Is the "jury still out" on Aspertame causing health problems like cancer?
Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
21–30 of 250 posts
Re: Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
#22> If you unzip aspartame into the two amino acids and remove that methyl to become methanol, you have a tasteless mixture of pretty harmless compounds. I'm somewhat surprised nobody has commented on this yet, so let me point it out: methanol is not harmless! It causes blindness or death. (I don't say diet soda is harmful, only that methanol is.)
Your statement about the toxicology of methanol is correct, but as the article alludes too, and the referenced paper goes into detail on, the dosage is below the point where it harms people. (I don't recall off hand if they considered an infant being fed an entire can of soda in the paper so I'm not going to say that as a blanket statement)
As for the toxicology limit. If the maximum amount of methanol has been created by all of the aspartame "unzipping" even if you consumed the whole can your does will be lower than the amount needed to create harmful effects. Additionally, sodas in this state taste like crap, so unless you have no taste sensors at all you won't drink more than a gulp which lowers the dosage still further.
But that there can be methanol in an out of date soda has been the go to reason a friend of mine never drinks sugar free soda. And frankly I can respect that choice.
Re: Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
#23Is the "jury still out" on Aspertame causing health problems like cancer?
No. Aspartame is one of the most studied and tested substances on the planet and they still haven't linked a single problem to it. At least not one that doesn't relate to sweeteners in general. Nothing else has gone under so much scrutiny (Maybe MSG). Seems like a too good to be true situation where people can't accept its actually this good.
Re: Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
#24Awesome! As someone who used to drink a lot of Diet Dr. Pepper (DDP) I could easily tell how close a given can (or bottle) was to its "use by" date. This makes for a great party trick [1] but otherwise has limited utility. It also made for some socially awkward situations where, when visiting friends, they would want to have drinks on hand that their guests like and would go out of their way to get some DDP for me, n…
When the old DDP expires, you buy more. If it lasted longer, you would not buy more. Though it sure causes destress on their best customers. Quite the dilemma.
Re: Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
#25Is the "jury still out" on Aspertame causing health problems like cancer?
I think so, this meta study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28938797/ from 2017 seems to suggest that there are some possible negative effects and points out that most studies use animal models. Animal models are not conclusive, so without quality human studies I would say the "jury is still out"
Re: Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
#26Is the "jury still out" on Aspertame causing health problems like cancer?
No. Aspartame is one of the most studied and tested substances on the planet and they still haven't linked a single problem to it. At least not one that doesn't relate to sweeteners in general. Nothing else has gone under so much scrutiny (Maybe MSG). Seems like a too good to be true situation where people can't accept its actually this good.
Can you provide a source or explain how you came to the conclusion that it is one of the most studied substances on the planet?
Personally I'm not worried about aspartame. I consume it in small amounts and am not overly concerned, but this statement goes beyond the facts I'm aware of.
Update: I found a source, the FDA says that: https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/additional...
I had heard that about. Msg, but not aspartame. Til!
Re: Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
#27Some of us can't even drink the "good" tasting aspartame due to genetic factors. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39135
Aspertame is a bit of acquired taste, tho it would not surprise me if some people can't acquire the taste for it
Re: Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
#28> If you unzip aspartame into the two amino acids and remove that methyl to become methanol, you have a tasteless mixture of pretty harmless compounds. I'm somewhat surprised nobody has commented on this yet, so let me point it out: methanol is not harmless! It causes blindness or death. (I don't say diet soda is harmful, only that methanol is.)
Your statement about the toxicology of methanol is correct, but as the article alludes too, and the referenced paper goes into detail on, the dosage is below the point where it harms people. (I don't recall off hand if they considered an infant being fed an entire can of soda in the paper so I'm not going to say that as a blanket statement) As for the toxicology limit. If the maximum amount of methanol has been creat…
I suspected this could be the case which is why I included my disclaimer at the end :-)
Still I felt a warning was in order when someone calls methanol a harmless compound because that is absolutely not true.
Re: Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
#29Diet soda and artificial sweeteners is a gateway crutch. Took years to stop drinking soda and decade of diet but finally kicked it. Worth the effort and recommended.
Everyone is quick to hand wave "doesn't cause cancer" blah blah but what they hop and skip over is it definitely changes gut microbe for the worse.
Re: Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
#30Some of us can't even drink the "good" tasting aspartame due to genetic factors. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39135
I'm one of those and have difficulties with most bitter drinks as well so the problem compounds as I have to have more sugar than most to drink coffee or nonherbal teas. I found that the sugar free off brand winco red bull doesn't trigger the same sour/bitter for me which is great. I still stick with water, milk, barley tea, and hot cocoa (I make my own mix) for the most part.