised that you end up liking water more!

Do you eat protein? Aspartame is in all sources of protein. Anytime you eat phenylalanine and aspartic acid, you're eating aspartame, and those amino acids are found in chicken, beef, soybeans, fish, wheat, nuts, beans, eggs and dairy, in much higher concentrations than you would EVER get out of a Crystal Lite packet.

Check this out.
Water, glucose, fructose, galactose, phenolic glycosides, 6-deoxyaldohexoses (fuctose and rhamnose), saccharose, galacturonans, (1-4) linked D-galactopiranuronic acid, pectin, pectinic acids, polygalacturonic acids, pectinestarase, Citric Acid, L-Malic Acid, D-Isocitric Acid, Oxalic Acid, Succinic Acid, Malonic Acid, Quinic Acid, Tartaric Acid, Adipic Acid, 2-ketogluratic Acid, praline, asparagines, aspartic acid, serine, glutamic acid and arginine. oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases and lyases, isomerases and ligases, glucosilglucerides, Carotenoids, tetraterpenes, limonin, aslimonoic acid A-ring lactone, neohesperidosides, flavones (3-hydroxyflavanones, 3-dydroxyflavones, O-glycosyl, aglycones C-glycosylflavones, Anthocyanins, (hesperidin, naringin, poncirin, neoheriocitrin, neohesperidin, rhoifolin, rutin, diosmin, sinensetin, auranetin, tangeritin, hydroxyethylrutinosideres, nobiletin cyanidin-3-glucoside, cyanidina-3.5-diglucoside, peonidin-5-glucoside, delphinidin-3-glucoside, petunidin-3-glucoside, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Pholacine, Vitamin B6, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Biotin, Pantotenic acid, Vitamin A.

Lots of nasty looking and nasty sounding chemicals in there, right? It's got aspartic acid in it, which is the big ingredient in aspartame, and glutamic acid in it, which is the active ingredient in MSG. I'd guess we should avoid this like the plague, right?

If you did,you'd be avoiding an orange. Yes, the fruit. Just because the ingredient has a big, unpronounceable (to non-scientists) name, doesn't automatically make it "unnatural," or "garbage."

These threads always remind me of the Penn & Teller bit where they sent a correspondent to an environmental rally with a petition to ban "dihydrogen monoxide." They got a ton of signatures to ban this chemical, which is used as an industrial solvent, used as an industrial coolant in nuclear reactors, and is fatal if breathed in.

And yes, dihydrogen monoxide is water. Things always sound scarier when you use the scientific names.

tigersword

I drink Mio in my water. I find it tastes a little better than the powders and mixes very well. No effect on my weight loss sofar!

Diet soda, however, does make me retain a ton of water weight. Not saying it's bad, but I don't like seeing that much bloating.

That bloating would be from the salt they added in to the soda to make it taste better! Not to mention........sodium carbonate (carbonation) is nothing but chemically altered salt, that causes bubbling. Did you know that you can pour a can of Diet (or even regular) Coke down a clogged drain, and it will clean it? Or that some highway patrols use it to clean blood off of roads? gross, I know....but it's true! My brother is a cop. He's had to do it.

Sodium carbonate is just another name for washing soda. It's also not a "chemically altered salt." It's a naturally occurring salt that's mined. It also has nothing to do with carbonation, it's a water softener, it raises the pH of water. It's also very commonly used for baking pretzels, as lye tends to be a little too dangerous for most home kitchens. Also, I can't find it on any soda ingredients list.

SnowWhite824

JMHO but Crystal Lite is horrible, nasty stuff (anything with Aspartame really). After drinking it for a few months, I couldn't take it anymore. Gave me horrible head aches, and bad breath. I switched to a powder that uses Splenda, and I'm fine with it. If your OK with it, then I guess keep drinking it. Just pay attention to how you feel after drinking it, and if you start to feel bad, then switch to something else. Good luck!

Sarauk2sf

I'm not sure if it causes weight gain. However, aspartame has been linked to infertility, it is linked to oesophageal cancer and is one of the ingredients used to preserve dead bodies!!!

Saying all that.....i love diet coke which contains aspartame and i love it!! :grumble:

I understand that there is no emprical evidence that it causes infertility or cancer. Also, I am not sure whether it is true that it is used as one of the embalming chemicals (I do not think so but could be wrong) - and in any event there are a bunch of chemicals in embalming fluid that are perfectly safe, so even if it is, it does not make it bad.

ariant23

I drink Mio in my water. I find it tastes a little better than the powders and mixes very well. No effect on my weight loss sofar!

Diet soda, however, does make me retain a ton of water weight. Not saying it's bad, but I don't like seeing that much bloating.

That bloating would be from the salt they added in to the soda to make it taste better! Not to mention........sodium carbonate (carbonation) is nothing but chemically altered salt, that causes bubbling. Did you know that you can pour a can of Diet (or even regular) Coke down a clogged drain, and it will clean it? Or that some highway patrols use it to clean blood off of roads? gross, I know....but it's true! My brother is a cop. He's had to do it.

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I CANT STAND STUPID MISINFORMATION!!!!!!

Sodium bicarbonate is BAKING SODA. CARBONATION IN SODA is CARBON DIOXIDE--- What you breathe OUT EVERY DAY ALL DAY LONG!!!!!!! READ THE FRIGGIN CAN!!!!!!

And yes, colas are very acidic. They can clean stains. Just like vinegar. DUH.

tigersword

I'm not sure if it causes weight gain. However, aspartame has been linked to infertility, it is linked to oesophageal cancer and is one of the ingredients used to preserve dead bodies!!!

Saying all that.....i love diet coke which contains aspartame and i love it!! :grumble:

I understand that there is no emprical evidence that it causes infertility or cancer. Also, I am not sure whether it is true that it is used as one of the embalming chemicals (I do not think so but could be wrong) - and in any event there are a bunch of chemicals in embalming fluid that are perfectly safe, so even if it is, it does not make it bad.

It is NOT one of the chemicals used in embalming. However, one of the byproducts of aspartame metabolization is formaldehyde, which is broken down into formic acid and eliminated from the body. So people use the ZOMG FORMALDEHYDE DEAD BODIES AGGGGGH shouting point when trying to say how bad aspartame is for you. The part they either ignore, or are just ignorant to, is the fact that formaldehyde and formic acid are normal parts of human metabolism, and are also contained in much higher concentrations in many fruits and vegetables we eat on a daily basis. For example, an apple contains roughly 4-5 times more formaldehyde in it than you would get from metabolizing a can of diet soda. So it's one of those "half truths."

Sarahmeridith

I read (I dont remember where...) that is diesnt make you gain but can make you crave sugar. But I drink those too and dont think its caused a problem for me.

wendy3330

Try Propel ... the taste is great, does not contain aspartame and has vitamins/antioxidants. Don't let my weight loss tracker fool you. I have lost 2 pounds since joining but a total of 49 since I started my diet in January.

Sarauk2sf

I'm not sure if it causes weight gain. However, aspartame has been linked to infertility, it is linked to oesophageal cancer and is one of the ingredients used to preserve dead bodies!!!

Saying all that.....i love diet coke which contains aspartame and i love it!! :grumble:

I understand that there is no emprical evidence that it causes infertility or cancer. Also, I am not sure whether it is true that it is used as one of the embalming chemicals (I do not think so but could be wrong) - and in any event there are a bunch of chemicals in embalming fluid that are perfectly safe, so even if it is, it does not make it bad.

It is NOT one of the chemicals used in embalming. However, one of the byproducts of aspartame metabolization is formaldehyde, which is broken down into formic acid and eliminated from the body. So people use the ZOMG FORMALDEHYDE DEAD BODIES AGGGGGH shouting point when trying to say how bad aspartame is for you. The part they either ignore, or are just ignorant to, is the fact that formaldehyde and formic acid are normal parts of human metabolism, and are also contained in much higher concentrations in many fruits and vegetables we eat on a daily basis. For example, an apple contains roughly 4-5 times more formaldehyde in it than you would get from metabolizing a can of diet soda. So it's one of those "half truths."

I did not think so, but could not work out where this myth came from.....makes sense...thanks for clarifying.