interesting Points regarding Diet Pop from my trainer

This article is this guys opinion, none of it is fact. I would like to see real, scientific journal articles from a real medical journal. Many 'trainers' call themselves nutritionists, when they are not, in fact nutritionists or dietitians. I know plenty of people who drink diet drinks who are not overweight or obese. Excess calories and sedentary lifestyle cause weight gain. Diet drinks have ZERO calories, therefore, will not cause weight gain. Now, what if those who are drinking diet colas rationalize by saying "i saved 300 kcal by drinking diet instead of regular, I deserve the Big Mac and fries"? Is it the diet cola that caused weight gain? Or the Big Mac and fries? Am I saying diet cola is good for you? Absolutely not. Especially when it replaces healthier options like water and milk. Does it cause weight gain. Absolutely not. Be smart. Moderation is key.

There is a ton of very mixed evidence about artificial sweeteners floating around--who's right? I guess it would take an actual scientific study to figure it out. What I've personally noticed is that fake sweeteners are WAY sweeter than anything that occurs naturally or even regular old table sugar. Consuming artificially sweetened drinks trained my tastebuds to expect excessive sweetness--that meant that actual sweets, like cookies or cake, became less satisfying. If I'm going to eat cake, I want to enjoy it. I also want to appreciate the sweetness that occurs naturally in many foods. Fruit SHOULD seem like dessert.

For me, it's the "chemical" thing. I have zero interest in putting chemicals into my body (or my children's bodies)...

This thread is waaay too old, but I found a pic I thought was relevant.



AAAARGH! CHEMICALS!!!!

I'm particularly scared of Dihydrogen Monoxide, that stuff can be lethal!!

We have to ban Dihydrogen Monoxide! See http://'www.dhmo.org/ for reasons why!

I would have replied sooner, but I was dodging little pieces of sky ....

"#2. Aspartame is being linked to MS, Lupus and Parkinson's disease. I know a couple people that have MS through friends and family - they all have, or still do, drink diet pop. Here's a link to learn more. http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/aspartame-poison.html http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-information.html"

Are you blaming MS on aspartame?? Wow! That's a big stretch.

I have 2 family friends with MS as well and neither of them drink or have ever drank diet soda.

I personally can't drink it anymore, but I don't think it's fair to do this.

Aspartame has been found to be safe for human consumption by more than ninety countries worldwide,[49][50] with FDA officials describing aspartame as "one of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives the agency has ever approved" and its safety as "clear cut",[51] but has been the subject of several controversies, hoaxes[3] and health scares.[52]

A widely circulated email hoax cited aspartame as the cause of numerous diseases.[57] The Center for Disease Control investigated and was unable to find any significant epidemiological associations to serious risk or harm.[58]
The weight of existing scientific evidence indicates that aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption as a non-nutritive sweetener.[6] Reviews conducted by regulatory agencies decades after aspartame was first approved have supported its continued availability.[59]

Point is it's safe to consume.

I drink water and Milk. I always thought Pop was bad. All pop.

My personal trainer and Boot Camp Trainer each week sends out interesting emails each week and this is one i thought i might share with you guys.

Read carefully - This is something that could be hindering your weight loss success


It blows my mind when I go through a mall and I see loads of people walking around drinking diet pop, diet juice, or coffee and tea with artificial sweeteners - most of these people being overweight or obese. Diet pop is manufactured by companies that want to make money, not help you lose weight. This is the first red flag. The second red flag is the fact that artificial sweeteners were made in a scientific lab by people who configured a chemical substance to taste like sugar. That's disgusting when you actually think about it. Not only should these two facts be alarming alone, but why would you want to put something in your body that is fake, just to save a couple calories? Our bodies are supposed to be the temples that we live through. We need to feed ourselves quality food to influence good health and live with vitality.

Here's my take on diet drinks - they make you fat, and keep you fat. If you want to be healthy, you don't want to drink anything with artificial sweeteners. Especially aspartame!!!! Artificial sweeteners come with health risks, have addictive properties, and shut down our bodies natural ability to count calories. Our bodies don't understand how to metabolise things like aspartame, and actually sees artificial sweeteners as toxic. When we consume toxic things, our bodies go into a protection mode, making us store fat cells and water weight "to save us" from these foreign substances. We want to lose fat cells - not make them! Things like aspartame also turn off the satiation centre in your brain, making you crave more food later on, potentially causing you to reach for the wrong foods and over-eat. It can also diminish your serotonin levels, which are the feel-good chemicals you produce in your brain. When serotonin levels are down, you can feel sad, tired, *****y, hungry, and reaching for foods that quickly pick up your serotonin levels like white bread, cookies, chocolate, chips or more pop! Not something you want to do if you're trying to lose weight - it makes you crave the bad carbohydrates. This has personally happened to me. I used to be fully addicted to diet pop, and noticed I was putting on weight, feeling tired and not wanting to workout, kind of sad, constantly hungry, experiencing hormonal problems, and the weirdest thing - sometimes leaking a little bit of pee in my pants. Not cool!!!! I knew something was up, and that was the only major change I had done with my "diet", so I started to research and educate myself on it. Some of the things I learned were so alarming that I immediately stopped drinking diet pop, and even though I went through some withdrawal symptoms like headaches and cravings, I then soon lost weight, became energized, and stopped having little pee accidents. Yeah! This experience has made me very passionate about how bad artificial sweeteners are for you, so if you can learn anything from me, have it be this - don't drink diet pop!!!! Now, I don't even chew gum, and I always check food and drink labels for aspartame - like yogurts, and so-called healthy drinks. This is a choice I have made, and plan on sticking to, because it has made me feel loads better. After reading this, the choice is yours.

Here's some other quick facts and links if you'd like to learn more:
#1. Brand names of aspartame: NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, Equal-Measure, Amino-Sweet - check for these on your food and drink labels.
#2. Aspartame is being linked to MS, Lupus and Parkinson's disease. I know a couple people that have MS through friends and family - they all have, or still do, drink diet pop. Here's a link to learn more. http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/aspartame-poison.html http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-information.html
#3. Healthy sugar replacements: Natural honey, 100% pure maple syrup, coconut (palm) sugar, and stevia. Stevia is naturally carb free and made from a plant source. I buy the palm sugar at the bulk barn, and grab the stevia from the superstore. They both have properties to help you with blood sugar control, unlike most sugars that throw your blood sugar onto a rollercoaster ride and cause you to store fat.

Since this is all broscience, why bother posting it? Not one single citation in the whole thing and lots of patently false claims. Just for starters, most "artificial" sweeteners were not created by people trying to make something taste like sugar. Mostly, they were accidentally discovered by people studying something else.

I absolutely agree with everything you said. I did a research paper for my speech class on aspartame and it was eye opening and alarming. If you read the history of how it was approved by the FDA and what the research showed and how documents were falsified to get it approved, it is bad stuff. I used to be heavily addicted to diet coke, drinking over 2 liters a day and I was always thinking about my next cup. I don't drink any kind of soda now and I know I am better for it.

For me, it's the "chemical" thing. I have zero interest in putting chemicals into my body (or my children's bodies). That includes what's in cigarettes, drugs, and anything artifically colored or flavored or preserved. Does anyone know for sure what the effects of all these chemicals are on our health and our environment? Since no one can 100% guarantee me that they are absolutely safe, I can easily do without. If I want to take risks, I'll skydive.

Everything is chemicals. It is impossible to not consume chemicals. And no one can "100% guarantee" you that anything, no matter how "natural," is "absolutely safe." Absolutely safe doesn't exist.

I absolutely agree with everything you said. I did a research paper for my speech class on aspartame and it was eye opening and alarming. If you read the history of how it was approved by the FDA and what the research showed and how documents were falsified to get it approved, it is bad stuff. I used to be heavily addicted to diet coke, drinking over 2 liters a day and I was always thinking about my next cup. I don't drink any kind of soda now and I know I am better for it.

Can yo maybe share some of the sources from the bibliography of that paper to support your conclusions? Please? And can you be more specific? In what way are you "better for it?"

Interesting read. I was pleased to see that Crystal Light now has a stevia sweetened version of their lemonade.

For me, it's the "chemical" thing. I have zero interest in putting chemicals into my body (or my children's bodies). That includes what's in cigarettes, drugs, and anything artifically colored or flavored or preserved. Does anyone know for sure what the effects of all these chemicals are on our health and our environment? Since no one can 100% guarantee me that they are absolutely safe, I can easily do without. If I want to take risks, I'll skydive.

So what about imumazations,advil,cough medicne,lotion (cuz if it goes on the skin its in you) deoderant,make up,oh lets not forgett cell phones since they supposedly cause cancer now . Almost every thing we come in contact with now has chemicals in it.If you dont want to drink it fine,thats cool you're decision and all but really chemicals are every where and in everything

Immunizations are the law. I have no choice there. I take organic or all natural cough medicines and vitamins, no other meds whatsoever, all my lotions, soaps, toothpaste, shampoo, deoderant, etc. are organic and/or 100% natural. I am seriously against ingesting or absorbing chemicals. I also avoid plastics and even my household cleaners are green and natural (non-chemical). I don't just do it half-way. I rarely use a cell phone, although I do have one for emergencies. It is perfectly possible to live without all that crap in and on our bodies.

I think the confusion is about your terms. Anything with carbon or ionic bond is a chemical substance. Most things in the universe are mixtures of various chemically bonded substances. It is possible that your division is arbitrary based on whether or not something can be found in nature. We used to get insulin naturally, but it involved killing quite a few pigs. Now we are able to synthesize it with bacteria, and have saved the pigs, and quite a few people. I love organic food, but I am sketchy on where a healthy division lies between healthy and unhealthy 'chemicals.' Nature has quite a reputation for developing deadly substances, just ask a snake.

Nope. No carbon, or bonds of any kind--including ionic--are needed for something to be a "chemical substance." You're confusing "chemical substance" with "organic substance." No bonds in helium or neon, or any other noble gas, but they're chemicals none-the-less.

Here's some other quick facts and links if you'd like to learn more:
#1. Brand names of aspartame: NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, Equal-Measure, Amino-Sweet - check for these on your food and drink labels.
#2. Aspartame is being linked to MS, Lupus and Parkinson's disease. I know a couple people that have MS through friends and family - they all have, or still do, drink diet pop. Here's a link to learn more. http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/aspartame-poison.html http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-information.html

I didn't see sweet n low in the list.... I have used it for about two yrs now in my coffee of a morning.

Some M.D.'s told me that diet soda causes Metabolic syndrome (aka being fat)

Because I have been interested in this subject but never actually looked it up.... this thread made my interest peak and I looked up published scientific articles (including but not limited to; Environmental Health Perspective, Science, and the British Medical Journal) about the health concerns involving aspartame. I, unfortunately, can not link to the articles because my access is through my university library sign in. The articles I have read do indeed confirm there are many health concerns related to the ingestion of aspartame. It is a carcinogenic substance, proven to double the amount of tumors created during the studies. Studies have also found it can cause depression, headaches, and possible nerve damage (I didn't find quite enough on this to solidify the data for nerve damage). There are counter articles claiming that the study's numbers are not high enough from the control group to declare aspartame to be carcinogenic, HOWEVER those articles were completely funded by the company that produces aspartame (real shocking there). I think people should be allowed to make their own health decisions, but I do wish more people would actually take the time to research the things they are putting into their bodies. I personally detest the taste of aspartame, but know many people who enjoy it.

"Also, with the exception of aspartame, all of the sweeteners listed below cannot be broken down by the body. They pass through our systems without being digested so they provide no extra calories."

"As with anything, do not go overboard when you using artificial sweeteners."

Size Up Your Sweetener Options
Don’t know which little packet to choose? Here’s a quick primer on the big three—plus the newcomers stevia and agave nectar. All of them are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but they do vary in flavor and uses, so you may find you need to do a taste test of your own.

Saccharin
Brands: Sweet’N Low and Sweet Twin
Sweetness: 200 to 700 times sweeter than sugar
Taste: Some people report a bitter aftertaste.
Safety: First produced in 1879, saccharin is the oldest of the artificial sweeteners. In 1970, a study in rats found that the sugar substitute was associated with bladder tumor growth, resulting in an eat-at-your-own-risk warning on the pink package. Years later, however, the warning was revoked as more than 30 human studies reported no saccharin-tumor connection.
How to cook with it: The Sweet’N Low brand sells packets as well as a bulk version for baking, a liquid formula, and a brown sugar blend. When baking, replace 1 cup of sugar with 24 packets, 2 tablespoons of saccharin liquid, or 1 cup of brown sugar saccharin.

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Aspartame
Brands: Equal, NutraSweet, Natra Taste
Sweetness: 180 to 200 times sweeter than sugar
Taste: There’s no aftertaste associated with aspartame, though some say it has an unnatural flavor.
Safety: Search the Web for aspartame’s side effects and you’ll find stories about its purported link to cancer, dementia, headaches, and depression. Most scientists (as well as the American Diabetes Association) maintain that the powder is a safe alternative to sugar for people with diabetes. One caveat: Aspartame contains phenylalanine, which can be harmful to people with the rare disease phenylketonuria and should be avoided by them.
How to cook with it: High temperatures can diminish aspartame’s sweetness, so even though some brands (like Equal) sell bulk versions, most chefs avoid
baking with them.

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Sucralose
Brand: Splenda
Sweetness: 600 times sweeter than sugar
Taste: Though some sugar purists say an aftertaste lingers, most sweetener fans maintain Splenda is the most natural tasting of all.
Safety: Since Splenda is the newest artificial sweetener to hit the market, there are fewer long-term studies of it than of saccharin and aspartame. That said, the FDA says that Splenda is safe.
How to cook with it: Splenda sells various baking products, including a granular version that measures cup for cup with sugar. If you use the half sugar blend or half brown sugar blend, replace a cup of sugar with a half cup of the blend.

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Stevia
Brands: Truvia, PureVia, SweetLeaf, Stevia in the Raw, Sun Crystals sugar-stevia blend
Sweetness: 250 to 300 times sweeter than sugar
Taste: Some people say the sweetener derived from the whole leaf of the stevia plant leaves behind a licorice taste. Brands that use a purified portion of the leaf known as rebaudioside A have less of an aftertaste.
Safety: : Stevia has been used as a sweetener in Japan for years, but the FDA had previously banned its use because of reports of reproductive problems in lab animals. In late 2008, the FDA approved the purified part of the stevia leaf for American consumption. Look for that form—rebaudioside A—in the list of ingredients when purchasing stevia.
How to cook with it: Each stevia brand recommends its own sugar-to-stevia ratio (so check your brand’s Web site), and some brands sell the sweetener in liquid or bulk form. A good start is to replace a cup of sugar with 24 packets of stevia.

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Agave Nectar
Brands: Wholesome Sweeteners, Madhava, and Volcanic Nectar, among others
Sweetness: Somewhat sweeter than sugar, so use between a quarter and an eighth less agave nectar than if you were cooking with regular sugar.
Taste: The lighter, golden version tastes syrupy while the darker, amber variety has a more intense honey flavor.
Safety: Agave nectar isn’t carbohydrate or calorie free—it has the same amount of calories and carbs as sugar. But since it’s a food with a low glycemic index, the syrup won’t raise your blood glucose levels as much as sugar or honey do. Plus, it’s sweeter than sugar, so you’ll use less.
How to cook with it: Sweetening with agave nectar is simple if you’re swirling it into coffee. Things get more complicated when you start baking with the syrup. To adjust a recipe, replace each cup of sugar with two-thirds to three-quarters cup of agave nectar, then reduce all other liquids in the recipe by a quarter. Lower your oven temperature by 25 degrees to prevent burning, and shorten the cooking time on cookies by 3 to 5 minutes and cakes by 7 to 10 minutes.


http://forecast.diabetes.org/magazine/food-thought/size-your-sweetener-options?page=1

http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/artificial-sweeteners/?keymatch=aspartame