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Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

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Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK, most carbonated beverages now contain a blend of sugar and artificial sweeteners, in order to stay under the 5g per 100ml threshold for the "sugar tax". Coca-cola "classic"/"original taste" is still available with only sugar, but typically at a higher price than other options.

I don't think this is true. Last time I checked, the supermarket default options are still Coke/Pepsi/etc with 11g sugar per 100ml and zero artificial sweeteners. I haven't seen any sugar/sweetener mixes even after the sugar tax - they are either full-on sugar or zero-sugar.

It's pretty much only "original taste" Coke and Pepsi, and a few premium/boutique brands like Fever Tree that are still full sugar.

Pick up anything else (Sprite, Dr Pepper, Orangina, Irn Bru, San Pellegrino, generic brands, etc) and they are all reformulated with sweeteners or a sugar/sweetener blend.

Even Coke has relabelled "Coke Zero" with a traditional red can/bottle and "zero sugar" in small letters, rather than the distinct black label that it used to have.

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#62
post #47
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it's because other scientists and studies say low-calorie sweeteners can lead to weight gain or increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and in lab experiments aspartame exposure lead to increased lymphoma and leukemia. It's not that obvious which study is right and which maybe had a flawed methodology, or which is the result of correlation rather than causation. A random example that does not definit…

And on top of that, it's not like you need to drink some kind of soda, and have to worry about whether sugar, HFCS, or artificial sweeteners are worse. You can avoid the problem altogether by simply not drinking soda!

> it's not like you need to drink some kind of soda

Sugar is pretty addictive so for many people the need is very real. And you can see this from the worldwide sales of sodas.

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#63
post #13
post #9

I think I'll go grab a diet coke.

Why not get the one with the sugar? The data on that one are clear. No worrying about whether it's bad for you.

Because natural is uncool. The most "educated" ones promote artificial (because they created it, duh!) and the hippies and ludites promote "natural". See how human psychology works? If you want to be cool on the internet, you DO NOT go against science. (Except of course, when the science is disproving science). It's that simple. Carefully observe this for a while on similar subjects and make yor own conclusion abput what im saying. Good luck! Im gonna go take mud bath now.

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#64
post #62
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And on top of that, it's not like you need to drink some kind of soda, and have to worry about whether sugar, HFCS, or artificial sweeteners are worse. You can avoid the problem altogether by simply not drinking soda!

> it's not like you need to drink some kind of soda Sugar is pretty addictive so for many people the need is very real. And you can see this from the worldwide sales of sodas.

Um, no, that's not a "need", that's just an addiction. You don't need to feed an addiction and maintain it. Instead, a better alternative is to break the addiction.

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#65
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On 2 and 3: aspartame metabolizes into the amino acid phenylalanine, a precursor to dopamine and epinephrine[0]. In normal people, breakdown of the upstream neurotransmitters increase when phenylalanine increases, meaning there are no negative effects from it's consumption. It does not store in the liver. There are some diseases that involve a malfunction in phenylalanine processing, like phenylketonuria[1] and hyper…

thank you! as someone who replaced ~100g/day of hfcs with ~450mg of aspartame by switching from coke to dietcoke I'm alway interested in what I should be specifically watching for as the downside of this tradeoff. thanks to your links i now know an answer to that is "phe >120 by any chance is that number a standard part of a yearly blood test, or do you have to ask for it?

Phenylalanine is not part of your yearly blood test (Complete Blood Count, Complete Metabolic Panel) and generally isn't tested unless you specifically ask for it, or if a pediatric concern for phenylketonuria is manifested. At least, this is in general N. American, adult primary practice. (I'm interested if any other providers regularly test, as i've not done it at all)

Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#66

I’ve never seen a skinny person regularly drink Diet Coke/Pepsi Diet carbonated drinks just make me gassy. I’d rather have the sugar from a regular Coke and just not drink one every day, or multiple ones per day. I have co-workers that drink 6-8 per day. I find the “tiny” cans which are only 7.5 are about the perfect size. 3-4 drinks, only 80 cslories, a small bump of sugar...if I drink a 20oz bottle I usually can’t…

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Re: Two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

#67

I’ve never seen a skinny person regularly drink Diet Coke/Pepsi Diet carbonated drinks just make me gassy. I’d rather have the sugar from a regular Coke and just not drink one every day, or multiple ones per day. I have co-workers that drink 6-8 per day. I find the “tiny” cans which are only 7.5 are about the perfect size. 3-4 drinks, only 80 cslories, a small bump of sugar...if I drink a 20oz bottle I usually can’t…

I drink a whole lot of diet soda, and I'm skinny. (If I lost 10 pounds, I'd have an "underweight" BMI.)

Of course, I also drank diet soda when I was overweight. And it's fair to say that when I switched from regular soda to diet, I was hoping it would help me lose weight.

Diet sodas appeal to people who are looking for an easy answer to the problem of losing weight. It just so happens in my case I eventually found and committed to a not-easy answer.

I still drink diet sodas for two reasons. One is that I enjoy the variety. At times I have drunk just tea and water, but I get bored with that. The other is I do feel like they make it marginally easier for me to maintain a healthy weight. Without them, I'd probably indulge in non-diet sodas from time to time.

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