For the Gazillion Of Us Who Drink Diet Soda...Uh Oh

Tricia

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Its all good...soda, milk, eggs, red meat, sugar, salt, flour, dairy.
I've even seen an article warning about drinking water.

I don't panic, anymore. I try to stick with whole foods. Fresh. I feel better, too.
 
I'm a pop addict but I don't do diet pop (Crohns and artificial sweeteners are a no no)

So I have no excuse for being crackers?! :shame:
 
I have always drank regular soda, butter not margarine, minimal salt, caffeinated coffee, whole milk. 3 meals a day very rarely snack in between.
I have never liked anything diet. Jmo

Before i go to bed i have 5 oreo cookies & milk.
 
You're better off having the sugar IMO. And sugar is poison itself.
 
Fat free sugar free cafeine free gluten free ... its a huge business.
 
Well, before y'all go and bury your cans of Diet Coke keep in mind that this particular study only looked at 1) a possible correlation between diet pop and stroke in 46 to 59 year olds and 2) a possible correlation between diet pop and dementia in 60+ year olds.

From the Fox link:

The study sheds light only on an association, as the researchers were unable to determine an actual cause-and-effect relationship between sipping artificially sweetened drinks and an increased risk for stroke and dementia.
...
"We have little data on the health effects of diet drinks and this is problematic because diet drinks are popular amongst the general population," said Matthew Pase, a senior research fellow in the department of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine and lead author of the new study.

"More research is needed to study the health effects of diet drinks so that consumers can make informed choices concerning their health," he said.

http://q13fox.com/2017/04/23/diet-sodas-may-be-tied-to-stroke-dementia-risk/

Generally speaking and IMOO, people tend to replace regular soft drinks with diet versions when they are attempting to lose weight. That in itself suggests that it's possible that factors such as obesity and yo-yo dieting could play a bigger role than the choice of drink.

IOW, people who regularly maintain a healthy weight and make good food choices may not drink pop at all. So are we looking at a population of overweight couch potatoes or fit joggers? What about family medical history? Ethnicity? Were all the different types of sweeteners included?

I'm not a medical professional so here is a great link that includes statements from various doctors who caution not to take this single study as an absolute:

Pointing out some of the flaws in the study, Besser added, “They didn’t look at how much salt they took in, they didn’t look at what other foods they ate. Those things we know are associated with stroke and heart attack. They didn’t even look at obesity over time. And so to conclude from this, that it’s all from the diet soda, just makes no sense whatsoever.”

Dr. Walter Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, echoed this criticism in comments presented on ABCnews.com (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/taking-diet-soda-study-grain-salt-12870775): “It’s important to keep in mind that his was really a preliminary report. It’s not even published yet, and the study was fairly small. I think we have to interpret the findings about diet soda very carefully, in almost any first report, we shouldn’t really change our behavior, because it could easily have occurred by chance.”
...
The poster presentation is also at odds with statements on the website of the American Heart Association, sponsor of the conference where this poster was presented. Regarding the low-calorie sweeteners used in diet soft drinks, AHA states: “Try non-nutritive sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose or saccharin in moderation. Non-nutritive sweeteners may be a way to satisfy your sweet tooth without adding more calories to your diet. The FDA has determined that non-nutritive sweeteners are safe.”

https://scienceblog.com/42643/study-related-to-diet-soda-and-stroke-risk-is-seriously-flawed/

Much more at the link.

Anyway, all I'm suggesting is that diet drinks may not be a wise food choice for many reasons but they may not be the Devil's drink either. One observational study isn't enough to conclude that they cause strokes or dementia. In fact, the researchers themselves admit that they "were unable to determine an actual cause-and-effect relationship between sipping artificially sweetened drinks and an increased risk for stroke and dementia." Additional research will either confirm or disprove the hypothesis.

A good rule of thumb I use for myself is two-fold: First, when I read about new findings regarding nutrition I research as much as I can about both pro and con issues about the study and whether or not the conclusions are repeatable across time, and second, if it tastes really good it must be bad for you! Just joking... :dance:

MOO.
 
I drink diet drinks but I avoid aspartame at all costs why it is legal here in the U.K when banned in the U.S is hard for me to understand. Non diet drinks will likely give us diabetes diet drinks will cause Alzheimer's etc we can't win either way.
 
Once a month I'll drink a small bottle (1L) of regular Mountain Dew but that's it - my main beverage of choice is water
 
Fat free sugar free cafeine free gluten free ... its a huge business.

How true! I do believe though that the high nothing but sugar sodas are no doubt one of the worst things for us to consume. And, in spite of the fact that my DH and I both lost 8-10 pounds each just switching to diet sodas about 13 years ago, I know they're also not very healthy and should be consumed in great moderation. I rarely drink diet soda at all any more.

And If I'm going to add sugar to my diet which is not often, I'd rather it be in something really yummy.... a piece of home baked coconut cream pie or German Chocolate cake will do it, lol. :yes:
 
I drink diet drinks but I avoid aspartame at all costs why it is legal here in the U.K when banned in the U.S is hard for me to understand. Non diet drinks will likely give us diabetes diet drinks will cause Alzheimer's etc we can't win either way.

Actually, aspartame is allowed in the U.S. - NutraSweet and Equal are two of the brand names. But you're right in that it was banned for a while in the United States. It was approved in 1974 then pulled in 1975, mainly because of claims that the company which produced it - Searle - did some hinky stuff to get it approved. The FDA finally approved it as a sweetener in 1981 and approved its use in soft drinks in 1983. In 1996 the FDA approved its general use. A conspiracy theory chain letter circulated on usenet in the 1990's claiming aspartame was responsible for all sorts of diseases, none of which were true. Those rumors still flood the internet. Aspartame is the most studied artificial sweetener with, according to the FDA, over 100 studies.

It's not my favorite though. Personally I prefer Sugar Twin - purchased in Canada because it contains sodium cyclamates, which is still banned here in the U.S. although it may be making a comeback in the near future. Both cyclamates and saccharin came under fire in the 1970's thanks to the infamous rat studies that claimed both caused bladder cancer in rats. That study has been debunked both in the U.S. and in Canada, citing that saccharin doesn't bind to human DNA and also the rats were fed impossibly large amounts. Furthermore, subsequent studies failed to find any correlation to cancer in humans.

Oddly, in 1970 the U.S. banned cyclamates but in 1991 approved the use of saccharin. Canada went the opposite way, banning saccharin but approving cyclamates. Go figure. Enter MsMarple lugging 20 boxes of Sugar Twin across the border - and no, the U.S. side could care less. BTW, Canada re-listed saccharin as approved in 2014.

Sorry about the long posts - I only use a couple of packets for my two cups of morning coffee and prefer to have a sugared can of pop on a rare occasion rather than a six pack every day of diet pop. Kinda like how I consider chocolate - go for a really good chocolate but just not on a daily basis.

https://www.fda.gov/food/ingredientspackaginglabeling/foodadditivesingredients/ucm397725.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3185898/
http://www.webefit.com/articles_100_199/article_113_artsweet02.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life...he-raw-truth-about-saccharin/article18871937/
https://www.agcanada.com/daily/saccharin-cleared-for-use-in-foods-in-canada
http://www.diabetes.ca/diabetes-and-you/healthy-living-resources/diet-nutrition/sugar-sweeteners
 
How true! I do believe though that the high nothing but sugar sodas are no doubt one of the worst things for us to consume. And, in spite of the fact that my DH and I both lost 8-10 pounds each just switching to diet sodas about 13 years ago, I know they're also not very healthy and should be consumed in great moderation. I rarely drink diet soda at all any more.

And If I'm going to add sugar to my diet which is not often, I'd rather it be in something really yummy.... a piece of home baked coconut cream pie or German Chocolate cake will do it, lol. :yes:

Exactly. It took me years to break my soda addiction.
I replaced it with coffee. Hot. Cold. Black unsweetened. Lol
 
I quit drinking diet soda years ago....thank God i switched to straight rum


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