To stop drinking diet coke - sweeteners

[Alwaysasking]

Or am I totally over-reacting? I have anxious dispositions so not sure if this is justified but I drink about 3-4 diet cokes a week, I love the stuff but am worried about the sweeteners and their link to cancer. AIBU?

Eragon - I've had a look at Dr Ralph Walton's research but couldn't take it seriously as there is a forward by Betty Martini, well known conspiracy theorist and instigator of unsubstantiated claims. Interestingly, there are a lot of dodgy self published websites around that unthinkingly repeat her rubbish (although I believe she now claims that her words were taken out of context and circulated by someone else).

I feel quite comforted by the fact that over 100 different regulatory bodies have reviewed the research - by vested interests and independent researchers - and found that it is safe. It's not hard to find meta studies and peer reviewed research online actually, and you can properly drill down into the detail to check the science if you're interested.

Surely they would be liable to major legal action if they had uncovered harmful effects and NOT made it public?

I really don't understand the Diet Coke thing, it has no taste as far as I can see! I used to drink a lot of Pepsi Max but for various reasons stopped.

Just to add more to the debate, I used to think drinking a very small amount of Fat Coke was healthier than tons of diet drinks but a few months ago there was new research on the effects of refined sugars in fizzy drinks.

DM link warning but it's early and it's all I could find as I have to go and dress my children

Water it is then.....though can I just vent about how hard it is to avoid sweeteners these days even in the sugary versions of drinks (e.g. some ginger beers, I think Fanta too) EITHER sugar OR sweeteners please, not both

It's like any other type of food, if you over indulge then it's obviously going to be bad for you. There are even papers linking consumption of cows milk to cancer, not to mention tomatoes and soy sauce. Everything in moderation and you'll be fine.

Beveridge yes Fanta, and Tango too have aspartame in them. As do Schweppes and R Whites lemonades. As do the M&S own brand drinks.

I used to drink obe ir two cans if diet cokea day but at least 5 pints of diluted juice a day. I gave up and switched to Sainsbury's juice, without artificial sweetners in it, and then onto water. My constant niggling headaches and sinus problems stopped as soon as I stopped taking aspartame.

The new sweetners like Stevia are from plants(?) And are supposed to be better for you I think. Bloody expensive though.

RedHelenB Sat 29-Dec-12 07:44:44
Surely they would be liable to major legal action if they had uncovered harmful effects and NOT made it public?

No thats amazingly not the case, and shockingly the way that the legal landscape is shaped, its up to others to prove the case against.

This creates a problem. If they have found evidence to prove there is a problem, they would have two options as they are already potentially liable and already could face huge compensation claims; either admit it and pay up or go down a route where they simply invest in ways to surpress research with suggests problems (eg take legal action against things classed as potentially damaging to company reputations etc).

Given the amounts of money at stake and the profit they are making, versus the funds available to independent researchers who don't have a financial interest in a product, it favours the enormous global corporations. This is more or less why it took so long for the tobacco industry to be successfully challenged.

Ben Goldacre, is one person who has voiced concerns about this problem, but he is by no means the only one.

Its a shocking state of affairs, but in truth, its one of those things where it will require international cooperation to change things. If the UK was to change the law on making it compulsory to release results of studies which showed the negative effects of pharmaceuticals then it could be potentially catastrophic to the UK economy. Its one of our biggest exports and we have the third largest pharmaceutical R&D expenditure in the world.

Money talks.

i cant drink pepsi max or coke zero i shake and get really anxious asperthaine is the work of the devil

Aspartame gives my eldest DD terrible stomach pains. I never buy the no added sugar stuff for the children anymore as I'd rather they just have small quantities of the normal stuff

I personally prefer the taste of diet coke, proper coke is too sweet and syrupy for me, but I don't really drink a lot of it, bottles tend to go flat before they're finished

I don't think aspartame is banned anywhere. I think that's a massive myth.

There's so much hysteria and misinformation online about Aspartame I don't know what to believe. Sugar rots my teeth & makes people fat & contributes to heart disease though, so if occasional aspartame helps keep my sugar intake down, doesn't seem to bad to me.

Red toothbrush - I just read Goldacre's Bad Pharma and I think you're right, absolutely shocking.

But aspartame is one of the most studied additives in the world, so it would have to be a pretty big conspiracy : an industry cover-up that has lasted for decades, over 100 different country regulatory bodies, numerous individual researchers and independent institutions, the medical community...not to mention lawyers and press who would like nothing more than to reveal a cover up and begin class action. And, ultimately, the certainty that any cover up would eventually fail and leave the industry wide open to legal claims so huge that they would lead to bankruptcy.

Aspartame gives my eldest DD terrible stomach pains. I never buy the no added sugar stuff for the children anymore as I'd rather they just have small quantities of the normal stuff

i also gave mine sugar and tried to avoid sweetners if I could and the sweetners leave a weird after taste, sugar is not poison really it isnt it is the quantities that make teeth fall out ( do people not brush their teeth) and over weight

i ate quite alot of sugar free mints when giving up smoking. they gave me really bad stomach pains and wind (nice!) which i could cope with, but they then made me have awful heart palpitations which have completely gone after cutting out the sweetner. i did eat an awful lot of mints though

the sugar free mints have something in them a natural laxative that is why you were a bit erm windy

Used to drink about 6 cans of diet coke a day (work from home and was very bloated and had bad 'grey' skin. Changed to bottles so now when I drink it it's in smaller quantities and probably drink about 2 cans a day (if that). Less bloated and skin much better.

Doesn't keep me awake and doesn't give me any kind of problems if I don't drink it but then caffeine generally seems to have no effect on me.