Diet Sodas: Refreshing & Guilt-Free, or Evil, addicitive Swill?

[Yollam]

(Bet you can guess which way this one's going!) :)

I've read a number of articles posted by DUers about "excitotoxins", most notably Aspartame AKA Nutrasweet, and their deletrious effects on the body and brain, and for the longest time I wanted to quit.

Rewind about 5 years, and we have just returned to the US from living overseas. I was about 220 lbs - overweight, but not alarmingly so. What with the big move back to the US, I had started smoking again after not smoking for 8 years. Contrary to what many people say, I found that the smoking actually made me MORE compulsive about eating, since I felt guilty about both smoking and eating, and I kept slowly gaining weight until I was about 240 lbs. Then 9-11. The months after that seemed like a good excuse to keep smoking! And Since the weight gain was bothering me, I started drinking diet sodas instead of sugary ones. I thought they were great because they didn't leave a film on my teeth or give me a "sugar high", and I thought they were actually more delicious than the regular kind. Come about early 2003 and I decided it was time to stop smoking once and for all, and I did. I had one cigarette a few months later which made me sick, and haven't had any since.

So of course, after quitting, I continued to gain weight and guzzled diet sodas, to the point that I was 260 lbs this summer. A lot of good this "Diet" stuff was doing me - I had gained weight and CONSTANTLY craved sweets, and I had never had a big sweet tooth. Over the last year or so, I developed psoriasis on my scalp, and my bite on my teeth was not lining up well, gums were getting swollen, even though I brush, floss and rinse regularly. My memory was getting noticeably worse.

So just this week, I finally decided that enough was enough. In addition to a fairly strict diet, which I talked about in the lounge, I decided to ditch all diet sodas (all sodas for that matter) from my diet. Just natural drinks, mostly tea and coffee now. I'm not obsessing over my weight, so I haven't weighed in yet, but I am definitely NOT craving sweets like before, and my gums are already feeling better. I'm wondering if the psoriasis won't start to clear up too. I realized that I was had been very addicted - I was drinking 1 to 2 liters a day, sometimes I'd realize that the ONLY liquid I'd had all day was diet soda. I still crave it a bit, which is why I refuse to drink it. I don't remember CRAVING soda drinks before.

I'm truly convinced that this aspartame crap is BAD NEWS. It's garbage that turns into formaldehyde and methanol in your body. It's not sweet, it just fools your brain into thinking it's sweet, and makes you crave more empty carbs.

I'm not going to link to any articles - there's plenty of stuff on this out there if you just google it, but I would encourage everyone who thinks they love diet soda to look into this info. You don't need this stuff. It's hurting your body, and is will NOT make you thinner.

I'm so thankful to have broken the hold these chemicals had on me. Anyone with good ideas for helping to flush the residual formaldehyde and methanol out of my system, please let me know...

[LincolnMcGrath]

1. My dad's new wife convinced me to give up the DIet Dew

Headaches and teeth grindeing quit the next day.

!!Phenylalanine be gone!!

I also am convinced that artificial sweetners make you crave more sweets and larger portions.

[SeveneightyWhoa]

5. Um..perhaps that's an effect of reducing your caffeine intake?

Headaches and teeth grinding could be due to too much caffeine (found in plentiful amounts in mountain Dew), no?

[LincolnMcGrath]

31. Still getting my share of caffeine

[tavalon]

10. Aspartame is an awful substance

But that isn't what stopped your headaches and teeth grinding. Do you have any idea how much caffeine is in Mountain Dew?

[LincolnMcGrath]

30. Still getting my share of caffeine

[Starbucks Anarchist]

2. Refreshing and guilt-free.

:)

[Dulcinea]

43. Seconded!

You can have my diet pop when you pry my cold, dead fingers from around it.

[SpiralHawk]

3. Swill

Swill supreme.

[Hapameli]

4. Rumsfeld is behind aspartame... gave it up as soon as I knew he was

I had the same experiences as the OP, gave it up 6 months ago or so. Mind is much sharper and no longer addicted to soda. I still buy Diet Shasta or Pepsi One with Splenda on occasion, which doesn't give me the same side effects and is not addictive.

As a friend of mine said, they're putting rat poison in little pink and blue packets on the tables of every restaraunt and we're the rats.

[Journeyman]

6. I drink mainly water. . .

and the more I drink, the more I enjoy it. . . it's gotten to the point where, if I drink a soda, I'm left more thirsty than before, with the feeling of a thick coating on my tongue and throat. . .I can only imagine that artificial sweeteners do very, very little that could be considered good. Like you, no links to offer. . . just my experiences. . .

[we can do it]

17. Me Too -

I gave that stuff up a while ago - I feel great. Did you feel "puffy" when you drank a lot of diet sodas?

[Journeyman]

42. I never drank diet sodas (at least, not on a regular basis). . .

but when I drank soda it did all sorts of things to me. Now, in those days, I rarely drank it straight, so that may have had more to do with my problems than the silly sugar water.

[FreedomAngel82]

37. I used to not really like water myself

unless I was at school or at band practice in my high school days. Back a few years ago I started taking my weight seriously and watching what I ate and drank and started drinking more water and now I like it. I only like ice cold filtered water though. No tap water for me. I had some at my grandmother's house and thought I was going to throw up.

[Journeyman]

41. Oh, yes, me too. . .

has to be filtered, has to be cold -- my tap water is very good (it won an award a few years ago as one of the best tasting waters in America), but the house is old and so are the pipes, and that's what imparts the taste. I'm friends with one of the guys who works on my municipal water district and he's filled glasses of water for me directly from the municipal wells -- it's unbelievably cold and tastes wonderful, so I know the bad taste isn't the water but my pipes. When I filter it and remove the particulates it's just fine. One day I may have the money to re-pipe the place. Or I may just continue to buy filters. Probably cheaper that way.

[Dr Batsen D Belfry]

7. I vote swill

I gave up diet caffeine free soda last week cold turkey. The first three days I had headaches. I have quadrupled my water intake and slowly my memory and digestive tract are coming back to normal. I am at 8 days without any soda. I am already eating far less and am less hungry. Weight in is on Saturday.

DBDB

[terip64]

8. I think it makes food taste better and so you always want more...

It is evil and having drinking almost 2 2 liter bottles a day for a long time now I drink mostly water and I can taste the food. I still love a nice diet pepsi once in a while but I don't buy it unless we are having a party.

[SeveneightyWhoa]

34. I agree..

The thing is, it always puts me in the mood to eat. I always get a feeling of hunger immediately after drinking any soda with aspartame. Kinda negates the "diet" effect, huh?

[rooboy]

9. Once I got the aspartame out of my diet...

I was able to drop about 15 pounds after more than 2 years of trying very, very hard. I don't know if it's true for everyone, but I'm very convinced that aspartame caused me to GAIN weight rather than lose it. Now I just have a normal coke instead of diet coke when I want a soda, and drink lots more water than before.

Sugar only has 16 calories per teaspoon anyway.

[FlaGranny]

24. And there are 200 calories in a 16-oz bottle of soda,

so be careful how much regular Coke you drink. :-)

[Yollam]

26. Coke - great for removing battery acid deposits.

-and yet we pour it down our throats!

[tavalon]

11. Evil swill

I'm glad to see we've gotten you back from that mindsucking crap. Water good. Green tea good. Aspartame very, very bad.

[notadmblnd]

12. I never bought into the diet soda craze

I always figured if it has to be diet, I don't need it at all.

What I wanted to tell you is that I found a tea last summer called Yerba Mate and since I've been drinking it, I have lost 20 pounds without dieting. I make it up by the gallon, sometimes sweetened with honey or sugar, sometimes not.

Yerba Mate is the national drink of Paraguay, Argentina, and Uraguay. In addition to aiding in wieight loss, people claim that it improves mental clairity, sustains physical energy, improves digestion, promotes balance in the body and has more antioxidents than green tea (which I also love).

I have found Yerba Mate at a natural/organic food store called "Trader Joes" in tea bags. I've seen it sold as lose tea on the internet and I also noticed recently that "Beaners" coffee chain also has it on the menu.

I don't want to argue with anyone whether or not diet pop is bad for you, I just never believed in it. I also don't believe in dieting, so I was impressed when people started noticing recently that I've lost weight and asked if I'm dieting. I'm not starving myself, I'm eating exactly what I want to eat (maybe less of it) but I'm not on a diet and have been losing 4 or 5 pounds a month.

[ClintonTyree]

13. Drinking 2 or more liters........

of any substance a day, other than water, would probably have a negative effect on your health. I have 1 or 2 cans of diet soda a day, sometimes none, and drink mostly water the rest of the day. If you abuse any substance it's going to have negative effects on your health.
Everything in moderation works for me. Don't blame Nutrasweet if you're the one overdosing on it. I'm sure it's NOT good for you in massive quantities, but we could say that about almost ANY substance, could we not? This is like people claiming that McDonalds is responsible for their obesity.......

[sendero]

14. Due to "reactive hypoglycemia"..

... I havent' been able to consume sugar (any high glycemic value sugar (fast into the blood) such as sucrose, dextrose, glucose, fructose) since the late 70's.

During that time, I've had a lot of experience with different sweeteners, because dammit I love sweets :)

My favorite is calcium saccharine, which after you use for a while has no aftertaste. And health-wise, it is pretty much accepted as safe. Aspartame also tastes good, but you cannot use it in heated foods/drinks. Sucralose (Splenda) is the devil - it not only tastes like bitter shit, it makes me itch all over and this is true of many people (it takes repeated consumption to bring this on, and it took me weeks to figure out why I was itching so much).

I have no doubt that aspartame is nasty shit, I have a friend who literally gets a "cold medicine buzz" when he drinks it, so he doesn't. But I have to say, being very "tuned in" to what I eat and how it affect me, I don't think aspartame messes with me at all.

That is NOT to say that it doesn't mess with you. I can totally believe that it does, and lots of other people. Everyone's body is different, and various people are susceptible to various chemicals.

My 2-cent advice to everyone is to pay close attention to your body-mind when you consume this artificial crap, because the effects can sometimes be very subtle and get worse so slowly that you don't notice it.

[fudge stripe cookays]

15. Wow!

I didn't realize that about Splenda! But I've been itching a lot too! Hmmm...

[fudge stripe cookays]

16. Poison. My MS is proof.

My stepmonster told me years ago how great Equal was, and for 20 something years, I consumed the stuff like crazy.

I'm convinced that my MS stems from it. There is no other history in my family of it except for a very distant batch of cousins.

Donald Rumsfeld is beyond evil for his role in this shit.

[we can do it]

18. I Am Glad You Gave It Up

If you wouldn't mind a bit of friendly advice - I would advise adding some exercise to your daily routine. Even walking helps. Good luck to you. - and HAPPY HOLIDAYS

[Yollam]

20. Minimum 30 mins. a day.

Usdually I walk, but I also like cycling.

Nobody has any good flushing/cleansing ideas?

[Rainscents]

35. Go to supplement store and ask them about whole body detox remedy

supplement. They'll help find one to fit your need. There is several different ones you can choose from. If you want total cleans, liver, blood, kidney, colon, etc... You can buy it through suplement store. Here is link you can at least start from... enjoy reading it!

http://www.drnatura.com/

BTW: If have question, please PM me... I'll give you more info.

[Yollam]

45. Thanks! n/t

nt

[msrbly]

19. Giving up soda of any kind was the best thing I've ever done.

I've been soda free for about a year now (previously I was drinking about one or two 20oz bottles a day) and I can't stand the taste of any soda now. I feel healthier and my skin has cleared up. I discovered it wasn't the sweet flavor I craved so much as the "bubbles" mineral water either plain or mixed with orange juice has solved that problem. Also, if you haven't tried "Emer'gen-C" yet, do some research on it. I think it's wonderful mixed with a bottle of water. It helped me kick soda, I drink a ton more water now and I get most of the vitamins I need.

[immoderate]

46. I switched to club soda.

It's cheap and it has bubbles. I've not seen anything that warns against the bubbles. Sometimes I mix it with juice.

--IMM

[Yollam]

21. I forgot to mention, I was constantly belching and farting with the sodas-

and now that has miraculously stopped, too.

:)

[jus_the_facts]

23. Bwahahaha....

:thumbsup:

[BigBearJohn]

22. The body doesnt know it's fake sugar, it STILL creates an insulin response

Anybody know what too much insulin does to the body?

[Craig3410]

25. I gave up aspartame and my diabetes is all gone!

Those lying bastards! They were putting the illusion of diabetes in my mind so I can ingest their swill!


(deep :sarcasm:)

Look, I've been drinking the shit for 11 years at about 4 or so 12 ozs a day, and nothing happening to me. It might eventually, but as I said, I'm fucking diabetic; so I could drink tap water, but I'd probably find out that the government was allowing 1000 times as much allowed arsenic in the water. And there are people that drink twice as much as I do with no ill effects; yeah, I'm sure chugging 4 12-packs a day sure as hell would mess you up, but some people seem to forget that if you ingest enough, water can kill you.

And snopes has already debunked the myth by linking to a half-dozen American medical/collegiate labs/british sites already saying it ain't bad, so unless the government is single-handedly forcing the FDA, "The Lancet", American Council on Science and Health, MIT News, and Dr. Dean Edell to lie.

I'll take my chances.

:rant:

[lies and propaganda]

27. i dont think there is anything refreshing about soda

(unless, of course there is some Captain in it)

Living in Az you figure out real quick the effect that shit will have on you, and its not pretty.

[Johonny]

28. I love it

I like soda and I love Diet soda in all it's blends. I've never had a bad reaction to it. It is not hurting my body and certainly did help me lose weight in the past. Everyones body chemistry is a little different. I willing to understand that some people have bad reactions to the different sugar substitutes.

[porphyrian]

29. The stuff with Splenda isn't too bad,...

...but I can't stand any of that other shit. However, it is my observation that people who like Diet Coke NEED Diet Coke. I mean, we're talking crack-like addiction.

[MrSlayer]

32. Diet soda tastes like shit.

It's just nasty. Needless to say I don't drink it.

[deadparrot]

33. The only soda I drink is Fresca.

Calorie-free, and it's a helluva lot better than other diet sodas, IMO. Failing that, it's water.

[FreedomAngel82]

36. I'm not a huge fan of diet drinks

I'd rather drink the regular stuff. If I do I drink water too throughout the day and tea. I think water is probably the best thing to do. I've heard how many drinks of soda you've had that's how many drinks of water to have.

[Neil Lisst]

38. It's BOTH good and evil.

I played with liquid mercury for years. Diet Coke? Not gonna worry about it.

[RummyTheDummy]

39. I'm not sure diet soda is the issue here

Sounds more like the person drinking them. The OP could not control himself/herself and therefore drank too much soda which in turn had adverse effects on their health. It seems to me that anything can be abused. Too many french fries over time, you're at an increased risk for heart disease. Too much fruit and you run the risk of digestive problems. The long and the short of it is if you drink it in moderation you're probably not going to have health problems.

[RiDuvessa]

40. I am skeptical

No one here has linked to a single scientific study that backs up their claims. There are many sites that debunk the aspartame myth.

<http://www.snopes.com/toxins/aspartame.asp>

Now honestly, I believe that artificial sweeteners are probably worse for you then sugar, unless you are a diabetic, but many of these claims seem a bit much.

[Yollam]

44. Snopes skirts a lot of the issues around aspartame.

It doesn't debunk the fact that aspartame is chemically unstable and turns into formaldehyde and methanol. It doesn't address the fact that aspartame has brain stimulative qualities, and with long-term use can cause users to actually crave MORE foods, esp. carbs, causing MORE weight gain.

All they debunk is the story that Aspartame is causing MS clusters, and they don't even do that convincingly. There are people who believe that their MS was brought on by heavy aspartame use - whether there is a causal relationship or not is up in the air, but I personally would rather not use a substance that breaks down at 86 deg. F and turns into some fairly nasty chemicals that build up in the body. I would mention also that the studies mentioned here were all short-term, and the problems with aspartame all arise with long-term use.

I drank that crap on and off for 12 years.