Aspartame, Acesulfame-K, Caffeine, I'm worried!

[StageLeft]

It seems that more and more products are being stuffed with chemicals these days. Artificial-sweeteners are in a whack of products...I can't even get any health-food powders (protein shakes for instance) without them being plugged full of inadequately-tested sweeteners.

This crap worries me! I don't want to find that in 3 decades I have cancer because of drinking diet-pepsi for years...

Has anyone here got some good links on long-term effects of things like aspartame or caffeine or whatever? I drink a decent bit of coffee too

 

[kami]

Yeah, in the 70s billions of pounds of chemicals were added to north american food. God knows how many for the 90s!

I think most of the problems with aspartame have been urban legends. But having it in extremley high quantities would be destructive...AND having it above 80F (i think that's the number) can be dangerous too. All the problems that have been reported were related to damaging the brain and contributing to the risk of cancer, so I don't know if I'd want to risk it....but i doubt there would be any problems unless you drank it by the gallon (not diet pepsi..raw aspartame hehe)

If you want a good artificial sweetner, use Splenda (aka Sucralose). Splenda *IS* sugar but it's been modified. Certain molecules were removed to prevent the body from absorbing it. It does taste like sugar, measures out like sugar, and everything....the difference is that it is a minute fraction of the calories/carbs/whatever else is bad in sugar. There are some soda's and drinks out there that use splenda.

As for caffeine....it's never good to have the body relying on some type of drug.

 

[CoolTechie]

Im 21 and I've been drinkining about 4 diet sodas a day since the age of around 14.. the use of aspartame has seriously crossed my mind too... if anyones got any info about the possible effects i/d love to hear it also

 

[StageLeft]

Cooltechie, I'm 22, been drinking Diet Pepsi since about 16 years old in the amount of 1L a day sometimes as many as 2L...

 

[gogirl]

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/

try this...

 

[CoolTechie]

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/adverse2.txt

ahhh crap... u know.. this past year i've been cutting down bigtime... at the highpoint of my diet soda intake i would drink a 12 pack a day.. now reading all this stuff just confirms that i need to get this aspartame crap outa my life.. thanks for that link!!!

 

[Shudder]

You guys are so cool with your new personality icons..

For the past year perhaps I've had no more than 1 can of diet coke a day, but that's not even every day. I don't know what aspartame does exactly, but if I have more than one can, my stomach goes to hell.

I'm sick of aspartame in just about EVERYTHING. Yogurt has sugar carbs.. whyTF put aspartame in it? Use more sugar if you have to.

COFFEE. For christ's sake.. I was going to buy some Cafe Mocha mix at the grocery store the other day, thought it wouldn't be too bad.. but the damn crap had aspartame in it. Sorry, I put my own sugar in coffee, I don't need that stomach wrenching garbage.

 

[StageLeft]

Hmm...

Well I know that the net is a breeding ground for doomsayers and crack-pots, but it really is very very easy to find a buttload of info on the negative effects of aspartame and possible cover-ups here and there, and studies that say its bad and what not.

I think that as of now I am not going to consume aspartame again. It "might" not be too bad for you, but it is definitely not unquestionably safe, and I won't risk my future on something like that.

That link above is very long but just skim through some of it, so many references to possible brain tumors, cancer, etc. etc. I'm just through, and my headaches _have_ been pretty bad lately. I wasn't sure why...and I won't say its aspartame for sure but I am going to cut it out of my diet anyway. screw it.

Thats true shudder, why in hell would that stuff have aspartame?! Like I said in my first post more and more stuff has some artificial sweeteners, and one thing that can be said for sure is this: Aspartame may or may not be bad for you but there has definitely been inadequate testing on it. Until I know for sure I'm cold-turkey on the stuff.

Went to GNC looking at their meal replacements, some of them are chock-full of aspartame (take for instance Myoplex which has about 10X the amount of aspartame as a serving of diet-pepsi), others have acesulfame-potassium, another possibly very bad artificial sweetener. I am going to go back today and see if I can find a protein powder that isn't full of junk!!

 

[apoppin]

If you want to be on the safe side - don't consume chemicals.

Many so called "health-food" or "natural" food stores really are junk health food stores (jumping on the "alternative craze". You really need to search to find stores that really promote health. READ the LABEL!

What ever happened to consuming fresh (organic) fruit juices? If you are really serious about health, get a juicer. It's WORK, but a real alternative to canned or bottled beverages.

 

[Anybody]

I was drinking about 3 litres a day of Mountain dew.. .stopped cold turkey.... I started drinking diet soda's with asparatame about a month later. My personality actually changed. I began having mood swings that where scarey. So I just cut out soda completly. I drink nantucket necturs when I want to treat myself as well as a Mug rootbeer now and then. No where near the quantities I used to drink of anything.

R/C cola supposably has a diet drink that uses splenda ..I havn't seen it.
nantucket necturs has a diet ice tea that uses splenda.
there is another fruit drink manufacturer whose name slips my mind at the momment that uses splenda...I'll update when I remember it.

I feel your best bet is of coursed moderation... To much of anything is bad for you... have 1 or 2 regular soda's a day.....use it as a snack because thats what it is. I won't say I miss Mtn Dew.... I used to kid that I had more Mtn dew in me then blood. Course with my Dad being diagnosed as diabetic... that could be more true that I would rather =<

 

[StageLeft]

apoppin

Just called the local GNC and he said that all of their meal replacements and protein powders have an artificial sweetener. Their weight gainers are sweetened with only sugar (much higher calories). I'm interested in these products to keep a decent diet while at work...you're right though, I just can't buy those aspartame things now, I gotta check the label.

My girlfriend and I were talking last night. We normally have 2L of diet-pepsi a day and just agreed to cut pop out totally. I may have it ocassionally now, but I'm going to switch to real drinks. I love V8, but its pretty pricey I find - and its so damn tasty I put away a 1L bottle in no time - thinking about buying a juicer but vegtables are a lot of money too!

 

[Shudder]

After reading some of the things online, you have to take everything with a grain of salt. Some of these people are just WHACK. I was doing some research on Paxil which my doctor was recommending I look into. Some people were going crazy, but looking at some of the other stuff they were on and did, they need a bit more help than just an anti depressant.

There ARE some people that have a bit more of a reaction to aspartame than most. MOst people will just write some of the effects off like a stomach ache or headache, but if it ever says Caution Pkenliukeaks (some long ass word): Contains Pkenuglakdis that all the aspartame products have.. you have to know if it says that that there are some people who have a serious reaction to the chemical.

I find it amusing that out of all the stuff in the world, the most problematic are the things that try to reproduce sugar.

 

[apoppin]

Refined (bleached) white sugar has its health problems also.

If you are really serious about a healthy alternative, switch to raw honey.

Vegetables aren't that expensive. 2 pounds of carrots will yield about 1 pint of liquid. 1 pound of apples, more than a cup. Apples (on sale) run about 39 cents a pound - less if you buy the big bags. For 80 cents (max) you can have 16 ounces of the freshest, tastiest and healthiest juce anywhere.

Canned/bottled juice is basically &quot;dead&quot; and rather acidic - but still much better than the sodas.

Fresh fruit/vegetable juices are &quot;alive&quot;. Once you try it, you can get hooked. You feel so much better with more energy you may never go back to the other drinks.

 

[StageLeft]

That is compelling appopin, and my brother recently got a juiceman-juicer...V8 is about $1 or a tiny bit more for 1L of juice...although it has water added so its not as rich in good stuff as your pure stuff is. I suppose I could get yours and water it down a bit for a similar cost. Have you tried V8 and how does it compare to good juice that you make? How much is a juicer costing these days?

Thats true shudder - its just that I see so much stuff on it I think that some of it must be valid...certainly this stuff can't be good for you anyway!

 

[apoppin]

I can't stand V8 (anymore). There is absolutely no taste comparison (nor health comparison) between canned and fresh juices.

For example, the apple juice you buy in the bottle is brown. When you juice apples fresh, their juice is a light green. After sitting at room temperature for an hour or less, it turns brown. Also, you get a bit of a cleansing reaction and an energy buzz from the fresh juice.

Juicers run about $100 up. You don't need anything fancy - Juicemans are fine. Any good centrifigical juicer will do. Our family has an Acme that is over 30 years old and still going strong.

Skoorb, see if you can try fresh juice at your bros or at a health store that juices in front of you.

 

[kranky]

My experience with aspartame is limited to about 10 cans of diet soda. It took me a while to realize every time I drank one I got a headache. So for the last one, I drank it being conscious of how I felt before and after, and when the headache set in about 30 minutes later, I was convinced. No more aspartame for me.