Do you drink diet sodas or use sugar-free products?
 

I found this article fascinating... I have no idea how true it is, but it is food for thought [no pun intended]
http://rhondagessner.wordpress.com/2...n-a-must-read/

Probably true. I've read quite a few articles, about the bad side effects of artificial sweeteners.

I don't drink diet soda myself, but a friend of mine thought he was dieing of brain cancer when all it really was over-consumption of diet cherry-vanilla Dr. Pepper...he was addicted to it and drank a twelve-pack a day. Once he stopped drinking it, his "symptom" disappeared.

Everything in moderation .......... A 12-pack a day is far from that!

I don't drink diet soda at all hate the taste of it and anything with an artificial sweetner I can tell difference

I have drank diet soda for the past 40-45 years. I have no ill effects from it. I drink about 3-4 a week. Caffeine free also.
I learned as a child to only believe half of what you see and nothing you hear. I keep to that. My doctor is just fine with it.

My family does not eat or drink anything with diet types of sugar substitutes. I am a registered dietitian by trade and everything I learned about it has not been good. We also avoid fat substitutes, MSG, sulfites, corn syrup and fructose. The only sugar substitute I would use would be stevia (herb). We drink water and make our own ice tea.

We mainly drink water but once a week I drink a diet coke, I can't handle sugar so works for me.

im not a dietitian, but we don't consume anything with artifical sweeteners, we also avoid processed meats, MSG and anything that isn't natural.

According to Snopes, it is not true.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

If it is a chemical created by a company to make money, I don't trust it. We live in an artificial world. I like my food to be real.
peace

Many people consider Snopes to be the ultimate authority on just about everything, but not everything you read on Snopes is true. Please don't bet your life, on Snopes.

.............. The report was written by someone from your FDA

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't bet my life on our FDA, either. Nowadays, too many people have their hands in too many pockets.

I do absolutely nothing with aspartame in it. I keep after my husband because he likes a certain breath mint that has aspartame in it. That nasty after taste you get when the first time you drink a diet soda is the aspartame. I got horrible headaches when I ate those breath mints. I couldn't stand the diet sodas. The aspartame can also cause ulcers. DH quit the breath mints and no longer has stomach irritations. They also need to get rid of those sweeteners that are place on tables in restaurants. If you want your tea sweetened ask for some honey or berries with a tiny bit of sugar. I've read the article and that is how my aunt was diagnosed a few years ago. Took the aspartame away and she's a totally different person at turning 90 years old this past June. She can't believe how good she feels.

I don't trust anything but my gut. And I never heard of Snopes til this year. I just know how that stuff makes me feel and if it ain't real I'm not eatin' it. Give me the real stuff. The flavor lasts a lot longer.

Instead of sugar, I use Stevia. No calories and it's natural.

Whether or not the "experts" agree on either side of this argument, I know that I don't like the taste of artificial sweetener of any variety and have several family members that say certain ones give them adverse effects, headache or diarrhea mainly. So it seems best to avoid them.

I have heard that they are actually bad for diabetics yet so many use it. I hear its worse than regular sugar for you. Anything artificial is usually found to be bad from you. They are also finding so many bad things about food dyes and other artificial additive.

From SNOPES: FALSE

When I read something of this nature and there is no authors name attached to it, I immediately check SNOPES. A lack of an author, is, to me, what makes this kind of thing an 'urban legend'. Without an author there is no way to check the authenticity of the claims being made.

I checked for two reasons:

a) I drink a lot of diet soda

b) My sister and my granddaughter are both allergic to aspartame. They break out in ugly hives when they drink it. In my sisters case, the hives were on her face; my dgd had them all over her legs. Both stopped drinking diet soda and the hives disappeared.

Last comment on diet soda is this: It rots your teeth.

I can tell you first hand that it is very true. For yrs I had to get rushed to the hospital and dozed up with pain meds because it was so bad you couldn't even touch me and then it'd take me weeks to be able to go back towork full time. I also had problems walking too. In 2008 was the last time that has ever happened to me; right after my DDIL sent me an email on aspartame poisoning. I bought the book called Sweet Poison and I was convinced;not at all easy to do for me. It is also know to cause siezures and I have an unknown marker now for them, there is no known reason that caused it. I still have arthritis but I don't have to deal with the type of pain caused by diet sodas. This was created by a scientist who was testing a med for ulcers and the liquid spilled over and it was sweet and so aspartame was born. It does have formalgahyde in it. Now if I want a soda I'll do it in moderation and go for the real thing, I'm not taking any chances. Most people think they dont' take any, check most of your cough drops, fiber meds, Alka Seltzer (flavored) and lots more have it. I even read on the lable of flavored chapstick and it had it there too. These things don't even say they are low in sugar. Read the book and get the facts. The country where it was discovered, doesn't even use it in their drinks, they use Stevia. This isn't a myth and can cause you lots of pain and other things.

Sounds like you and your family are sensitive to artificial sweeteners. As I said in another comment, my sister and dgd are allergic to them, too.

I know that mixing diet soda in my tummy with one of my newest meds makes me light-headed and sick to my stomach. (I don't use soda to take any of my meds, by the way.)

I don't drinks soft drinks AT ALL.
Never have like them, tooooo sweet.

Since diagnosed with Diabetes in 2010,
I have dropped even the sugar in my tea,
and that is hard for a Southerner when
super sweet tooo is everywhere.

Honey or a little sugar for me. Hate the taste of stevia, tastes like aspartame to me. Aspartame gives me cramps so bad and then the effects of irritable bowels is just not worth it. Put the headaches that it caused on top of the intestinal issues it gives me and I am not a happy camper. I went to a restaurant once and asked the manager if a particular desert had aspartame it it and he asked " why, it isn't any different than sugar" informed him that many people can have sensitivities to certain chemicals as some who have food allergies. He was not concerned, we no longer eat at that establishment.

Thank you for sharing this informative article.

I'm diabetic and have to count carbs. I allow myself a diet soda a day. With all the health problems I have, I'm not worried about a diet soda. I don't eat anything else that has sugar subs in it. Ill die of something but I don't think it will be from artificial sweeteners!

I don't use any artificial sweeteners in anything (except some medications-you can't avoid it then). I've read similar stories where someone was ill or had chronic problems and it cleared up when they quit using splenda or aspartame. These were on message boards where someone was having symptoms but couldn't figure out what. Months later people would ask how they were, and nothing changed. Then after a while they posted saying that they gave up artificial sweeteners for whatever reason (not related to their illness) and their symptoms were gone. Good enough for me. Splenda (sucralose) gives me stomachaches and aspartame gives me headaches. i figure that's my body telling me not to use it.

Twenty years ago, my oldest daughter (then 24) had a seizure at work. I called my nutritionist whose first question was, "does she drink diet sodas?". She informed me that artificial sweeteners can cause seizures in some people.

I don't drink diet anything, black coffee is bad enough.Cook and eat healthy.I feel bad for the younger genaration and what they have to look forward too....Nothing but junk on the supermarket shelves........Fast foods.....

All interesting comments. Some people have sensitivities and allergies to many different kinds of food and additives. Doesn't necessarily make them poison for everyone. For example, Mr. Stitchnripper has food sensitivities, not allergies, and it took a long time with doctor's help to figure out why he got so many migraines. He cannot have cow dairy, soy, or whole grains (the healthy kind). Luckily we know how to eat well and try for natural as much as possible. But, I do drink some Diet Coke and have for years and years with no obvious issues.

you need to read on the side of the can , on diet drinks there is nothing natural in them. Not good to put these in your body. i use to drink diet coke when in work 11-7 , nursing to keep awake and work get mirgarines from them. Drink water or sugar free drinks.

I found out many years ago that I am allergic to artiicial sweetners. It makes me itch all over as well as really bad headaches. I have to be careful to read food labels to see if Aspertame has been added. Early in the summer, I accidentally purchased a container of Folgers instant mocha coffee. I did not realize until half way though the container that the "no sugar" label was on the container. The other weird thing was that the powder mixture did not dissolve easily when mixed with the boiling water. The daily headaches stopped when I stopped using this container of coffee.

Same here. I'm not big on artificial sweeteners (both for taste and safety), but we do on occasion use Stevia and feel pretty good about it.

Very true. Back in the days before I retired the husband of one of my customers worked on the R&D.. He told her that it was rushed thru approval by the FDA. He wanted none of it in the house and in NO circumstances was it allowed for the kids to have any. And that was over 15 years ago. Have seen many supporting documents since then. Unfortunately with the amount of obesity it is now considered the lesser of the two evils.

Soda Addiction is so freaking weird. When some one says ''I only drink 5 or 6 soda's a day - this is not single 12 oz cans this is 2 liter bottles or 12pks or cases. I have seen alcoholics go through DT's - but it is not as bad as what soda drinkers go through. My nephew is 6'4'' weighed 375 he drank 10-64 oz Mt Dew's a day-before during and after school. 2 weeks after summer break started he hit the ground having seizures.He spent 4days in the hospital drying out.with medical assistance.By mid-summer he weighed 210-by the first day of school he was down to 185. He ate the same things and the same amts. as before but drank water. All that lost weight was Mt Dew.. And now he only has 1 functioning kidney and the other is in distress. A transplant is in his near future. They no longer advertise Cigs or beer/alcohol. They need to do the same with soda. That new Mt Dew commercial makes it sound like you ain't cool if you don't "dew" Shame on these companies for not being more responsible.........

Read to the end of the article. It is part of an advertisement for alkaline water. I read this type article with major skepticism.

I personally gave up drinking Diet Coke many years because of the muscle pain I was experiencing. The muscle pain was relieved. I have been on a whole foods plant based diet (no meat, fish, or dairy) with no added oils (not even olive oil) for three years. I am at my ideal weight for the first time in my life. Cholesterol is normal without medication.

Oh my, this is very interesting!!!

Seems like the people who discount Snopes are also the people who don't read it...Snopes cites the sources for the information they provide, unlike most of these websites that come out with this stuff. I can usually tell the information is false by the excessive use of exclamation points and emotional language meant to get people upset and concerned.

By all means, skip the artificial sweeteners if they bother you either physically or philosophically – that only makes sense!

OMG...I totally agree. I too was diagnosed with MS. I had lesions in my brain, was having absence seizures, pain, a small stroke, abdominal pain that put me in the hospital for days, then they disappeared and the dr's thought I was "cured" even though they didn't do anything but tests, finding nothing. I had to have brain scans, bloodwork, etc. When I went to research MS in my panicked state, I found a reference that said to cross reference aspartame poisoning. So I did...only to find I had about 12 of the symptoms that were listed. I stopped drinking diet soda and comsuming aspartame that day and have since been truly "cured" of all those issues. I tell people who have health issues and consume diet soda to stop, especially if they drink several a day. Once aspartame gets into your body it warms to 98 degrees and changes it's composition. I won't be drinking/eating it again.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp Read more about this myth here.