diet cola

When you get a chance, you should do some research into Betty Martini. That is the source of most of the sweetener conspiracy theories.

I'm a scientist. My research is based on scientific studies conducted and published in reputable journals.

Notice that at NO POINT have I said that Aspartame is definitely bad for you. I even specifically stated that scientists have not reached a consensus on Aspartame's health effects.

However, it is scientifically incorrect to say that Aspartame is present in some other substance because it's components are present in another substance. Do you agree with that?

I was looking at your quote saying that it was unknown the extent that diet soda was "unhealthy." Which I take to mean that you have already been operating under the bias that diet soda is unhealthy.

I can agree that Aspartame is not present in other substances just because its components are but the standard anti-sweetener argument does tend to focus on the presence of aspartate in the product.

The worst part about soda is the sodium.

When you drink too much soda over a long period of time, you produce more acid and this can damage your esophagus. This can potentially do irreparable harm if this continues for a long time.

The artificial sweeteners are most likely not good for you, but their effects haven't been proven and their is not a consensus among the scientific community about whether it's detrimental.
As for the caffeine, too much isn't good and it could be one of the reasons you're addicted to the soda. Maybe try to have one caffeinated and one non-caffeinated per day.
The carbonation probably isn't good for your body. I don't know as much about this, but I would bet that, similar to artificial sweeteners, there isn't a consensus as to the detrimental effects of carbonation.

Because too much of anything isn't good, I'd recommend trying to cut down to one or two per day and then maybe trying to cut it out except on "special" occasions (going out to dinner, going to a movie, etc...)

Misconceptions
Although most people believe that drinking diet soda leads to weight loss, this is not the case. With only approximately 5 calories per serving, diet soda does not directly contribute excessive calories to the diet; however, the consumption of sweet beverages has been shown to cause an increased desire for other sweetened foods and beverages. The sweetened beverage can also cause greater hunger during the day as the body begins to feel deprived of the calories normally associated with sweet taste.



Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/140742-why-diet-soda-is-not-healthy/#ixzz1xbXV3sjG

Yes, gastric acid has a pH of between 1 and 3. Not an issue.

However, I also shudder to think what diet soda does to our kidneys.

Please explain.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

People think diet soda is a practical alternative to water. I know many people who drink diet coke all day but no water, then wonder why they get kidney stones on a regular basis. I've never had a kidney stone, but from I can tell it's very painful. Hence the shuddering.

Doctors do not always know what causes a stone to form. While certain foods may promote stone formation in people who are susceptible, scientists do not believe that eating any specific food causes stones to form in people who are not susceptible.

A person with a family history of kidney stones may be more likely to develop stones. Urinary tract infections, kidney disorders such as cystic kidney diseases, and certain metabolic disorders such as hyperparathyroidism are also linked to stone formation.

In addition, more than 70 percent of people with a rare hereditary disease called renal tubular acidosis develop kidney stones.
http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/stonesadults/#cause

The worst part about soda is the sodium.

There's more sodium in many natural foods compared to diet soda.

When you drink too much soda over a long period of time, you produce more acid and this can damage your esophagus. This can potentially do irreparable harm if this continues for a long time.

Where is this information from?

The artificial sweeteners are most likely not good for you, but their effects haven't been proven and their is not a consensus among the scientific community about whether it's detrimental.
As for the caffeine, too much isn't good and it could be one of the reasons you're addicted to the soda. Maybe try to have one caffeinated and one non-caffeinated per day.
The carbonation probably isn't good for your body. I don't know as much about this, but I would bet that, similar to artificial sweeteners, there isn't a consensus as to the detrimental effects of carbonation.

Because too much of anything isn't good, I'd recommend trying to cut down to one or two per day and then maybe trying to cut it out except on "special" occasions (going out to dinner, going to a movie, etc...)

Too much of anything is bad for you. Moderation is fine. Problem for most people is that they don't abide by moderation which is why there are so many fat people in the US.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

The worst part about soda is the sodium.

There's more sodium in many natural foods compared to diet soda.

When you drink too much soda over a long period of time, you produce more acid and this can damage your esophagus. This can potentially do irreparable harm if this continues for a long time.

Where is this information from?

The artificial sweeteners are most likely not good for you, but their effects haven't been proven and their is not a consensus among the scientific community about whether it's detrimental.
As for the caffeine, too much isn't good and it could be one of the reasons you're addicted to the soda. Maybe try to have one caffeinated and one non-caffeinated per day.
The carbonation probably isn't good for your body. I don't know as much about this, but I would bet that, similar to artificial sweeteners, there isn't a consensus as to the detrimental effects of carbonation.

Because too much of anything isn't good, I'd recommend trying to cut down to one or two per day and then maybe trying to cut it out except on "special" occasions (going out to dinner, going to a movie, etc...)

Too much of anything is bad for you. Moderation is fine. Problem for most people is that they don't abide by moderation which is why there are so many fat people in the US.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Yes, there is more sodium in many natural foods; however, with those natural foods, you're giving your body other nutrients as well. With sodas, you're essentially "wasting" your sodium allowance. I would doubt that many people have difficulty reaching the necessary sodium requirement with real food.

The following is NOT medical advice and is not meant to inform anyone that they may or may not have some condition.

As for the damage to the esophagus, when you drink soda, it results in a minor form of gastric distention which causes some of the contents of the stomach to move up into the esophagus because the gastroesophageal sphincter is forced to stay open. Because the esophagus isn't lined the same way the stomach is, it can't handle the acid, and the acid can cause damage to the tissue lining the esophagus. Additionally, when you burp after drinking soda, additional acid is brought up to the esophagus with the air. When this happens consistently (people who drink a lot of soda over a long period of time) the damage to the esophagus can result in Barret's Esophagus which is basically a change in the cells lining the esophagus. For a small number of people, this condition can result in ulcers or formation of an adenocarcinoma.

To the sodium requirement, I do agree that the number is subjective. I've heard 1400 mg for an adult and I adjusted it down a little to account for the fact that most people here are dieting and thus eating less calories. With that same statement, I underestimated the amount of sodium in diet coke by 5, so 4 diet cokes is 160 mg. Even if you think the number should be 1600 mg, 4 sodas still means you're getting 10% of your sodium without getting any nutritional benefits from that.

To the person that said there have been no studies that have linked aspartame to ill health. I did a quick search and found these 3:

1. Lovett, Richard
Source: New Scientist; 5/6/2006, Vol. 190 Issue 2550, p40-43, 4p
This article focuses on the health aspects of aspartame. Aspartame, also known in Europe as E951, is the artificial sweetener people love to hate. Since it was approved for food use 25 years ago it has been linked to pretty much every health scare going, from brain tumours to insomnia and mood swings. In 2005 a group of scientists at the European Ramazzini Foundation in Bentivoglio, near Bologna in Italy, published some new findings. When the foundation's researchers added aspartame to the diet of 1500 rats, they saw an increase in the incidence of leukaemias and lymphomas, cancers of the blood and lymphatic systems, particularly among females. Notably, cancer incidence rose even in rats fed the equivalent of half the World Health Organization's acceptable daily intake of 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram of body weight.

2. Bandyopadhyay, Atrayee1
Ghoshal, Sarbani2
Mukherjee, Anita1 anitamukherjee28@gmail.com
Source: Drug & Chemical Toxicology; 2008, Vol. 31 Issue 4, p447-457, 11p, 1 Diagram, 2 Charts

Low-calorie sweeteners are chemicals that offer the sweetness of sugar without the calories. Consumers are increasingly concerned about the quality and safety of many products present in the diet, in particular, the use of low-calorie sweeteners, flavorings, colorings, preservatives, and dietary supplements. In the present study, we evaluated the mutagenicity of the three low-calorie sweeteners in the Ames/Salmonella/microsome test and their genotoxic potential by comet assay in the bone marrow cells of mice. Swiss albino mice, Mus musculus, were orally administered with different concentrations of aspartame (ASP; 7, 14, 28, and 35 mg/kg body weight), acesulfame-K (ASK; 150, 300, and 600 mg/kg body weight), and saccharin (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg body weight) individually. Concurrently negative and positive control sets were maintained. The animals were sacrificed and the bone marrow cells were processed for comet assay. The standard plate-incorporation assay was carried with the three sweeteners in Salmonella typhimurium TA 97a and TA 100 strains both in the absence and presence of the S9 mix. The comet parameters of DNA were increased in the bone marrow cells due to the sweetener-induced DNA strand breaks, as revealed by increased comet-tail extent and percent DNA in the tail. ASK and saccharin were found to induce greater DNA damage than ASP. However, none could act as a potential mutagen in the Ames/Salmonella /microsome test. These findings are important, since they represent a potential health risk associated with the exposure to these agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3. Hull, Janet Starr
Source: Total Health; Feb/Mar2005, Vol. 27 Issue 1, p30-32, 3p

Reveals the health hazards of artificial sweeteners. Denial of corporations on the connection between aspartame and obesity; Chemical sweeteners that may be causing users to show signs of weight gain and sexual dysfunction; Artificial sweeteners to be avoided.

Despite all of this I was addicted to diet soda too. I am not saying people shouldn't drink it, that's not for me to decide but I also think it is not good to be disillusioned about the ill affects such substances might have on our health either. We really don't know what all of the potential health risks associated with artificial sweeteners are. But there certainly is science to support there might be some risks (not just "natural quackery" or whatever someone posted earlier in this thread). My take on it is moderation is probably okay. I was not able to drink coke zero in moderation so I had to quit somewhat recently. I'm not sure if it will help me lose weight/change something about my body or health because it hasn't been enough time to notice any of that . But I'm glad I quit. It is probably best not to put these extra chemicals in my body either way. Clean water is the best thing for the body and I crave it too.

diet soda is POISON. Look at the ingredients. If you are making a commitment to be healthy and want to POISON yourself, its your personal choice. Just make sure you are honest with yourself before making that choice.