Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Aspartame is not that bad? (2022)

dynomight.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 267 posts

Re: Aspartame is not that bad? (2022)

#221

Post by bitwize »

amelius wrote: post #203
freediddy wrote: post #114

When I drink a single can of Diet Coke or anything with aspartame, I get crippling stomach aches and then sudden diarrhea, all within about 2 hrs and very predictable. It's definitely not harmless. This doesn't happen to me with stevia or sucralose, and I know sucralose isn't good for your either.

Funny, I have this with Coke Zero (which I believe uses stevia), but not with aspartame. The sale of this stuff should be prohibited, especially on long intercontinental flights.

Coke Zero is sweetened with aspartame and phosphoric acid. It's just formulated differently to avoid the taste associated with Diet Coke, which some find unpleasant.

Re: Aspartame is not that bad? (2022)

#222

Post by kbelder »

ranger_danger wrote: post #161
cestith wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. It turns out that “MSG headaches” are just high sodium level headaches, either through dehydration, unbalanced electrolytes, elevated blood pressure or whatever else higher than normal sodium levels cause headaches. The same headache could be caused by salt. MSG actually makes recipes require less of other flavor ingredients, including salt. It’s also often found in dishes that still contain relatively massiv…

I drank sodas with aspartame just fine for many decades. Then one day they suddenly started giving me migraines any time I had one, so I had to quit cold turkey. No other amount of caffeine, regular sodas, salty foods, MSG-laden meals etc. seem to trigger it though, and I have no idea why.

It triggers a headache for me as well. Happens whether I'm previously aware of its presence in the product or not. I'm fine accepting that it's a generally safe chemical that has been thoroughly studied and I just have a quirk, but I also don't want my quirk to be dismissed because studies don't validate it.

The headaches are replicable and severe enough that it's turned me off of all artificial sweeteners, although I doubt they all have the same effect. I don't want to risk it.

Re: Aspartame is not that bad? (2022)

#225

Post by miladyincontrol »

Groxx wrote: post #195
ErroneousBosh wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not "I don't like the taste". It is "these taste like they're contaminated with antifreeze". They taste like they've been intentionally adulterated with the stuff they use to stop people drinking poisonous things.

Aspartame has a pretty strong, weird metallic flavor to it, and a lot of the sugar alcohols taste... idk, like a belch after a slightly sweet chemical cocktail? Some taste... airy, or dusty, like an absence of flavor, like there's a gap where you'd usually taste something. Hard to describe but very unpleasant. And the flavor lingers for quite a while. Xylitol is mostly alright tho, sadly it's usually blended with oth…

This summarizes pretty well the three main problems I have. Most things are already way too sweetened, the trend of adding artificial sweeteners to something already naturally sweet ruins something that could be good, and many artificial sweeteners taste metallic and have weird aftertaste.

Its one thing for soda or other sweet items, I get the reduction in sugars there. Its just boggling how many foods people, particularly americans cant eat unless its sweet enough to be dessert

Re: Aspartame is not that bad? (2022)

#226

Post by ErroneousBosh »

ubercow13 wrote: post #169
ErroneousBosh wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most soft drinks are not made with artificial sweeteners. All soft drinks are contaminated with artificial sweeteners.

What artificial sweetener is in regular Coke?

Don't know, I don't like Coke but that's a separate issue.

Re: Aspartame is not that bad? (2022)

#227

Post by RHSeeger »

ErroneousBosh wrote: post #155
throw4847285 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you keep drinking them, you'll likely acquire a taste. I didn't used to like any artificial sugar flavors, but now I've grown accustomed to them.

It's not "I don't like the taste". It is "these taste like they're contaminated with antifreeze". They taste like they've been intentionally adulterated with the stuff they use to stop people drinking poisonous things.

When I drink a non-diet cola, it tastes awful to me; sickeningly sweet. I don't have any problem with diet colas (though I don't like Diet Pepsi, it's slimy to me).

The main point is that it's not that X has an awful taste. It's that different people have different reactions to different Xs. It's not that X tastes bad unless you happen to get used to it.

Re: Aspartame is not that bad? (2022)

#228

Post by ThePowerOfFuet »

FuriouslyAdrift wrote: post #202
cael450 wrote: post #36

> Half of the world’s aspartame is made by Ajinomoto of Tokyo—the same company that first brought us MSG back in 1909. There is nothing wrong with MSG either

Ajinomoto is also the worlds largest (95% market share) supplier of build up film necessary for integrated circuit packaging. https://www.ajinomoto.com/innovation/our_innovation/buildupf...

Wild. I had no idea.

Re: Aspartame is not that bad? (2022)

#229

Post by financetechbro »

jjice wrote: post #129
m4ck_ wrote: post #33

It's probably not great if you're drinking dozens of cans of sugar free soda every day. All I really know is don't take health advice from influencers, especially if they're selling something, and don't take health advice from people who support deregulation (less industry transparency, oversight, and consequences won't make food or anything safer.)

Maybe. I doubt most consumers of sugar free soda are drinking more than 4 (which is already a lot). I have to imagine that, like most things, most people consume them in moderation and have no ill effects. That said, I have to imagine if you go from drinking ten sugared sodas a day to ten diet sodas a day, your life will change in a very positive way. That would be removing 1500 calories of pure sugar from your diet…

The small Coke Zero cans make it tough to have just one. I typically will have 2 small cans with a meal which feels roughly equivalent to one regular sized can

Re: Aspartame is not that bad? (2022)

#230

Post by Groxx »

mmastrac wrote: post #140
mocamoca wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cilantro really tastes different from one person to another (relative to the aldéhyde content of cilantro and genetic variations). I don't know about sugar and aspartame but saying that it is purely a "preference" looks a little bit presomptuous to me. To the previous poster: do other intense sweeteners (stevia, saccharin, sucralose) taste sweet to you?

None of them do with the exception of Stevia, which sort-of kind-of tastes a bit like rum, if I could describe it.

That kinda fits, yeah - I hadn't thought of that description before.

But like bad, nasty rum.

Post reply on HN