Why Aspartame Isn't Scary
Replies
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I don't have time to read the thread but I just wanted to say it's scary to me because it tastes bad and the bad taste just lingers for hours and my tongue gets very sad.
My taste buds are the best. I have not a clue what this bad taste is and never have. Just yumminess to me.6 -
Seriously though. Does anyone have an actual reason to avoid aspartame other than the general desire to avoid anything that sounds like it has a name you might not be able to pronounce.
That's all I wanted from the start...
Perhaps they should rebrand it "chicken-wine"2 -
Why would anyone want to ingest something that needs a defense like that?
The substance doesn't need a defense like that, the people running around screaming "POISON! POISON IN THE SODA!!!" need it, although as we have seen, even facts won't sway some people.
And this is probably true. I never jumped on the aspartame bandwagon and I likely never will, despite what science says about it. It's just not something I need. I don't drink much pop as it is, and when I do, I like the regular stuff. Same with sugar - I want the real stuff. On occasion I'll use it in iced tea if I don't want to dump 10 teaspoons of sugar in it to sweeten it up. You get the point.
I don't feel like I'm missing out without it, and rational or not, that's my choice to make. However, you won't see me in the threads trying to convince others to not use it.2 -
I don't drink/eat the no calorie sweeteners because they taste bad. If I'm going to have it, give me the real stuff! Diet Coke/Pepsi/whatever tastes awful to me and the idea of tea sweetened with Splenda .. just say no. Luckily I'm not a pop/soda drinker, so I've never had the need to curb that by drinking diet versions. However, my husband and his sister both LOVE Diet Coke; I'll have to show them this!2
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In...
...for later...
...because science.0 -
I don't have time to read the thread but I just wanted to say it's scary to me because it tastes bad and the bad taste just lingers for hours and my tongue gets very sad.
My taste buds are the best. I have not a clue what this bad taste is and never have. Just yumminess to me.
Must be an acquired taste then. I prefer just plain old fashioned cane sugar.0 -
I don't have time to read the thread but I just wanted to say it's scary to me because it tastes bad and the bad taste just lingers for hours and my tongue gets very sad.
That is a legitimate reason to avoid aspartame imo.
Seriously, your request won't get what you want for one reason:legitimate
I suspect everyone thinks their reasons are legit, and within their own frameworks they frequently are. Sadly, people don't usually use the same framework. Often, they're incompatible.
You ask for legit reasons>> Some posts a fear mongering blog article explaining the evils of aspartame >> you take apart the article >> They reply that they'd rather not risk it.
That's all this topic ever generates. Sometimes an actual article is produced and then we have discussion of context and dosage, and one party says they still don't want to risk it.0 -
I wish these kinds of articles would not get posted. Neither pro nor con.
I have never had problems with artificial sweeteners, but largely avoid them ( as I do most sugar ) because I don't like sweet stuff very much. So I am fine. A friend of mine gets awful migraines ( the have to stay in a dark room kind ) and another one gets impaired vision.....
That is why I don't like those generalized articles, because any food item ( natural or artificial ) is fine for most people while health and even life threatening for others. Blanket statements do not help....
What article?
This is an honest question, I'm actually curious. Maybe someone could explain, like the people who know the science, why aspartame would cause impaired vision as a side effect or something. To me, this sounds like someone just blaming this on aspartame without actually knowing that's what's caused it. Any insight?0 -
+1Why even risk it? After all, it still is a possible carcinogen.
You have also just described the sun.
^^ this
Awesome1 -
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What about the other delicious sweetener in my cherry coke zero, acesulfame potassium?0
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I wish these kinds of articles would not get posted. Neither pro nor con.
I have never had problems with artificial sweeteners, but largely avoid them ( as I do most sugar ) because I don't like sweet stuff very much. So I am fine. A friend of mine gets awful migraines ( the have to stay in a dark room kind ) and another one gets impaired vision.....
That is why I don't like those generalized articles, because any food item ( natural or artificial ) is fine for most people while health and even life threatening for others. Blanket statements do not help....
What article?
I was referring to the OP....maybe it's not called an " article "....as a non-native speaker of English I am not always sure.0 -
Bump to read later - this is great stuff
I can't really go for sugary drinks at all cos of my beetus, so this makes me feel less guilty about grabbing the occasional fanta zero!
like another person said, everything in moderation:drinker: 0 -
I don't have time to read the thread but I just wanted to say it's scary to me because it tastes bad and the bad taste just lingers for hours and my tongue gets very sad.
My taste buds are the best. I have not a clue what this bad taste is and never have. Just yumminess to me.
Must be an acquired taste then. I prefer just plain old fashioned cane sugar.
Probably, I actually grew up mostly using sweet n'low to sweeten things instead of sugar. I'm not dead yet, and I'm not worried about it.
I've found a lot of things that people complain about aftertastes with (besides artificial sweeteners), I just don't taste. It's kinda nice.0 -
That is why I put "toxic" in quotes, because yes as you say water is not toxic. What is the LD50 of aspartame, I was unaware that there was a lethal dose of aspartame.
Putting something in quotes doesn't removing the misleading aspect of the statement.
The LD50 is around 10g/kg in what I've seen. These levels are unattainable in normal human consumption though and based on rats/mice studies.
The establishment of LD50 though still does not imply safe consumption at relative levels. To give a comparison the levels of arsenic found in apple juice a while ago wasn't even enough to reach the LD50 in an adult drinking gallons over their entire lives, but we know that arsenic causes nerve damage and isn't considered safe in any dose. There is an LD50 of sodium is 1.1 g/kg which the average American consumes every month. The differences between sodium, arsenic, and aspartame is that two of them are really well understood and been studied for centuries.
Quite frankly even decades of research around a particular substance doesn't guarantee safety. We are learning about chemicals and compounds all the time. Think of how long it took for smoking to be recognized as unsafe. In fact the American Medical Association was a big paid advertiser for tobacco for many years. So just because we have a few studies over the decades that say it's safe doesn't mean it doesn't warrant more investigation.
P.S. The NIH spends about 30 billion per year so I don't think their funds are running dry anytime soon.
I grew up with Saccharine, which was " absolutely 100% " safe....until it wasn't anymore......these days it's considered dangerous.....who would have thought it 50 or more years ago.2 -
I just want to know why it gives me migraines. I'm not normally prone to them, but accidental ingestion of aspartame? Just kill me now. It won't be hard, I won't be moving from this spot.1
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I don't drink/eat the no calorie sweeteners because they taste bad. If I'm going to have it, give me the real stuff! Diet Coke/Pepsi/whatever tastes awful to me and the idea of tea sweetened with Splenda .. just say no. Luckily I'm not a pop/soda drinker, so I've never had the need to curb that by drinking diet versions. However, my husband and his sister both LOVE Diet Coke; I'll have to show them this!
I actually prefer the taste of Diet Coke over the non-diet sodas. It's the high carbonation in regular Coke that gets to me. Maybe I'm just not used to it. Luckily I'm not a huge soda drinker either but I do have a Diet Coke once every couple weeks, it's just fun to sip while I'm at work, I like the sweetness of it. But I totally agree about not liking the taste of no calorie sweeteners. For some reason I don't notice it in Diet Coke, but there was a food I have sometimes (I forgot what it was) that I got the sugar free version of on a whim (flavored with Splenda instead) and it tasted sooo bad to me.
Edit: It may have been Nilla Wafers, but it was almost a year ago so I'm not sure.0 -
I'm drinking a Diet Dr. Pepper while reading this thread. :drinker:1
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I agree with you. However my doctor disagrees. I have cut way back on it and diet coke and i am way less hungry. May be a coincidence. But i thonk its okay in moderation. Feel much better since i gave up doet coke. Moght be sodium though0
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It doesn't scare me, but headaches aren't fun.0
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A little too much chemistry that would lose and confuse the average reader, but I raise my Coke Zero I'm currently drinking in praise of this post.
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Thanks OP! *heads to fridge for a Diet Sunkist*0
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I don't drink/eat the no calorie sweeteners because they taste bad. If I'm going to have it, give me the real stuff! Diet Coke/Pepsi/whatever tastes awful to me and the idea of tea sweetened with Splenda .. just say no. Luckily I'm not a pop/soda drinker, so I've never had the need to curb that by drinking diet versions. However, my husband and his sister both LOVE Diet Coke; I'll have to show them this!
I just laugh loudly when I see statements like this. Years ago, I would only drink full sugared pop. Tried diet once and didn't like it. Someone finally convinced me to give diet pop another try. Years later, I can't stand full sugared pop. It is nasty sweet and ruins my rum when the bartender uses it in my drink.0 -
Fear of eating "chemicals" is ridiculous and entirely misinformed.12 -
OP thanks! Great post! Seems timely with all of the Diet Coke arguments lately...
DIET COKE 4EVA0 -
That is why I put "toxic" in quotes, because yes as you say water is not toxic. What is the LD50 of aspartame, I was unaware that there was a lethal dose of aspartame.
Putting something in quotes doesn't removing the misleading aspect of the statement.
The LD50 is around 10g/kg in what I've seen. These levels are unattainable in normal human consumption though and based on rats/mice studies.
The establishment of LD50 though still does not imply safe consumption at relative levels. To give a comparison the levels of arsenic found in apple juice a while ago wasn't even enough to reach the LD50 in an adult drinking gallons over their entire lives, but we know that arsenic causes nerve damage and isn't considered safe in any dose. There is an LD50 of sodium is 1.1 g/kg which the average American consumes every month. The differences between sodium, arsenic, and aspartame is that two of them are really well understood and been studied for centuries.
Quite frankly even decades of research around a particular substance doesn't guarantee safety. We are learning about chemicals and compounds all the time. Think of how long it took for smoking to be recognized as unsafe. In fact the American Medical Association was a big paid advertiser for tobacco for many years. So just because we have a few studies over the decades that say it's safe doesn't mean it doesn't warrant more investigation.
P.S. The NIH spends about 30 billion per year so I don't think their funds are running dry anytime soon.
As for toxicity let me clear it up right now as I do not want to be misleading.
Water is not toxic.
Aspartame very well may have an LD50, without looking into it further I will accept your value of 10g/kg. My assumption would be that this toxicity is based on the methanol metabolic product and that if aspartame is 10g/kg then methanol is probably an LD50 of 1g/kg since 1:10 of aspartame by weight breaks down to methanol.
"Quite frankly even decades of research around a particular substance doesn't guarantee safety"
I agree with this however I still think with limited resources we can only do so much and it is wasteful to repeatedly study the same thing over and over again when there are things that have gone untested.
As for NIH funding I'm in science and I can assure you money is very tight right now for NIH funding, the funding level is at an all time low. It is frustrating to see needed research go unfunded while we waste money on things like testing aspartame yet again for no apparent reason. I will agree that 10 million is a drop in the overall bucket though its just the sentiment that irks me and aspartame is not the only example of science money squandered on public whim.
As for your general points I actually agree with you and I'm not sure you really disagree with me. If what I said about water implied it was toxic then let me say clearly that it is not.1 -
I don't drink/eat the no calorie sweeteners because they taste bad. If I'm going to have it, give me the real stuff! Diet Coke/Pepsi/whatever tastes awful to me and the idea of tea sweetened with Splenda .. just say no. Luckily I'm not a pop/soda drinker, so I've never had the need to curb that by drinking diet versions. However, my husband and his sister both LOVE Diet Coke; I'll have to show them this!
I just laugh loudly when I see statements like this. Years ago, I would only drink full sugared pop. Tried diet once and didn't like it. Someone finally convinced me to give diet pop another try. Years later, I can't stand full sugared pop. It is nasty sweet and ruins my rum when the bartender uses it in my drink.
Fully sugared as in High Fructose Corn Syrup or fully sugared as in real sugar? Because if you have Mexican coke (made with real sugar) it is less sweet then the American version (with HFCS) but somehow more satisfying and I stop at one. (Don't ask me why.)1 -
Why even risk it? After all, it still is a possible carcinogen. I stay away from all artificial sweeteners. I only eat the real stuff.
Exactly. Why risk it? Healthy living is about choosing wisely. Making good choices for your overall health.
AND why in the heck does it even matter. If you prefer not to use those artificial products for WHATEVER reason more power to you. and if you do use them well.... best of luck..... for your sake, I hope you are right.
It matters because this sort of fearmongering results in the waste of a lot of money in science, millions of dollars. It also results in people focusing on the wrong things, ignoring their calories and instead avoiding soda because apparently it is dangerous.
Misinformation is ALWAYS dangerous.
And because avoiding soda would be a horrible nutritional deficit? Don't see avoiding artificial sweeteners as detrimental to our health. This is insignificant in the real scheme of things.
IMO it sounds more like you are trying to persuade those that disagree in regards to aspartame. It sounds to me like the waste is in the profit margin of the manufacturer of these products. Kind of like tobacco wasn't harmful way back when.... but now it is. But it's still available for you to choose to use or not... because primarily of the manufacturer profit margin and government kick backs. Even though it has been proven to be harmful/deadly.3 -
I looked up the LD50 of methanol in its MSDS and it is about 5g/kg so in that ballpark.
http://kni.caltech.edu/facilities/msds/methanol.pdf0 -
Why even risk it? After all, it still is a possible carcinogen. I stay away from all artificial sweeteners. I only eat the real stuff.
Exactly. Why risk it? Healthy living is about choosing wisely. Making good choices for your overall health.
AND why in the heck does it even matter. If you prefer not to use those artificial products for WHATEVER reason more power to you. and if you do use them well.... best of luck..... for your sake, I hope you are right.
It matters because this sort of fearmongering results in the waste of a lot of money in science, millions of dollars. It also results in people focusing on the wrong things, ignoring their calories and instead avoiding soda because apparently it is dangerous.
Misinformation is ALWAYS dangerous.
And because avoiding soda would be a horrible nutritional deficit? Don't see avoiding artificial sweeteners as detrimental to our health. This is insignificant in the real scheme of things.
IMO it sounds more like you are trying to persuade those that disagree in regards to aspartame. It sounds to me like the waste is in the profit margin of the manufacturer of these products. Kind of like tobacco wasn't harmful way back when.... but now it is. But it's still available for you to choose to use or not... because primarily of the manufacturer profit margin and government kick backs. Even though it has been proven to be harmful/deadly.
I am not pro-soda, I am anti-misinformation. There is no purpose or benefit to fearmongering aspartame. If you want to avoid soda just because that is fine but if instead like some others you pro-port that the reason you avoid soda is becasue aspartame is toxic then we have a problem.8
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