The Aspartame Thread

I drink nothing but Diet Coke all day - no water.

Shame on me, I know. But I hate the taste of water.

I see no reason to avoid something when there is no evidence it will hurt you. Other than the misinformation spread by Betty Martini and populated across the internet but well meaning people, there is no real evidence of aspartame causing health issues that I know of. I started drinking about a liter of diet coke just about everyday starting in January and have had zero ill effects. In fact it has been beneficial to me, as a bacardi and diet coke has alot fewer calories than a beer :-)

MaryHm1: "I found some reports that linked aspartame and panic attacks."
Can you pass along those reports, please?

NinerBuff: I never understood why liquid from sources including things like aspartame (or juice or whatever else) don't "count" as liquid. Clearly, MaryHm1 exists on only Diet Dr. Pepper for years and didn't shrivel up. What is the basis of the objection to not drinking pure water?

It's not the aspartame, but the caffeine (unless you drink decaffeinated) in diet soda that can cause dehydration. There are exceptions to every rule and situation, but being on the more logical side, an ample amount of pure water will help to offset this issue.

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

There is not nearly enough caffeine in soda to even begin dehydrating someone, particularly compared to the actual amount of water in the soda. If you could somehow consume 10 cans of caffeinated diet soda (or regular soda) without actually consuming any of the water in the soda, then you might be dehydrating yourself.

personally I stay away from most items that I know have aspartame in them - not always possible but I try - though my problem is if I have it say in diet soda (which is what I typically see it in) then I usually end up with a major Migrane - so for me I stay away other people I know use it and do ok (for now)

I end up with horrible bladder infections if I drink diet soda... I usually avoid them but will have on one occasion, then remember why I dont. lol. At any rate... not sure if it is the aspartame or not?? Regular soda doesn't cause me the same problem.

I have an opinion on this:

First of all, whether or not something is beneficial seems like an almost orthorexic way to approach your food decisions. There's another element that should be considered when deciding what to eat or drink, and that's pleasure.

I'm not suggesting that people eat or drink with no regard to their health, far from it. But I AM suggesting that viewing food exclusively as a source of energy seems unhealthy.

There's a massive difference between something that "isn't harmful at low dosages" and something that "is beneficial". There's no harm in consuming reasonable dosages of things that are not beneficial.

Until someone has evidence that aspartame, or any other food ingredient, is harmful at even the lowest possible dose, then I wouldn't worry about it assuming you're not chugging a case of diet pop a day.

To me this is common sense.

EDIT: I have no idea what dosage threshold of aspartame (if any) is harmful, but it seems awfully unreasonable to suggest that 1 sip of diet soda will kill me.

Once upon a time...

Okay MANY once upon a times...

I would engage in thoughtful dialogue about Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners. I would kindly post scientific articles and offer my scientific opinion that the alarmist claims of others were unwarranted, unjustified, and in many cases, pure nonsense. I would ALSO acknowledge that there are some possible risks associated with EXCESSIVE consumption of the compounds, and I would acknowledge that some people have a sensitivity to these compounds that manifests in headaches, etc... I would present articles in as unbiased a manner as possible showing that Aspartame increases appetite followed by articles showing it doesn't increase appetite and might actually repress it. I would present articles that show it might have a modest effect on insulin release and articles showing no effect. AND so on.

But then I realized something.

The alarmists don't care about an unbiased presentation of the science. They're capable of using pubmed and learning everything that I have learned, but they don't, ether because they're intimidated by it or because they prefer to act with faith in their chosen heroes of 'good health' while ignoring every other well-educated hero.

There are discussions like this one on a daily bases, and they really accomplish nothing. The true believer will continue to believe in the evils of aspartame regardless of what is said or posted.

Others will drink it without much thought because it tastes good and helps them stay on their diet.

Still others will weigh the pros and cons of aspartame with eyes wide open to the actual science (as opposed to the wonders produced by google-fu) and they will choose to partake or not partake depending on their own interpretation of the data.

If you choose not to partake... then there's no risk that aspartame will damage your health.

If you choose to partake (as I do)... the risks to your health are probably minimal. There's data to suggest some possible risks and there's data that contradicts that data, so it's really a toss-up and you're probably safe.

*sigh* And so... that's the end of my story.


Sincerely,

A frustrated, disgruntled, possibly jaded research scientist.

Great post labrat

I like to think about stuff like this, and as mentioned in the other thread, how future generations might view things compared to how we do. Aspartame is an interesting example - sure, it's possible that scientists will provide sound proof that it does some awful thing; but on the same note, it might become as ubiquitous as sugar. Just as sugar doesn't occur in granules in nature, but its chemical components do, aspartame doesn't occur naturally, but its components (a couple particular amino acids, which occur naturally in asparagus and breast milk, respectively) do. Think about other things we are used to now that were once newly created or discovered (i.e. don't occur in their current form in nature)... some are so widely accepted that we don't even think about it, some are the subject of concern for some people, and some are outright dangerous. Gasoline, hand cream, Tylenol, cocaine, red M&Ms, multivitamins and on and on.

Benefits and detriments? In my own estimation, it has little of either. Perhaps it helps some reduce their sugar intake, perhaps it's true that it increases your appetite - I don't know. But it's been around long enough and people consume it enough that I think it would have caused a health epidemic by now if it was going to.

This

If you're drinking over 20 12 ounce cans of diet soda a day, there's an issue and will be an issue. However a couple of cans a day is fine AS LONG AS you're also supplying an efficient amount of water too and not letting diet soda be your main fluid intake.

^^^
My opinion too...

My cousin had been drinking diet drinks for about 20 years, the last 10 or so, exclusively diet coke, about 1.5 - 2 litres a day (about 5-7 cans, which is a lot).
Last year doctors removed one of his kidneys and the grapefruit sized tumour attached to it.

None of the doctors would write down the cause because it couldn't be proved but without exception, they all said he should stay away from aspartame from here on in. He now drinks only water and fresh orange juice.

An extreme case I know but enough to keep me down to couple of cans a week.

I gave it up 5 years ago, I don't want bleach and tar in my body. I use stevia instead which is natural. I recently just got turned onto zsweet.

MaryHm1: "I found some reports that linked aspartame and panic attacks."
Can you pass along those reports, please?

NinerBuff: I never understood why liquid from sources including things like aspartame (or juice or whatever else) don't "count" as liquid. Clearly, MaryHm1 exists on only Diet Dr. Pepper for years and didn't shrivel up. What is the basis of the objection to not drinking pure water?

It's not the aspartame, but the caffeine (unless you drink decaffeinated) in diet soda that can cause dehydration. There are exceptions to every rule and situation, but being on the more logical side, an ample amount of pure water will help to offset this issue.

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

There is not nearly enough caffeine in soda to even begin dehydrating someone, particularly compared to the actual amount of water in the soda. If you could somehow consume 10 cans of caffeinated diet soda (or regular soda) without actually consuming any of the water in the soda, then you might be dehydrating yourself.

The question was related to someone only using diet soda as their means of fluid intake though.

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

I avoid the stuff like the plague. A couple of years ago I had horrific muscle pains in my chest wall and legs, and chronic headaches.. I drank diet coke and ate aspartame sweetened stuff. I gave up the diet drinks and the aspartame, boom, all maladies resolved.

I never had the chest pains, but ditto to everything else!

The consensus is 8 8oz glasses of water, but has no scientific study to actually prove it. IMO (yes my opinion) I think you should drink approximately have you weight in ounces. So if you're 200lbs, then 100 oz of water. 150lbs, then 75 oz.

I use the simpler "urine test". Obviously not relevant for people with specific medical conditions, but most of us are good with it:

Clear, no color - you're an overachiever, and don't need to be drinking as much water as you do.
Pale yellow - Perfect.
Bright yellow - Drink an extra glass or two today and check again tomorrow.
Medium yellow, darker, or any sign of cloudiness - Drink an extra FEW glasses today and check again tomorrow. If it's not lighter and clearer in 2-3 days, schedule an appointment with your doctor just to be safe.

I was looking for a protein powder without any artificial sweetener( I try to avoid them as they give me severe migraines, not just aspartame but suclarose as well) . I went to GNC and the guy working there said that because of all the problems people have been experiencing with aspartame most of the companies have switched over to suclarose or stevia in their products, so there must be a lot of problems with aspartame for the companies to have switched.

http://shouldiconsumeaspartame.com/