Posted on 02/06/2008 1:17:35 AM PST by neverdem
Researchers have found a correlation between drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome — the collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes that include abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and blood glucose levels — and elevated blood pressure.
The scientists gathered dietary information on more than 9,500 men and women ages 45 to 64 and tracked their health for nine years.
--snip--
But the one-third who ate the most fried food increased their risk by 25 percent compared with the one-third who ate the least, and surprisingly, the risk of developing metabolic syndrome was 34 percent higher among those who drank one can of diet soda a day compared with those who drank none.
“This is interesting,” said Lyn M. Steffen, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota and a co-author of the paper, which was posted online in the journal Circulation on Jan. 22. “Why is it happening? Is it some kind of chemical in the diet soda, or something about the behavior of diet soda drinkers?”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Splenda?
I disagree. Everything to EXCESS! Moderation is for Monks!
Carolyn
I pretty much drink water all day, too.
Btw, are you a gator fan?
I pretty much drink water all day, too.
Btw, are you a gator fan?
Autotoxins are developed within the body. How does aspartame, which has to be consumed, qualify as an autotoxin?
Just about anything can be toxic if you consume enough of it. Even drinking too much water can kill you. Aspartame is made up of phenylalanine, which is an amino acid found in all proteins; aspartic acid which is another amino acid common in vegetables; and methanol, which is common in fruit. A glass of apple juice contains more methanol than several diet cokes.
How can these components be toxic as aspartame but not when we consume them naturally in the food we eat every day?
He also says that you’re better off drinking the real thing with sugar than the diet drink because diet drinks cause the body to hold on to fat.
I'm willing to bet the author of this has never passed a course in basic nutrition or physiology.
Or as some would say, Big Boned.
I like coke zero as well.
I drank 4 liters of that stuff one day, after attending a chocolate sampling event. I was so wired I stayed up for 2 days. That does not deter the fact that it is damn good :).
Aspartame is an excitotoxin.
Aspartame contains methanol, a wood alcohol which is a deadly poison.
There are documented stories of people who have turned their health around by getting off of msg and aspartame, both excitotoxins.
Aspartame—I read an article years ago that Aspartame turns into formaldahyde once it gets into the body.
We have gotten rid of all excitotoxins in our daily diet and it has made a huge difference. Excitotoxins are ADDICTIVE. Suddenly my kids eat regular food and love it.
MSG has so many hidden names (google about it) that you have to avoid all foods with ANY of them in the ingredients, including the nice-sounding euphemism “natural flavors.”
99.9% of all supermarket packaged foods have them in them. All crackers (except your most basic) have msg. But MSG is what makes people want to eat more and more and more of something. When we get any truly natural baked goods, my family seems to only eat a smaller amount and be satisfied.
Eating MSG and aspartame and HFCS means you are addicted to unhealthy chemicals. Try going off them (but it also means you have to carry your own food around because there is not much in a snack machine you can eat any more) for far better health and the natural taste of real foods.
IIRC, aspartame is 50% phenylalanine, 39% aspartic acid and 11% methanol. It is the methanol component that is converted into formaldehyde and then into formic acid.
It doesn't matter what the source of methanol is, whether it's from apples, tomatoes, strawberries or red wine, it's all converted in the same manner. Your liver is very adept at removing this minute amount of toxin from your body. You consume all sorts of toxins that occur naturally in the foods and beverages you eat every day. To worry about the small amount of methanol contained in aspartame makes absolutely no sense.
“Aspartame—I read an article years ago that Aspartame turns into formaldahyde once it gets into the body.”
Which why I am so well preserved...
I always thought the regular sodas tasted toooo sweet.
Now I drink water to satisfy my thirst.....and occasionally add scotch:-)
Thanks for the links.
Despite the high caloric content of the rest of the meal, eliminating the calories of a regular coke is a reduction of calories that otherwise would be consumed.
Also, you may be looking at somebody like me who doesn't tolerate sugar well.
I’m a big-time Diet Cokehead. Check my profile page and decide for yourself if I’m fat.
But I thought it was an autotoxin? For three components that occur so abundantly in the foods we eat every day, they sure appear to be highly toxic. Makes you wonder why the FDA ever approved it or why people who've spent their lives studying food science consume it without fear.
So, according to your sources, if I eat a steak with peas and potatoes and then wash it all down with a little red wine or some apple juice, I'm causing neuronal cell death and placing myself at risk of a stroke and Huntington's disease or early Alzheimer's. Wow. Who knew?
Aspartame contains methanol, a wood alcohol which is a deadly poison.
So does fruit juice, red wine, strawberries, tomatoes or many other fruits and vegetables. Are you claiming that those foods, which most agree are good for us, are really highly toxic?
If you're afraid of methanol you should also be afraid to eat lima beans because they contain cyanide, potatoes contain arsenic, carrots, celery, lettuce and pears all contain caffeic acid which is a powerful carcinogen. Orange Juice contains limonene, which is used as paint stripper. Coffee, when it's roasted, creates more than 600 chemicals many of which are highly toxic.
Anyway, the point is you eat and drink lots of things that offer toxic substances but you're body easily deals with it without result. People drink ethanol regularly (which is also highly toxic) and your liver does a fine job of clearing it. As it is said, it's the dosage that makes the poison.
There are documented stories of people who have turned their health around by getting off of msg and aspartame, both excitotoxins.
People will believe all sorts of things and the internet is a great place to prove it. The power of suggestion has always been underestimated. People will continue to buy into things that science proves otherwise.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.