Diet Soda--OK or Poison in a Can?
I've only been an occasional soda drinker, but lately I find myself reaching for a Caff-free Diet Coke in the afternoons. I've gone from having one from time to time to the feeling that I'm starting to crave it. Without any real knowledge, I think that diet soda can't be good for us. (Yet I drink it, I know.) What do you think about diet soda? Is it OK or poison in a can?
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However, everything in moderation. I don't make it a habit, but a Sonic diet cherry limeade or Chick Fil A diet lemonade REALLY hit the spot, esp. after a long, hot ride or run.
Linda, as is often the case, if you want to support an argument on either side, you can. For example, the site
Aspartame Kills
has one point of view (namely that aspartame is chemically not different from formaldehyde in the body, and you should never, ever touch the stuff). OTOH, the group
Aspartame is safe
has a decidedly different point of view.
The only thing I can say for certain is that, after seeing a few things on Aspartamekills.com, I will never again drink a diet soda at or beyond expiration, which is something I used to do without thinking much about it.
In the end, yes, moderation is key, but I basically try to avoid it, entirely. When in doubt, sweeten with Stevia.
Mike
I'm your typical "Type A", it's either on or off and no in-between. I quit soda cold-turkey in December and haven't looked back. I might have a sweetened tea every now and again, but mostly water.... lots of water. I tend to agree with the two of you, it's probably poison. If you can pronounce the names of the chemicals in it, you probably don't need it in your body.
@kristen, ditto on the cherry limeade!
interestingly enough, there's a very thorough writeup in Wikipedia on this very topic. I'm rather impressed with its rigor, as far as wiki topics go, and their conclusion seems to be aspartame = safe.
The pH of soda--especially colas--is very, very low. It's incredibly acidic and horrible for your teeth enamel.
The phosphates in soda decrease absorption of calcium from your intestines.
Artificial sweeteners are known to increase appetite.
All that being said, if you have a can of diet soda every once in a while you'll be fine. I like having Pepsi every once in a while. I know it's empty calories and the sugar throw my insulin secretion into hyperdrive, but every once in while...Meh.
I don't like the idea of artificial sweeteners. I prefer real sugar also over HFCS. Mexican Coke is the best!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! It is my only vice, if I quit anything else I will be completely bald!!!!!!!!!
@Paul: HA! I have one as soon as I go to work, think that I dilute it with water all day, and have one around dinner. Forget it on the weekends. I like water, but man I get sick of it by the end of the day and need something sweet. Why can't it be like coffee? It seems that always gets the good rap, but diet soda is the devil!!!!
I'm a chemistry professor, and I have a can of Diet Coke in front of my right now. I can pronounce every ingredient in it. They are: water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, "natural flavors", citric acid and caffeine.
Of all these, the only one that scares me is "natural flavors".
Benzoic acid (in modest quantities) is glycinated and excreted in your urine. Of all the preservatives in the world, it's not one to worry about. (Back in the bad old days, there were actually school lab experiments in which someone ate it and then isolated the metabolite from his/her own urine...) Caramel color is burnt sugar. Again, I'm personally more worried about this than I am about aspartame.
Aspartame is a dimer of two amino acids, capped with methanol. It may very well have had some funny business in the approval process...I'm not defending it on those lines. However, if you're not sensitive to phenylalanine (moderately common) or aspartic acid (not), then I don't see why there would be a problem. The amount of released methanol is trivial.
As to phosphoric acid - many of you know that the salt of phosphoric acid is phosphate. The main energy currency in the body is the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to adenosine phosphate (AMP) and a diphosphate. That doesn't inherently prove that it's a good idea to throw phosphate into your system, but I'm telling you that there's already a lot of phosphate flowing around already.
Compared to "normal" soda, the main change is just the loss of high fructose corn syrup and addition of aspartame. Both have the "natural flavors", caramel color, phosphate, citric acid and caffeine.
I don't think either "aspartamekills" or "aspartame is safe" are very credible. The first is full of nonsense, and the second looks like one of those fake-serious web sites put up by industry groups.
Sucralose (Splenda) is less obviously ok in terms of looking at its chemical structure. (See wikipedia) However, I'm unaware of any significant claims of it being unsafe.
I drink very little sugared soda, but I totally agree about Mexican coke! REAL sucrose (not HFCS) and in a glass bottle!
1) post-race or post-extreme training workout
2) hungover
3) at a bar, in a well drink (probably leading to #2 or #4)
4) sick, I'll drink warm Sprite
Dublin TX is the original Dr Pepper plant, and they have DP with real sugar too. Mexican Coke tastes fantastic too!
I drink a diet soda, maybe once a month. They always seem acidic to me. We DO keep a supply of "baby" cokes (1/2 cans) for post ride drink in the summer. SOOOOOO good when it is 90+ outside!!
@Professor Jenks- ingredient list: sucrose, citric acid, sodium and potassium citrate, ascorbic acid (C), niacinamide (B3), B5, B6, B12- these seem fine. But sucralose, calcium silicilate, calcium disodium edta- what do you think? And why do they load this up with B vitamins? (I just noticed that).
To all- I have been working on acquiring a taste for flavored seltzer. And it is working. I really like mandarin orange, black cherry, berry flavors, etc. So there are other drinking options.
I love the flavored seltzer.
And am trying to limit my soda consumption to times with it contains boubon or vodka.
I keep thinking of the nutrional value chart in Racing Weight that puts soda below doube-stuffed oreos. I would so rather have oreos than soda as a treat any day.
Fresh lime wedge plus Pellegrino, which they sell in bulk at Costco. The greatest thing since Body Glide.
Aspartame is not chemically related to sugar in any significant way, and I have to admit that I am very skeptical about claims that aspartame "fools your system into thinking it is getting sugar" in any meaningful way except for the psychological part of the flavor. Aspartame is hydrolzed in the stomach to amino acids (same as proteins!). If you have the citations on those papers, I'd be very curious to read them. I'd want to know if they did appropriate controls (e.g., flavored vs. unflavored vs sugared, different sweeteners etc). Please don't take that as a personal challenge...it's just a scientific issue... given what I know, the causality of aspartame in those results is counterinuitive. That said, I'm a chemist, not a biologist/physiologist/physician.
Also, I know of no study that shows that aspartame is addictive. Habit-forming, perhaps, but not addicting. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Do you have a citation?
@Michele: ingredient list: sucrose, citric acid, sodium and potassium citrate, ascorbic acid (C), niacinamide (B3), B5, B6, B12- these seem fine. But sucralose, calcium silicilate, calcium disodium edta- what do you think? And why do they load this up with B vitamins?
sucrose = table sugar
citric acid = no problem (antioxidant found in fruit)
citrate salts = also no problem. the Na and K are to buffer the pH
vitamins = no problem if not in excess.
sucralose = artificial sweetener that "looks" like sugar. (Splenda) I know of no studies that implicate harm in it, but it makes me a little more nervous than aspartame
Calcium silicate = harmless mineral in small amounts (similar to eating a tiny amount of sand) This is a flow ingredient added to keep the powder from clumping
Na2 EDTA = also ok. This is added to chelate and eliminate any toxic heavy metals (e.g., lead) and as a pH buffer and antioxidant It doesn't indicate that there ARE any toxic metals in there, but if there were, the metals would be sequestered and eliminated in urine. EDTA is used as a treatment for certain metal poisonings.
The B vitamins are added because some people think it helps your metabolism...and they want to make it seem healthful and distinguish it from gatorade. :-)
This turned out to be a great thread. I appreciate all the feedback. I am trying to clean up my eating, and overall am having great success. So why not cut out the DC? B/c, like people say here, there is something about it that makes me crave it. Then I feel pretty crappy after I drink it. Know what's weird? I feel really awful drinking one with lunch--it almost wrecks my whole afternoon. If I have one at 4:30, it's not so bad at all. I don;t get that.
I am going to cut it out except for the rare occasion. For now, I'm limiting it to one every other day, then will cut back from there.
I think that's entirely rational; I just think the issue is more caffeine than anything else in the DC as far as physical craving/addiction. Habitual craving can be from anything you like about it. You know how smokers talk about the pleasure they associate with the tactile parts of handling cigarettes, etc.
Wm
Thing is, I never drink regular DC, only caff-free. So something else is at work in not agreeing with my body. I fact,I just this minute had to stop myself from going to get one! Willpower at work.
I cut out diet coke about a year ago. I would drink it out of habit more than anything else. Out to lunch I would drink 3-4 or them without thinking about it. After hearing about the potential problems with the chemicals, weight gain etc I figured I would try to go without it. Now I just drink unsweet tea if I need to order something other than water. I am also a big mineral water fan and drink lots of that as well.
I will have a regular coke occasionally after a long hot ride or run as it helps me balance out and avoid getting a headache. As much as I try to avoid HFCS I am willing to have it under those circumstances.
I have certainly not noticed any magical benefits after stopping and am glad to hear that the chemicals are not that bad. Good news. I also note that If any of the online info regarding the whole "poison" thing were true millions of people a week would be dead.
If you run into something like your reaction to DC elsewhere, look for something like "natural flavors" on the label. That is a catch-all term for small amounts of (for lack of better term) spice mixtures that can contain something you are allergic to. (I am using the term "allergic" broadly here.) If there's nothing else obvious on the ingredient list that you can settle on, then my guess is that it's something in that pile. And of course "natural flavors" is different from one product to the next.
I stand by my original remark that by far the most "dangerous" thing in regular DC is caffeine for the great majority of people, but anyone can have a particular personal reaction/allergy to small amounts of other things. Aspartame, benzoate, and citric acid just aren't very high on the list of allergens (as Chris points out, we've done the mass experiment...).
This dicusssion really turned into something. Cool. Thanks all!
I stopped drinking soda ( mostly diet) about 1999. I don't miss it at all. If I take a sip of one, don't even like the taste. I may occasionally have a defizzed coke toward the end of an ultra or IM to help settle my stomach. Sometimes I have a ginger ale if not feeling well, but don't go with the diet. Like Chris, if out, I may have an unsweetened iced tea.
Another note is that one of my aunts used to drink Tons of diet soda. Last year, she really started cutting back and has lost a bunch of weight.
Now just have to cut back on my 4 shots of espresso- I refer to it as "my crack". That may take some time
Seeing this thread reminded me I need to kick the habit. I'm a big soda drinker (diet only) like a 2 litter last two days at work if i'm lucky. Its part of my routine.
Well, I'm on day two. I don't really miss it or want it. I just don't want water....so drinking tea.
I stopped last summer for about two weeks and dropped 5lbs in a week. It was crazy. Hope that happens again
As a part of my sons college savings plan I have Coca Cola (KO) as a direct reinvestment plan (DRIP) so everyone DRINK UP!
I LOVE a DC while working in the yard on a hot summer day. I also think the can tastes better than the plastic bottle. And Mexican Coke reminds me of awesome surf vacations in Baja in my teens and twenties.
"If I could teach the world to sing in perfect harmony . . . ."
William, thanks for the expert opinion. I drink DC's on ocassion and enjoy them. All in moderation and personal preference. This thread really helped me understand a few things.
Thanks for starting it, Linda.
John- Not to worry, unless Diet Mt Dew brings back the "old" formula, yours sons education is safe!