New York – Coke is apparently not It in Venezuela. The government there recently took the step of banning Coke Zero “to preserve the health of Venezuelans,” as a government minister put it, leaving even the most unflappable among us wondering what the heck is going on. Is it time to put down the can of diet soda and back away slowly?
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It just might be. Even if you’re not plugged into talk-radio culture or don’t scour the Internet for evidence of UFOs, you’ve probably heard rumblings about the dangers of artificial sweeteners.
True, the Venezuela situation is easy to dismiss. Its government would love nothing better than to blacken the eye of America’s biggest brand, and Coke Zero there is reportedly sweetened with something different from what is used here: sodium cyclamate, a potential carcinogen banned by America’s FDA since 1969.
Nonetheless, there might be something to all this. Snicker if you must, but it’s time to get to the bottom of the diet soda intrigue.
Those sweeteners are poison!
Pretty much, says Chris Lydon, a physician and author of “Ten Years Thinner” who used to recommend products with artificial sweeteners until she really looked into them. Lydon says aspartame, the sweetener used in Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi among many others, has been linked to headaches, hypertension and eye damage. One of aspartame’s components, wood alcohol, converts to formaldehyde — something you don’t want to be drinking. Numerous studies have concluded that aspartame is safe, but Lydon says, “The only studies that support the use of those [sweeteners] as 100 percent safe are funded by the very individuals who are making lots of money off that stuff.” Of the 400 studies conducted on aspartame between 1985 and 1995, none of those funded by its maker found any health risks; every other one did and raised questions.
n Conspiracy theory: There was a lot of funny business concerning
aspartame’s approval!
Sure seems that way. The FDA refused to approve aspartame for more than eight years because of health concerns. Aspartame’s manufacturer, G.D. Searle, hired former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld as its CEO in 1977. He promised to get aspartame approved via political connections. In 1980, a public board again voted to keep aspartame off the market. That ban was eventually overruled by Arthur Hull Hayes, the new FDA commissioner. In 1983, the chemical was approved for use in soft drinks despite the objections of the National Soft Drink Association. Hayes resigned a few months later, eventually taking a job with p.r. firm Burson-Marsteller, which represented aspartame’s manufacturer. After hiring Rummy, G.D. Searle went from $28 million in the red to $120 million in the black, according to PBS’s “Frontline.”
Drinking diet soda actually makes you fatter!
Probably. A recent Purdue University study reported that rats given saccharine-sweetened yogurt actually gained more weight than rats given regular sugared yogurt. One theory is that artificial sweeteners increase sugar cravings, leading to overeating. A 2007 study at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio also found that those who drank diet drinks were fatter than those who didn’t.
Additionally, diet sodas have high concentrations of acids- just as phosphoric acid, citric acid. They soften teeth and cause tooth decay.
I’m hooked on fresca, is that included?
Was always wandering why most people that drink diet are heavy & overweight.
Soda is soda. The brand name is irrelevant.
oh boy! here come all the food wakkos agreeing with this stupidity.
Medical studies have proven time and time again that 1.the chemicals in diet soda are unhealthy (cancer, headaches, digestive problems. 2. That diet soda causes greater appetite and cravings 3. There is a significan correlation between obesity and drinking diet soda- heavy people that have stopped drinking diet soda have actually LOST WEIGHT.
It is time we understand that this should be assered it is pikuach nefesh
Coke is good for taking off any rust u like.
Why isn’t stevia used as the sweetener in diet soda? Is it more expensive than the other choices?
“A 2007 study at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio also found that those who drank diet drinks were fatter than those who didn’t” really?! Wow! Didn’t know that!
My grandmother use to tell me: a fat person is really health. Don’t buy this diet stuff! A grandfather is always right.
Such nonsense. Obviously Chavez and co. banned it because they are communists, and Coca Cola is an American symbol.
try doing a search on Aspartame Poisening and see what you show up with! Just be prepared to spend reading all the incidents and stories.
I get very bad headaches from diet sode ill stick to all natural sugar thankyou
I find it interesting that some of the same people who won’t believe trained and sworn M.D.s and an internationally accredited hospital will believe every word that the health quacks say.
This soda controversy has been going on for a few years already. The facts are the studies are not 100 percent factual that diet soda is dangerous. If people are so concerned about there health then you better move to Moose Lake Main where there is almost no pollutants with clean air.
The Journal of Operative Dentistry, Feb 2004, published a study that concluded that all carbonated sodas cause loss of tooth enamel, and there was no difference between diet and regular sodas in that regard. Many other studies have followed since and agreed. Chavez is right- but even a broken clock is right 2x a day.
try dropping a mentos into a diet coke bottle – you won’t be sorry!
As I state in my last post when this story first ran even a little—– like Hugo the insignificant can be right once in a while. I’m a “food wakko” (sic)and a “kashrus pro” Do a little research folks. It pains me that while most posters are meticulous as to what goes in their mouths, they seem less concerned about what comes out of their mouths. Respectful posts are much more believable. Keeping kosher does not absolve one from paying attention to the food quality and appropriateness for YOU of that food.
what about Splenda?
i would think that anything artifical would be harmful to u…eat ur veggies, ur fruit, without the preservatives…and what is wrong with water?
so with everyone on here quoting studies & stats I will throw out another one for you.
99.99% of people who have died have eaten bread or drank water in their lives. Obviously don’t eat bread or drink water!
Stats lie and liers use stats!
High fructose corn syrup present in soda might contain mercury.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/26/AR2009012601831.html
I had told my kids that we don’t drink diet sodas, because they are poison! Shortly after that we had a problem with mice, and my three year old son heard me telling my husband how we must put out poison for the mice. A day later I was cleaning the bedrooms and under the bed I found a bottle of diet soda! I asked the kids ” who put a bottle of soda under the bed?” My three year old son piped up and said ” mommy you said we needed to put poison out for the mice”!!!!!!!