Diet soda linked to heart attack and strokes?

[Indy418]

Diet sodas always seem to have an aftertaste that is just gross, so I just settle for drinking fewer regular sodas. I'd actually rather drink water than a diet soda.

I don't know where she got this from, but a friend of mine told me that the sweeteners in some diet sodas confuse the body into producing insulin when the body doesn't actually need it. I guess this can cause problems. I don't know if there is any fact in that, but it hasn't stopped my friend from drinking diet sodas.

 

[23_Tauri]

Possibly:

Immunoreactive beta-endorphin increases after an aspartame chocolate drink in healthy human subjects

.......insulin increased after drinking as much with aspartame as with sucrose....

 

[Dr. Keith]

Diet sodas always seem to have an aftertaste that is just gross, so I just settle for drinking fewer regular sodas. I'd actually rather drink water than a diet soda.

Yeah, I can't stand the flavor, whereas bottled water tastes great to me. So, I only drink soda if I'm willing to take on the 200 calorie version, which is rare.

I don't know where she got this from, but a friend of mine told me that the sweeteners in some diet sodas confuse the body into producing insulin when the body doesn't actually need it. I guess this can cause problems. I don't know if there is any fact in that, but it hasn't stopped my friend from drinking diet sodas.

I have a client who quit smoking because he thinks the cigarette companies are adding asbestos to his ciggies. I didn't have the heart to correct him because I was just happy to be across the table from someone who didn't stink anymore.

 

[Apology]

I was told by my doctor recently that artificial sweeteners are extremely hard on your stomach lining, but none of the other damage claims (causes cancer, etc.) seem to be true. He didn't seem to think that this study about heart attacks and strokes was a very good study and doubted that the claims were true.

Don't drink diet sodas or use artificial sweeteners if you have ulcers or chronic gastritis, though, because they will make it worse. Fake creamer is fine.

 

[Travis]

Of course extra sugar can be hard on the stomach too. So there is a bit of a trade off. On the whole I get heartburn way less often with diet sodas than with the sugar kind.

 

[Gregoire]

As is typical of most of the hype in the media about medical research, the study is not a good one for all the reasons listed here. But at least in this instance they actually gave an opposing view; frequently they do not.


That said, I am reminded of a scene from the old Get Smart:






Dr. Jarvis Pym: Observe.

Dr. Jarvis Pym: Sodium Calcium Chloride, do you know what that is?

Maxwell Smart: An artificial sweetener?

Dr. Jarvis Pym: No, it's the second most deadly poison in the world.

Maxwell Smart: What's the first?



Dr. Jarvis Pym: Artificial sweetener.


http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...lnk&gl=us&client=safari&source=www.google.com

 

[Tiktaalik]

Diet sodas always seem to have an aftertaste that is just gross, so I just settle for drinking fewer regular sodas. I'd actually rather drink water than a diet soda.

I like diet sodas better than regular ones, I can't stand the syrupy taste of regular. That's why I drink diet sodas (particularly Diet Pepsi Lime). I'm not overweight; I like 'em better.

 

[Trakar]

I like diet sodas better than regular ones, I can't stand the syrupy taste of regular. That's why I drink diet sodas (particularly Diet Pepsi Lime). I'm not overweight; I like 'em better.

I've noticed that some people notice and comment on the artificial sweetner aftertaste more than others. I know for myself, even small amounts of articifial sweetner leave an a horrible aftertaste in my throat and sinuses. It is apparent in all artifical sweetners I have tried (and it is a similar taste for them all) but is the worst with sacchrine and aspartame. I wonder if the aftertaste is due to other additives rather than the actual sweetener since it seems strange that they would all have the same aftertaste. I wonder if it might be the maltodextrins or other bulking and flavoring agents they mix into the artifical sweeteners trying to make them taste and texture more like sucrose that actually makes them nasty tasting (to me).

 

[megaresp]

I wonder if the aftertaste is due to other additives rather than the actual sweetener

It's not. Artificial sweeteners bind to both sweet and bitter receptors on the tongue. Sugar only binds to sweet receptors.

Looks like there may (in future) be a way around this however:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100527122143.htm

Controlled human taste tests of artificially sweetened solutions with and without GIV3727 found that the ingredient had the desired effect. That is, almost everyone selected the beverages containing GIV3727 as being less bitter. Taste intensity ratings revealed that GIV3727 had an ability to reduce bitter tastes significantly. Importantly, those effects came without interfering with study participants' ability to taste sweetness.

 

[Tiktaalik]

It's not. Artificial sweeteners bind to both sweet and bitter receptors on the tongue. Sugar only binds to sweet receptors.

Looks like there may (in future) be a way around this however:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100527122143.htm

That would be a bummer, since I really like bitter tastes, which is probably, given the info above, why I prefer diet sodas, and particularly Lime Diet Pepsi, which has even more of a bitter taste. Interesting.

 

[Trakar]

It's not. Artificial sweeteners bind to both sweet and bitter receptors on the tongue. Sugar only binds to sweet receptors.

Looks like there may (in future) be a way around this however:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100527122143.htm

That would be great, but I never associated the aftertaste as bitter, its almost more of a smell than a taste, more the back part of the roof of the mouth top of the throat. There is some bitterness, but that's in the initial taste and not what I associate with the aftertaste, the taste you get after you swallow the soda. I don't know how to describe that taste adequately, I may have to freshen my memory of the experience, I'll stop by the convenience store on my way home tonight.

 

[mutile]

There are certain healthy foods that taste bad when drinking soda and some really greasy foods taste good with soda. I would eat more healthy foods if not drinking diet soda.

 

[Tiktaalik]

There are certain healthy foods that taste bad when drinking soda and some really greasy foods taste good with soda. I would eat more healthy foods if not drinking diet soda.

Well, I definitely can't brush my teeth after drinking diet soda. Mint + DP = nasty, not sure why.

 

[Trakar]

That would be great, but I never associated the aftertaste as bitter, its almost more of a smell than a taste, more the back part of the roof of the mouth top of the throat. There is some bitterness, but that's in the initial taste and not what I associate with the aftertaste, the taste you get after you swallow the soda. I don't know how to describe that taste adequately, I may have to freshen my memory of the experience, I'll stop by the convenience store on my way home tonight.

Well, I can't clarify the aftertaste except to say that it definitely seems to be more related to smell than tongue taste. If I pinch my nose, swallow, and then don't immediately breath after swallowing, it is greatly diminished. Still present, but very faint, and mostly associated with that first breath after swallowing or when releasing the pinch on the nose. Its has metallic tones to it, but I just don't know how to describe it other than "that artificial sweetner taste." And it is the same taste with Equal, Splenda, and all three of the different brand diet sodas I sampled (sorry it was such a limited trial).

 

[blutoski]

I was told by my doctor recently that artificial sweeteners are extremely hard on your stomach lining, but none of the other damage claims (causes cancer, etc.) seem to be true. He didn't seem to think that this study about heart attacks and strokes was a very good study and doubted that the claims were true.

Don't drink diet sodas or use artificial sweeteners if you have ulcers or chronic gastritis, though, because they will make it worse. Fake creamer is fine.

I think this is true for some intense sweeteners, although it's not the intense sweetener compound itself that causes this.

In the case of Aspartame, the chemical's halflife is longer in a buffered solution with lower pH, so diet soft drinks sweetened with Aspartame are demonstrably more acidic. Usually a higher concentration of phosphoric acid.

But it's a matter of quantites. Carbonation alone lowers pH, so you will aggravate an ulcer with sugared soft drinks.

Also worse on the teeth. A serious diet softdrink drinker may see more cavities than a sugar fiend, just through erosion due to the beverage's acidity.

 

[TubbaBlubba]

Possibly:

Immunoreactive beta-endorphin increases after an aspartame chocolate drink in healthy human subjects

*Shrug* I did some research on this a while back, the only studies with remotely convincing data (And there's a LOT of trash to dig through) showed no effect on insulin receptors linked to the consumption of artificial sweeteners, and even the effects initiated by sugar were short-lived.

 

[23_Tauri]

*Shrug* I did some research on this a while back, the only studies with remotely convincing data (And there's a LOT of trash to dig through) showed no effect on insulin receptors linked to the consumption of artificial sweeteners, and even the effects initiated by sugar were short-lived.

Well, that's good news for me I drink a lot of squash and most of them have aspartame added.

 

[The Norseman]

Well, that's good news for me I drink a lot of squash and most of them have aspartame added.

Do you like it with carbonation or do you prefer your squash flat?











I'll just get my coat...

 

[rockhpi]

It's not just for weight issues. Years ago, my dentist recommended that I quit regular pop (I was having lots of between-my-teeth-cavities) and since then I have gotten almost no cavities. I can't stand the taste of regular now. so I might eat a hamburger, fries and diet coke and I see no hypocrisy.

 

[Iconoclast08]

I thought it was the formic acid metabolite that was linked to cancer in the rat studies. However, it would be hard to get the same level that the rats got unless you hooked yourself up to a continuous Diet Pepsi IV.

I think it was Paximperium who posted a link once about how you can get more formic acid from eating apples and licorice compared to the pink packets (or perhaps diet soda).