Friday, 10 July 2009
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Can People Stop Mentioning Cancer When I Drink Diet Soda?
Cancer is never a good thing to throw around lightly. Even when people are serious, though, I still don't like telling people I prefer diet soda to regular and then having them say, "Yeah, but that stuff will give you cancer."
I'm not so naïve as to think companies wouldn't market something that could be harmful to your health. I mean, hello, we have cigarettes in this world. Still, they come with a warning label on the package. Moreover, the FDA and others have independently researched the effects of aspartame (artificial sweetner) extensively. According to trusty Wikipedia, a safety report in 2007 concluded aspartame "is safe at current levels of consumption as a non-nutritive sweetner." Of course, some doubt the viability of the government-endorsed research.
A lot of this controversy about aspartame and diet soda stems from older studies on the effects of aspartame on rats. While apparently no report has been substantial enough to warrant restrictions on the compound's consumption, some scientists suggest there should be more research into possible links between aspartame and brain tumors and lymphoma.
Then again, other foods also have traces of carcinogenic substances that must be monitored for safe levels of toxins. Peanut butter, for one, is often "contaminated" with traces of aflatoxin, a by-product of a mold that affects the peanut plant. Combine that with the fact peanut butter is pretty fattening, and you may think twice before spreading Skippy on your jelly and bread.
What do you make of the "diet soda gives you cancer" debate? Are possible links between aspartame and cancer enough to make you stay away from diet drinks?
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- From: awinnerisyou@hardestlevel
- Name: Joe Justice
- About Me: I will meditate and then destroy you.
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Comments (83)
Sugar substitutes make me die. I would never get to the cancer stage.
Heard that argument time and again... and still I drink Diet Coke religiously (in fact, it's sitting next to my laptop as I type.) My only "worry" is that in the amount I personally drink it, if it's a health hazard or not ... probably. Yet it's not enough of a worry to make me stop drinking it! I think people just like to have something to harp on about...
i lovvvveee diet coke, but am trying to quit (at least drink in moderation). day seven without one :)
but yeah, the whole "that's bad for you" pissed me off. i know more than they do about how bad it is...
any sort of sugar (artificial or legit) makes fat-burning harder. fake sugar is harder for the body to process. but whatever, it's good.
nowadays it seems like everything and anything is carcinogenic.
Messages people receive from the media are so mixed up and confusing now.
My take on it is this: Anymore what DOESN'T give you cancer?
i'm drinking one right now. I don't care. the air is polluted, the wter is polluted and we focus on diet coke?
i take corticoïd everyday and these days my body is so painful I have to take opium... lol
so I enjoy my diet coke in my sofa thx
Artificial sweeteners give me headaches. I dropped diet drinks and I've never felt better.
I feel like writing a post about this but I'm too lazy to:
I don't feel bad for the people who smoke cigs and then get resulting cancer. They knew it was harmful and what could happen when they started and they decided to continue anyways.
@Charity_the_So_Called_Artist@xanga - They give me headaches, too.
@sarahb_86@xanga - Which reminds me that in 10th grade I was supposed to have a teacher who was obsessed with "everything causes cancer.". Apparently she would even kick students out of the class for wearing perfumes or scented deodorants and such.
Thankfully she went crazy and just didn't show up to work at the beginning of the year. After two weeks (where we found out she decided to quit without informing the school because she was upset about her classroom change) they gave us a real teacher. lol
I just don't like diet soda regardless of whether it causes cancer or whatever.
@MangoWOW@xanga - Wow.
I never understood why people prefered the taste of diet to regular. It tastes so... fake.
and I dont know about aspartame causing cancer, I have heard of it causeing bran lesions tho. but more commonly it does cause many people nausea, dizziness, rashes, hyperactivity, and heart palpitations, myself included. Personally I stay as far away from artificial sweeteners as I can.
Aspartame has been shown to break down into Formaldehyde in the stomach. As we know, this chemical is the same preservative we inject into our dead. It's also used to treat fabrics used by the military to make them water proof which protects the steel plates in their ballistic vests as well as other key equipment in some of their tool pouches. Furthermore, Formaldehyde used to be used to pretreat wood used for flooring to water proof it. The dust from that wood is highly toxic and thus the practice is banned. It was at it's highest debate when people were getting sick from FEMA trailers in 2006. So, it's clear to see the dangers of Formaldehyde. It has been known to cause cancer, as stated by the great state of California. And who better to know about carcinogens than the state that has a city that has the highest level of carcinogens in the world, L.A. And here you guys are, consuming large quantities of an artificial sweetner produced from 3 highly deadly toxins that breaks down into a deadly toxin. Ride the train of death if you want, but I'll stick with high fructose corn syrup which is all natural and doesn't break down into something that will cause tumors and other forms of cancer.
1)Why do you trust the government so much?
2)Are you not worried that studies have come out against Aspartame? Doesn't the fact they exist raise questions?
3)Is this the first sign of human ignorance and compliance to the government's will?
4)Do we continue to accept the government's recommendations, or do we question them until we get answers that are concise and satisfactory to end all debates on the matter?
@ooh_to_be_thin@xanga - lol...your more than correct. There have been more people coming forward stating how much better they felt after stopping their Aspartame consumption. In the end, if you want to diet, just control your proportions, drink more water, and become more active.
@xplodinglastbullet@xanga - i stay away from high fructose corn syrup at all costs too. i dont care if its made from natural substances, once its gone through a chemical process, it's no longer natural in my book. i stick to good old fashioned turbinado sugar.
but yes, my family has stopped using artificial sweeteners and we all feel much better :]
@sarahb_86@xanga - Good point! Being in the sun gives you skin cancer but wearing sunblock gives you cancer too. My theory is that if you don't die in a car crash, you will die from some sort of cancer, so live life while you can! (I drink diet soda more than I drink water)
@ooh_to_be_thin@xanga - I prefer the taste of diet to regular because regular is just too sugary for me, it is like drinking a can of bubbly maple syrup that will make you fat if you don't exercise.
@TrishaJustTrisha@xanga - No kidding! It is like tey are trying to de-synthetize us to Cancer by telling us that everything will give it to us. Either that or they are just being realy lax on standards and figure warning us is better than nothing.
Blah, soda is bad with or without the cancer.
H2o all the way!
Though I admit, I have a rootbeer or dr. pepper like once a month.
@ooh_to_be_thin@xanga - there really isn't anything bad about high fructose corn syrup, other than it's incredibly difficult to digest, must like corn. In moderation, it's just fine. ;)
I don't even like diet soda...I like my sugar reeeal
if people weren't aware, almost every food/medicine/etc. has some kind of terrible side effect or after effect to it, however it is rare.
I read some medical study not so long ago, that said for women it was better for them to drink diet soda's opposed to others because out of the people they studied people who drank diet soda's the occurance of cancer was less. But for men it was the same whatever they drank.
I rarely drink soda anymore because it is an unhealthy product overall. A study recently conducted showed that too much consumption of soda can break down your muscles and eventually lead to paralysis. Certain ingredients in soda reduce the amount of potassium that your muscle absorbs, which causes this effect. I still probably drink one every 2 weeks, but as for my diet, I drink tea and water.