Is soda bad for me?

IIFYM no

Yes, soda is bad for you. It should be an every once in a while treat not a daily occurance (I do love my ginger ale with rye and bitters). :drinker:

Why?

Diet colas are worse than regular, you are putting harmful chemicals in your body, probably aspartame which is known to be a carcinogen. If you have to do colas go regular, or try to find a throwback version that has actual sugar. Studies also find that diet soda makes it easier for individuals to gain weight. Good luck.

If aspartame is a carcinogen, then every food that you eat is a carcinogen, because the ingredients for aspartame are in every single food, except for oil and butter.

Its probably in oil and butter too. As I type this they are probably trying to figure out a way to pump it into the air we breathe.

Aspartame and Phenylalanine aside (which by the way doesnt affect many people, but it does affect others) there is an ingredient in diet soda which is an industrial chemical used in making plastics flame retardant. In other words its a chemical used to prevent plastics from bursting into flames.

Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) - Its used primarily in citrus based beverages (not just soda) so its its in Powerades, Gatorades, Diet Mountain Dew, Squirt etc. The use of BVO has been banned in India, Japan and Europe. Pepsi was petitioned to remove it from its drinks but only has agreed to remove it from Gatorade and not Diet Mountain Dew.

So nope. No toxins at all.

Snopes has a good page on it. "However, those cases involved subjects who drank what would generally be considered an excessive amount of soda on a regular basis (i.e., between two to eight liters daily)." Problem for me is.....I drink that much of it!! (2-4 liters) So yeah, it may be toxic to me. If you only have a can or 2 you should be fine.

Wow, so because they use it as a flame retardant it's dangerous and toxic? Maybe we should stop drinking that water stuff then, after all, it's a chemical degreaser, industrial chemical solvent, and also a chemical flame retardant!

Diet colas are worse than regular, you are putting harmful chemicals in your body, probably aspartame which is known to be a carcinogen. If you have to do colas go regular, or try to find a throwback version that has actual sugar. Studies also find that diet soda makes it easier for individuals to gain weight. Good luck.

Actually, the majority of the literature shows zero harmful effects. Here's yet another scholarly article regarding aspartame studies: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/aspartame-truth-vs-fiction/

The fact is that aspartame is the most widely studied substance in the world, across every developed country. You'd think that with the multitude of studies done over the course of decades, there would be some sort of consistent trend in the side effects by now if aspartame were harmful.

Silly you with your logic...pfft!

There are studies into Diet Fizzy Pop that correlate consumption of the beverages with unexplained lower back pain.

This is most likely to be down to the Aspartame sweetener which can cause hideous side effects. Years ago, a woman in the UK had unexplained health problems and her mobility had deteriorated to the point where she was wheelchair-bound.

Her case was referred to a number of scientists and dieticians where they recommended that she give up diet drinks. Within 6 months, she had started walking with sticks and after 2 years she had no mobility issues.

Incredible!

Kaela x

I know a guy who drinks a can of Mello Yello Zero every single day and runs 50 MPW and consistently places in the top 10% of races. So what?

So will drinking diet soda put me in a wheel chair or will it make me place in the top 10% of races?

Diet soda, you have so many side effects!

I also place an empty can on my front porch to keep burglars away... guess what? Haven't had my house broke into yet!

Wow, so because they use it as a flame retardant it's dangerous and toxic? Maybe we should stop drinking that water stuff then, after all, it's a chemical degreaser, industrial chemical solvent, and also a chemical flame retardant!

Yes. You are correct. I mentioned those two things separately in completely different sentences. Therefore that's exactly what I said.

Thank you for clarifying that and demonstrating a superior and keen ability to infer things.

Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) - Its used primarily in citrus based beverages (not just soda) so its its in Powerades, Gatorades, Diet Mountain Dew, Squirt etc. The use of BVO has been banned in India, Japan and Europe. Pepsi was petitioned to remove it from its drinks but only has agreed to remove it from Gatorade and not Diet Mountain Dew.

I'm glad to know that I should be flame retardant after all the diet soda I drink... but I'm interested to hear more about this BVO and what the problem is with it.

I'm going to go get 20 oz. of Diet Mt. Dew, so I'll be back to read your reply in a few minutes.

(I'm not being facetious, I'm really interested. This is a new one to me.)

The whole "in moderation" philosophy is fine, but it can be used to rationalize consuming almost anything. You could safely drink an ounce ounce of swamp water, dishwashing liquid, hand sanitizer, or anti-freeze, but that in itself is not really a rational reason to consume something, right?

No, it can't be used to rationalize eating things like swamp water, dish washing liquid or any other non consumable because then you wouldn't be rational. Anyone with an IQ over 60 and over 4 years of age inherently knows not to consume those.

Nonsense argument is nonsense.

Apparently people with sub-room temperature IQs have issues understanding the use of absurdity in proving a point. Perhaps it is something you should aspire to.

And people seem know better than to consume something that is potentially dangerous when it is blatant like the things I mentioned above - however, if something questionable is added industrially to a food product, then it seems to be rendered perfectly safe. Rationality at its best...

Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) - Its used primarily in citrus based beverages (not just soda) so its its in Powerades, Gatorades, Diet Mountain Dew, Squirt etc. The use of BVO has been banned in India, Japan and Europe. Pepsi was petitioned to remove it from its drinks but only has agreed to remove it from Gatorade and not Diet Mountain Dew.

I'm glad to know that I should be flame retardant after all the diet soda I drink... but I'm interested to hear more about this BVO and what the problem is with it.

I'm going to go get 20 oz. of Diet Mt. Dew, so I'll be back to read your reply in a few minutes.

(I'm not being facetious, I'm really interested. This is a new one to me.)

only a 20oz? Im typing my reply while sipping a 1 liter. The reason why I came across this was because I do like Diet Dew......like A LOT and do probably drink it excessively.


From what I have read they have been using BVO for decades and the FDA (US) did ban it for a bit, but then allowed it back in while more research could be conducted. In short the BVO causes elevated levels of bromine in some consumers/patients.


"A few medical cases involving patients who suffered deleterious effects due to excessive bromine levels in their systems have been attributed to consumption of soft drinks containing BVO:
In 1997, doctors were stumped by the case of a man who came to the emergency room with headaches, fatigue, and a loss of muscle coordination and memory. He continued to get worse over time, and eventually he lost the ability to walk. A blood test found sky-high levels of bromide. The source? The man had been drinking between 2 and 4 liters of soda containing brominated vegetable oil every day. He needed dialysis but eventually recovered.

In 2003, doctors treated a man who developed swollen hands with oozing sores. They diagnosed a rare case of the skin condition bromoderma after blood tests revealed his bromine was about twice normal limits. The man admitted drinking about 8 liters of Ruby Red Squirt, which contains BVO, each day."

http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/bvo.asp

I referred to the snopes page in the previous post because I believe that it does a good job explaining both sides of the story. While most people wont be affected by the low levels of BVO they consume or experience high levels of bromine in their blood, there are some who may. Also, Diet Soda might not be the only cause. We are exposed to so many chemicals these days not only in food, but cleaning products etc. that the diet soda may just be a contributor, not the main cause.

I think my oozing sores must be related to something else.

HAHAHAHA! I hope you are joking! Otherwise :frown:

That one guy was drinking 8 liters a day though!! I feel I am pretty excessive at my 2-4 liters so 8 liters a day seems like it actually takes some effort!

Come to think of it, I do have a rash on the crook of my elbow. Wonder if its related? Maybe its oozing bromine? Ill have to sit in my hot tub and see if the bromine levels go up after using it.

I used to be a PepsiMax fan until i decided to switch to carbonated water for awhile. When I went back to PepsiMax I was like ewwww what the hell is this? Been on a diet dew kick ever since. I like it cause it tastes like gatorade (original). (to me)