Diet Soda

[QueenAdrock]

So I hate aspartame. It's got that weird taste afterwards, and it gives me a migraine headache. I've stopped drinking soda for the most part, but sometimes I have a craving for a soda yet don't want the assloads of sugar that comes along with it. I do like diet coke with splenda, but that's got caffeine in it, which also gives me a headache.

Is it really that damn hard to create a diet soda with splenda with NO caffeine? I mean, caffeine is added AFTER the soda-making process, am I right? They could just skip that step and ship it out.

My two cents.

[b-grrrlie]

I hate aspartame as well! And it's not good for your body anyway. I don't drink sodas, only 7up or Sprite, but only mixed with booze. I never touch those lite-drinks. I prefer non-fizzy drinks and I bought some new non-fizzy drink last summer. It tasted horrible and turned out to include aspartame. I called Coca-Cola (as it turned out it was disguised under their label) about it and I can't remember seeing the drink afterwards (not that I remember what it was called....).

[Ace42X]

http://www.beastieboys.com/bbs/showthread.php?p=1081308

[QueenAdrock]

^Exactly. I don't trust aspartame, just because it's still relatively new and pretty much just chemicals. Splenda is just another way to make sugar. I read it in the Washigton Post a while back, that in the sugar process, there's 2 branches: one sugar, the other splenda. All the doctors I've talked to have also told me that it's perfectly fine. I've had no migraines when I've had splenda.

Which leads me back to my first question, how damn hard is it to make a diet soda with splenda and no caffeine? Grrr.

EDIT: How they make splenda:

SPLENDA® is the brand name for the ingredient sucralose. It is made through a patented, multi-step process that starts with sugar and converts it to a no calorie, non-carbohydrate sweetener. The process selectively replaces three hydrogen-oxygen groups on the sugar molecule with three chlorine atoms. Chlorine is present naturally in many of the foods and beverages that we eat and drink every day ranging from lettuce, mushrooms and table salt. In the case of sucralose, its addition converts sucrose to sucralose, which is essentially inert. The result is an exceptionally stable sweetener that tastes like sugar, but without sugar’s calories. After consumption, sucralose passes through the body without being broken down for energy, so it has no calories, and the body does not recognize it as a carbohydrate.

[GetYourWarOn]

i love splenda. it used to be somewhat expensive, but the price is coming down now which is good cause i won't have to steal packets from dunkin donuts anymore.... and aspertame freaks me out which is why i now try to stick with tea when i need caffiene.



i have no idea if there is any kind of soda out there that would have splenda and be caffiene free. the only brand i've ever seen advertise splenda as an ingredient is diet coke, which you already mentioned. baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

[jabumbo]

we call it pop where i'm from (http://www.popvssoda.com/countystats/total-county.html)


i try not to drink pop excessively, but sometimes i just like the taste. the carbonation is nice with thick greasier foods. i like to drink loads of juice though, thats what i prefer anyway

[paulb]

im addicted to Diet soda.... being diabetic, thats all i can drink. today ive already had like 4 cans of diet shit. gotta love those chemicals.

[Sarky Devotchka]

aspartame gives me headaches too. I like fizzy drinks though, and caffiene. I wish that coke could taste like coke and not have calories. C2's okay, but it's harder to find these days.

[QueenAdrock]

Coke Zero actually tastes exactly like regular coke, with no calories, with aspartame. Which is stupid, because they should have just changed the recipe for Diet Coke. It's the same thing, but tastes more like regular.

[mikizee]

Aspartame, the common sweetner in low calorie diet drinks, has not had an easy run since it was approved by the American Food and Drug Association in 1981. Today, over 100 million people consume aspartame daily in over 1500 food products. However, the famous 'Nancy Markle email' blames aspartame for some 92 conditions ranging from headaches, fatigue, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosis to dizziness, vertigo, diabetes and coma.

Aspartame is produced by combining two common amino acids - phenylalanine and aspartic acid. These amino acids are, like the other 18 or so common amino acids, found in the proteins we eat and are part of our regular food intake. In aspartame, the phenylalanine has been modified by the addition of a methyl group chemical. The job of the gut is to prepare food so that it can enter the bloodstream. Beacause the aspartame molecule is too big to get into the bloodstream, the gut breaks it down into three similar chemicals - phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol.

Like all good myths, this one has a germ of truth to it. Under certain circumstances, two of these chemicals (phenylalanine and methanol) can be poisonous.

The first chemical is the natural amino acid, phenylalanine. It is is claimed that the phenylalanine is poisonous on the grounds that cans of diet drinks have a health warning: 'phenylketonurics: contains phenylalanine'.

Phenylalanine is in fact toxic to people with phenylketonuria, a very rare disease which affects one in 15000 people. These people are usually diagnosed soon after birth with the Guthrie 'heel prick' test. In these people, phenylalanine is not broken down and can rise to toxic levels, causing brain damage. Phenylketonurics, placed on a special restricted diet to minimise their intake of phenylalanine, can live normal lives.

There is more phenylalanine in 'regular' foods than in diet drinks. For example, a can of diet drink has 100mg of phenylalanine, an egg 300mg, a glass of milk 500mg, and a large burger 900mg. These are foods that phenylketonurics are taught to avoid. However, the other 14999 out of every 15000 people dont have to worry about the toxic effects of phenylalanine.

The second chemical is the alcohol called methanol. (there are many chemicals in the alcohol family. Ethanol is the one that is good for us in small quantities - which is amazing for a chemical that can strip stains off a floor, and pickle and perfectly preserve small animals.) It is true that methanol in large doses is toxic. However, a can of diet drink will yield 20mg of methanol, a very small dose, and easily handled by the body. Like phenylalanine, this chemical is found in our regular diet. A glass of fruit juice will give you 40mg of methanol, and an alcoholic drink 60-100 mg.

There's one final argument against the toxicity of diet drinks. None of the peer reviewed medical literature shows a relationship between the consumption of diet drinks, and any of the 92 diseases that aspartame supposedly causes.

Aspartame -

Aspartame is a low calorie sweetner, which was invented in 1965. Weight for weight, it is about 200 times sweeter than sugar. It goes under many names - Equal, Nutrasweet, Spoonful, E951 etc.

According to the US Food and Drug Administration, the ADI (acceptable daily intake) is about 50mg/kg of body weight per day. For a 75kg person, this is the equivalent of 20 cans of diet drinks per day.

It has remarkably few adverse reactions. Repeated studies have shown that it does not cause allergic reactions, headaches, cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, or Alzheimer's disease. It does not affect vision, or cause changes in mood, behaviour, or thought processes. It does not increase haemorrhagic risk, and it has no bad effects on dental health. On the other hand, some studies show that diet drinks with artificial sweetners stimulate the appetite, which can lead to eating when youre not hungry - which defeats the whole purpose of diet drinks.

Even the concern about the effect of heat on aspartame - eg when diet drinks are left in direct sunlight - seems ungrounded. No new toxic chemicals are created by the heat. The aspartame simply breaks down, and the taste of the drink becomes less sweet than before.


Whew. typing phenylalanine too many times gives me a headache.

[Sarky Devotchka]

okay, well, why is it that every time I drink or eat something with aspartame I get a headache? even sugar-free gum gives me a headache. It's almost instant really. Though I don't like the taste of aspartame, I used to sometimes drink ice cold diet pepsi out of a glass bottle because it tasted alright that way...but I discovered that it was causing me headaches.

the gum is what really tipped me off though.

so take your science and shove it!

[miss_bhaven]

I drink a shitload of Diet Coke (ask Tzar :p) Problem is, it's all I drink...apart from when I'm drinking alcohol...Hmm..Oh well, I love the shit - don't care if it's bad for me. Plus, I get withdrawals if I don't have it haha...it's that bad..Hmm

[mikizee]

okay, well, why is it that every time I drink or eat something with aspartame I get a headache? even sugar-free gum gives me a headache. It's almost instant really. Though I don't like the taste of aspartame, I used to sometimes drink ice cold diet pepsi out of a glass bottle because it tasted alright that way...but I discovered that it was causing me headaches.

the gum is what really tipped me off though.

so take your science and shove it!

ill take this science and shove into a aspartame containing drink, which doesnt give me, or millions of other people, a headache. maybe your one of those 1 in 1000000 people that has a reaction that scientists havent come across yet. or maybe there is another ingredient besides the aspartame that is giving you the headache. take a panadol.

[Sarky Devotchka]

listen, I don't want to fight. I'm no scientist. I get headaches from perfume too, perhaps it is another chemical. figure it out for me, k thnx

[King PSYZ]

i recently saw diet rite:pure zero. it comes in several flavors, no caffine, no calories, no sugar. it's also made with splenda.

[mikizee]

im no scientist either, but i play one on tv. ok, so i don't play one on tv, but thats not the point. the point is, .... i forgot. but the story goes.. i forgot that too. can i go now?

[jackrock]

im no scientist either, but i play one on tv. ok, so i don't play one on tv, but thats not the point. the point is, .... i forgot. but the story goes.. i forgot that too. can i go now?
after you finish your vegetables.


i usually (when i do drink) pop its 7up or whatever. coke or pepsi leaves my teeth feeling like a big yellow pile of grose crap... so yea. Aspartame dopes the saem to me but it feels slightly different.

[QueenAdrock]

okay, well, why is it that every time I drink or eat something with aspartame I get a headache?

Me too. Even if I don't know it has aspartame in it. Afterwards, my head will feel funny and I'll look at the ingredients and see it's in there.

Regardless of scientific studies, my neurologist has told me to stay away from aspartame. It's still relatively new, and studies can provide different results with new information that's always being discovered. Just like cell phones. Though there's a good chance there isn't a link, we don't have all the information and know for SURE and it's better to be safe and use sparingly.

[GetYourWarOn]

*snorts apsartame and rubs cell phone on crotch*

[Ace42X]

Whew. typing phenylalanine too many times gives me a headache.

Does copy and pasting from snopes?

[tracky]

so that's what was causes that foul aftertaste

hate the shit (n)

[mikizee]

Does copy and pasting from snopes?

the fuck is snopes? if you are insinuating that i copied and pasted from an internet page, your wrong.

[cerveza]

? (http://www.homegrocer.com/images/products/diet%20caf%20free%20coke%2012pk.gif)

[Ace42X]

the fuck is snopes? if you are insinuating that i copied and pasted from an internet page, your wrong.

Oh really?
http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s1167056.htm

Compare that to what you wrote...

Aspartame, the common sweetner in low calorie diet drinks, has not had an easy run since it was approved by the American Food and Drug Association in 1981. Today, over 100 million people consume aspartame daily in over 1500 food products. However, the famous 'Nancy Markle email' blames aspartame for some 92 conditions ranging from headaches, fatigue, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosis to dizziness, vertigo, diabetes and coma.

Aspartame is produced by combining two common amino acids - phenylalanine and aspartic acid. These amino acids are, like the other 18 or so common amino acids, found in the proteins we eat and are part of our regular food intake. In aspartame, the phenylalanine has been modified by the addition of a methyl group chemical. The job of the gut is to prepare food so that it can enter the bloodstream. Beacause the aspartame molecule is too big to get into the bloodstream, the gut breaks it down into three similar chemicals - phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol.

Like all good myths, this one has a germ of truth to it. Under certain circumstances, two of these chemicals (phenylalanine and methanol) can be poisonous.

The first chemical is the natural amino acid, phenylalanine. It is is claimed that the phenylalanine is poisonous on the grounds that cans of diet drinks have a health warning: 'phenylketonurics: contains phenylalanine'.

Phenylalanine is in fact toxic to people with phenylketonuria, a very rare disease which affects one in 15000 people. These people are usually diagnosed soon after birth with the Guthrie 'heel prick' test. In these people, phenylalanine is not broken down and can rise to toxic levels, causing brain damage. Phenylketonurics, placed on a special restricted diet to minimise their intake of phenylalanine, can live normal lives.

There is more phenylalanine in 'regular' foods than in diet drinks. For example, a can of diet drink has 100mg of phenylalanine, an egg 300mg, a glass of milk 500mg, and a large burger 900mg. These are foods that phenylketonurics are taught to avoid. However, the other 14999 out of every 15000 people dont have to worry about the toxic effects of phenylalanine.

The second chemical is the alcohol called methanol. (there are many chemicals in the alcohol family. Ethanol is the one that is good for us in small quantities - which is amazing for a chemical that can strip stains off a floor, and pickle and perfectly preserve small animals.) It is true that methanol in large doses is toxic. However, a can of diet drink will yield 20mg of methanol, a very small dose, and easily handled by the body. Like phenylalanine, this chemical is found in our regular diet. A glass of fruit juice will give you 40mg of methanol, and an alcoholic drink 60-100 mg.

There's one final argument against the toxicity of diet drinks. None of the peer reviewed medical literature shows a relationship between the consumption of diet drinks, and any of the 92 diseases that aspartame supposedly causes.

Aspartame -

Aspartame is a low calorie sweetner, which was invented in 1965. Weight for weight, it is about 200 times sweeter than sugar. It goes under many names - Equal, Nutrasweet, Spoonful, E951 etc.

According to the US Food and Drug Administration, the ADI (acceptable daily intake) is about 50mg/kg of body weight per day. For a 75kg person, this is the equivalent of 20 cans of diet drinks per day.

It has remarkably few adverse reactions. Repeated studies have shown that it does not cause allergic reactions, headaches, cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, or Alzheimer's disease. It does not affect vision, or cause changes in mood, behaviour, or thought processes. It does not increase haemorrhagic risk, and it has no bad effects on dental health. On the other hand, some studies show that diet drinks with artificial sweetners stimulate the appetite, which can lead to eating when youre not hungry - which defeats the whole purpose of diet drinks.

Even the concern about the effect of heat on aspartame - eg when diet drinks are left in direct sunlight - seems ungrounded. No new toxic chemicals are created by the heat. The aspartame simply breaks down, and the taste of the drink becomes less sweet than before.


Whew. typing phenylalanine too many times gives me a headache.

[ASsman]

It all tastes like shit, splenda ,apa-whateverthefuck, all of it.


If it doesn't have real sugar it has a disgusting after taste... I just stick a spoonful of sugar in my mouth to counter it. And an extra one just for kicks. Mmmmm calories.

[jammytastic]

skinny coke is horrid. ill take teeth rotting fatty coke any day.

[ASsman]

skinny coke is horrid. ill take teeth rotting fatty coke any day.
I think it tastes like shit to get people to NOT drink it.... I think it's a damn good plan, except with fatass Americans they really don't care they'll buy the 2 litre ones instead of the 20oz ones....


Had some Diet Sunkist, taste the sun? Yah well the sun ain't made of dog shit.

[jammytastic]

how do you know what the sun tastes like? have you ever tasted the sun? burn your tounge? :groan:

sprite zero is beautiful though.

[marsdaddy]

Drink full fat rootbeer or ginger ale -- no caffeine.

BTW, splenda, asspartame, saccharin and every other artificial sweetner kill rats. I'm just saying.

[mikizee]

no, i didnt copy aand paste from a webpage. i copied it from a book. but now it seems it would have been a lot quicker if i did just copy and paste from a webpage! im never gonna get back that 10 minutes it took to type it out.

[marsdaddy]

If you really did type all that, my guess is you're wasting a lot more than that 10 minutes.

[mikizee]

If you really did type all that, my guess is you're wasting a lot more than that 10 minutes.

nope. 10 minutes and a sore neck. im a fast typer.

[SobaViolence]

i thought you were saying i have a fat ass.

i almost lost it.

rock on, my babies.

[ASsman]

Hmmmm, ass tasting fake-sugar makes Homer angry.


Splenda
"It tastes like ass because it's made from ass"

Maybe if people weren't so goddamn fat we wouldn't have to be making shitty tasting sweetners....Here's an idea eat sugar then burn the calories fuck faces... Sure, now diabetics can now eat sweet shit, if they hadn't gotten so fat in the first place they wouldn't have to (excluding those genetically diabetic people).