Diet Soda causes depression, anxiety, MS, eating disorders.
 

How many of you are sitting there with a can, bottle, or worse, a jug of diet coke/pepsi/drpepper sitting there in front of you?

it isnt the work, the irs, or the drugs making you anxious.

its the fucking piss that you drink.

funny how most of the diet food freaks are probably pharmeceutical drug addicts as well...well..not funny really.

Conspiracy?

******************************

Each Daily Soda Increases Obesity Risk 60%

For every soft drink or sugar-sweetened beverage a child drinks every day, their obesity risk appears to jump 60%.

About 65% of adolescent girls and 74% of adolescent boys consume soft drinks daily.

Currently, soft drinks constitute the leading source of added sugars in the diet, amounting to 36.2 grams daily for adolescent girls and 57.7 grams for boys.

The study included over 500 schoolchildren of various ethnic backgrounds who were aged 11 and 12. The investigators found that for every can or glass of sugar-sweetened beverage a child drank during the 19-month study, a child's body mass index -- a measure of weight related to height -- and their chance of becoming obese increased 60%.

This is the first long-term study that links soft drink consumption to obesity in children. The study received no financial support from any organization that either promotes or opposes soft drink consumption.

Obesity among US children has increased significantly since 1960 -- by 54% in children aged 6 to 11 and by 40% for adolescents, according to a report on the topic that came out late last year.

The consumption of soft drinks has increased 500% in the last 50 years, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

The Lancet 2001;357:505-508

Why did you single out diet soda?

It didn't say anything about diet soda in what you posted.

okay...gimme a sec.

As a nutritionist who straddles conventional and complementary therapies, I attend numerous lectures, workshops, and conferences in both realms. I can generally tell you whether a gathering is one of conventional practitioners or complementary practitioners simply by seeing who?s drinking what!

Where conventional practitioners such as registered dietitians, nurses, and medical doctors are meeting, the familiar, brightly colored cans of diet soda, sweetened with the artificial sweetener aspartame, prominently dot the meeting-room landscape. Not so in a gathering of complementary practitioners such as naturopaths, ?alternative? nutritionists and chiropractors. Bottled or filtered water is the rule here.

It?s an apt example of the conventional medical mindset butting heads with the philosophy of the health providers who are natural-living advocates. Aspartame, which goes by names such as Equal, NutraSweet, and Spoonful, is and has been the giant among artificial sweeteners for the twenty years it has been around. Almost any ?diet? food out there, in addition to the diet sodas, will surely have aspartame in its ingredient list. Holistic practitioners tell their clients and patients to never use the stuff?that it?s literally poison. Conventional practitioners usually encourage its use. Many, perhaps most, of my dietician colleagues, for instance, consider aspartame, with zero calories, pivotal in weight-control programs. Their perspective is that it?s a safe replacement for high-calorie sugary foods that sabotage dieters? best intentions.

?No, no, no!? shout an escalating number of health practitioners, professionals and laypeople. They point to ugly and debilitating side effects from the use of aspartame, including headaches, memory loss, slurred speech and vision problems. For years these aspartame opponents were but small voices muffled by the incredibly loud sounds of money talking. Under the ownership of the giant international chemical company Monsanto, aspartame thoroughly trounced its competition by using an unstoppable combination of marketing brilliance and limitless spending?along with tactics characterized as morally and ethically corrupt.

One critic, David Rietz, denounces Monsanto for plying ?agency [e.g. Food and Drug Administration, FDA] officials with gratuities and/or very favorable future employment, politicians with campaign funds/PAC money, non-profit foundations with endowments, scientists with research grants, and the media with lots of advertising dollars? all for the sake of defending its safety and, hence, its ironclad hold on the artificial sweetener market. Monsanto sold its aspartame ingredient business last year to a number of buyers (including, by the way, MSD Capital, which is computer king Michael Dell?s investment firm).

The voices of dissent have grown louder with the advent of the internet. Rietz, for example, is the owner and master of one of thousands of ?anti-aspartame? internet websites (www.dorway.com). Like so many other ?anti-aspartame? crusaders, Rietz founded his website after years of battling debilitating health problems and finally regaining his health after discontinuing his use of the artificial sweetener. Examining why so many attest to aspartame?s role in scores of severe adverse reactions is beyond the scope of this article. But one thing is certain, despite what appears to be a concerted effort on the part of aspartame?s makers to negate the allegations of health problems, adverse reactions from aspartame are real.

This was eloquently borne out in 1996, when Ralph G. Walton, MD, professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Northeastern Ohio University?s College of Medicine, conducted an analysis of all the medical studies?164 of them at the time?dealing with human safety as it relates to the use of aspartame. The studies were separated into two categories: 74 of the studies were sponsored by the aspartame industry and 90 of them were non-industry-sponsored studies. Dr. Walton found that of the 74 studies sponsored by the aspartame industry, 100 percent of them claimed there were no health problems associated with aspartame use. Of the 90 studies that had no connections to industry, all but seven of them identified one or more problems with aspartame use. Interestingly, of the seven studies that did not find problems, the FDA had conducted six. Critics suggest that since a number of FDA officials eventually went to work for the aspartame industry, these six studies should be considered industry-sponsored research as well.

Knowing all this, if a person desperately wanted to lose weight and was prepared to risk the safety problems associated with aspartame, would it make sense to use this sugar substitute as an easy and effective tool for weight control?

Hardly! Dr. Walton, who has also studied the effects of aspartame, is emphatic when he tells me, ?Probably one major contributor to obesity is the widespread use of diet products!? A chorus of non-conventional health professionals echoes his statement, which can just aswell be read as a warning. The reasons are not simple; they involve complex biochemical reactions linked to hormones and brain chemicals.

Aspartame itself doesn?t have any calories, but basically, one of its ingredients, the amino acid phenylalanine, blocks production of serotonin, a nerve chemical that, among other activities, controls food cravings. As you might well imagine, a shortage of serotonin will make your brain and body scream for the foods that create more of this brain chemical?and those are the high-calorie, carbohydrate-rich snacks that can sabotage a dieter. Obviously, the more aspartame one ingests, the more heightened the effects. Simply put, aspartame appears to muddle the brain chemistry.

Nutritionist Susan Allen, RD, CCN, at Chicago?s Northwestern Center for Integrative Medicine, suspects that something additional is going on in many of her patients who have been using aspartame and other artificial sweeteners. Allen believes that when they consume them, the sweet taste of no-calorie sweeteners triggers their bodies to release insulin, even though there is no food to feed the cells. Normally, when we eat, the sugar in that food, which is derived from carbohydrates, is broken down into simple sugars, like glucose, which then enter the blood stream (we call it ?blood sugar?).

We depend on insulin (secreted by the pancreas) to usher that blood sugar into our cells to supply energy and maintain normal blood sugar levels. The problem Allen sees is that an ?insulin-sensitive? person who uses artificial sweeteners teases his or her body into thinking food is on its way, so insulin is released. But when the body discovers it was cheated out of food, it revolts by throwing a food-craving tantrum that can only be quelled by eating blood sugar food that will more than likely be high-calorie sugary snacks. ?I point out to them how it doesn?t make sense. . . they?re trying to save themselves sugar but then they eat more foods that are going to raise their blood sugar anyway.?

Yet, the unabashed public acceptance of artificial sweeteners, namely aspartame, is fueled by the approval of a host of scientific and professional organizations, including the American Dietetic Association, American Heart Association, American Medical Association and the National Cancer Institute. Is it any wonder that some 200 million Americans use this ubiquitous product?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Author:
Rebecca Ephraim, RD, CCN is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Clinical Nutritionist with seventeen years in media and mass communications. She currently serves as anchor/producer for the Chicago National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate. Ms. Ephraim is a columnist and writer for Conscious Choice magazine in Chicago and is the Chairperson of the American Dietetic Association (ADA) specialty group on Nutrition and Complementary Care. See her website or email her at [email protected].

Does that copy/paste back up this statement??

Please read this!!!! In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick, she had stomach spasms, she was having a hard time getting around, to walk was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed, she was in so much pain. By March 2002, she had undergone biopsies, and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not figure out what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick, she knew she was dying.

She put her house, bank accounts, life insurance, etc., in her oldest daughters name, and made sure her younger children were to be with her oldest daughter. She wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to FL (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd.

On March 19th I called her to ask her how one of her tests went, and she said they didn't find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS. I thought, oh, my.... then I recalled an article a friend of mine emailed to me... and I asked her.... Do you drink Diet pop? She told me yes, as a matter of fact she was getting ready to crack one open that moment, I told her not to open it, and stop drinking the diet pop... and I emailed her the following article.

She called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she stopped drinking the diet pop, and she can walk... she went up the stairs, and the muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but sure felt a lot better. She told me she was going to her doctors with this article and would call me back when she got home.

She called me, and her doctor was amazed, he is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweetener. In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the aspartame in the diet soda, dying a slow death.

When she got to FL March 22nd, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for poisoning... she is well on her way to recovery.....and she is walking!!!!! No wheelchair!!!! This article saved her life!!!!

The life saving article:

If it says "SUGAR FREE," on the label, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on "ASPARTAME" marketed as 'NutraSweet,' 'Equal,' and 'Spoonful.' In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus, that it was hard to understand what toxin was causing this to be rampant. I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.

I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to Formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. (Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants.)

The methanol toxicity mimics among other conditions multiple sclerosis. People were being diagnosed with having multiple sclerosis in error. The multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, where methanol toxicity is! Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that the aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use, aggravating the lupus to such a degree that it may become life-threatening. We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic once taken off diet sodas. In the case of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, (when in reality, the disease is methanol toxicity!), most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision returned and hearing improved markedly. This also applies to cases of tinnitus.

During a lecture I said "If you are using ASPARTAME [NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc.) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss - you probably have ASPARTAME DISEASE!" People were jumping up during the lecture saying, "I've got some of these symptoms: Is it reversible?" Yes, Not drinking diet sodas and keeping an eye out for aspartame on food labels, yes!

We have a very serious problem. A stranger came up to Dr. Espisto (one of my speakers) and me and said: "Could you tell me why so many people seem to be coming down with MS?" During a visit to a hospice, a nurse said that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence! Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi etc. IS NOT A DIET PRODUCT! The Congressional Record states that it makes you crave carbohydrates and will make you FAT. The formaldehyde stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Once off these products with no significant increase in exercise, etc., Dr. Roberts in his lecture stated that he had patient who lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period.

Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We found that physicians would believe that they have a patient with retinopathy, when in fact the symptoms are caused by aspartame. The aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are neurotoxic without the other amino acids found in protein. Thus it passes the blood brain barrier and deteriorates the neurons of the brain, causing in diabetics (as well as in patients not suffering from diabetes) various kinds of brain damage, seizures, depression, manic depression, panic attacks, rage, violence. (The Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome.)

Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects i.e. mental retardation if taken at the time of conception and early pregnancy. Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NOT be given NutraSweet. I can relate different case histories of children having mal seizures and other disturbances being on NutraSweet. Unfortunately it is not always easy to convince a mother that aspartame is to blame for her child's illness. Only by trial and success will she be able to warn other mothers to take their children's health in their own hands.

Stevia, a sweet herb, NOT A MANUFACTURED ADDITIVE, which helps in the metabolism of sugar (which would be ideal for diabetics) has now been approved as a dietary supplement by the FDA. For years the FDA has outlawed this sweet food because of their loyalty to MONSANTO. Books on this subject are available: EXCITOTOXINS: THE TASTE THAT KILLS - written by Dr. Russell Blayblock (Health Press 1-800-643-2665) and DEFENSE AGAINST ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE - written by DR H. J. Roberts, also a diabetic specialist. These two doctors will be posting a position paper with some case histories on the deadly effects of Aspartame on the Internet.

According to the Conference of the American College of Physicians "we are talking about a plague of neurological diseases caused by this deadly poison." Here is the problem: There were Congressional Hearings when aspartame was included in 100 different products. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, but to no avail. Nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Now there are over 5,000 products containing this chemical, and the PATENT HAS EXPIRED!!!!! I assure you, MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame knows how deadly it is. They fund among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association, the Conference of the American College of Physicians. This has been exposed in the New York Times - to no avail.

These Associations cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and have to endorse their products. Senator Howard Hetzenbaum wrote a bill that would have warned all infants, pregnant mothers and children of the dangers of aspartame. The bill would have also instituted independent studies on the problems existing in the population (seizures, changes in brain chemistry, changes neurological and behavioral; symptoms). It was killed by the powerful drug and chemical lobbies, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting public.

Want more proof sugartits?

:thumbsup

:1orglaugh

:sleep

:1orglaugh

now im laughing myself....urban fucking legend that story is.

however, atkins is pretty staunch anti-dietpop crusader.

I sale tinfoil hats for retards

anyone drinking 12 cans of anything a day has a problem:

***************************

I wanted to warn my fellow diabetics about aspartame (NutraSweet, equal, spoonfull, etc) I loved pop and I drank almost a 12 pack a day. I became so ill while drinking diet drinks, but I didn't have any idea what was causing my problems. I could no longer walk very far. When I walked to my car in the drive way I would have to stop a rest 2 to 3 times to make it. I had extreme fatigue, extreme memory loss (I would forget easy words for things like "shirt"), I would suddenly lose my balance and stagger for no reason, I had blinding migrain headaches, and worst of all I had finally developed horrible pain in my body even my face. It was like having your hand in a vise and someone just continued to clamp down tighter. I had reached the place where I just moaned in constant pain. I never dreamed I would ever had my normal life back again. A friend sent me a article about aspartame and it's toxic effects. I stopped all forms of diet pop, food, whatever. After a few weeks, I thought I was getting better, but I was afraid it was wishful thinking. Five months later, I was walking Walmarts shopping again, I remember most words now although sometimes I have to think a few minutes first. After years of constant headaches, I rarely ever have any these days. But, best of all, the pain is gone!! I am about 98%pain free. All I changed in the 5 months was I didn't touch a drop of anything with aspartame in it. It goes under a lot of different brand names. Also, Monosodiumglutmate (MSG) is a nurotoxin that works just like aspartame in destroying nerve endings. So read your ingredients carfully. Aspartame can be listed as, "high frutose syrup" "certain numbers" "artifical flavoring" etc. Ever notice the number of electric carts that have popped up in stores for shoppers. Aspartame mimics MS, triggers diabeties, and so much more. There is no where near enough space here. Your quality of life may depend on your knowledge about aspartame.

i guess being from quebec you must be sold out.

i swear to god you need to put some subliminal shit in that salad signature.

all i drink is water, beer, and juice.

Trader Joes doesnt sell soda.

http://www.traderjoes.com

i dont eat sugar, and i dont drink soda or caffeine for that matter.

water mostly.

at least a gallon a day.

trying....trying to do the same.

thats some fucking willpower...i know a few sugar boycotters myself. they are so healthy. me gots to copy that.

How can you stand drinking Diet Coke? Or Diet Pepsi for that matter.

You're better off pouring water into a cup and dropping 5mL of Pepsi.

Diet Rite cola... no aspartame and no caffeine, no sodium. It uses sucralose instead of aspartame.

not sure what 'Water vending' places you have. But i use Sparklettes water, They deliver 5 gallon bottles and gave me a cooler.

I go through about 5 gallons of water every couple days or so.

Its actually not even that cheap. But I use the cold water in my bong and instead of soda I sip ice cold fresh water all day.

i pee every 10 minutes though. But my bong water is fresh and icey smooth.

As for no sugar or caffeine. I cant have it. Im so fucking hyper without it. Id be strung out all night bouncing off the walls, as it is i have insomnia, dont need caffeine, if I drink caffeine, honestly, ill be up for days...It increases my anxiety and panic attacks which is really the case with diet soda.

I have books on this.

The avera human in major cities, consumes 300g of caffeine a day, the body should only get 50 (if that!) you dont really need caffeine. Anyhow, this is known to cause anxiety and such, which is obvious even by your post.

Another interesting fact people forget. Caffeine makes your body produce glucose. What is glucose again? Sugar. Its a cycle.

As for refined sugar, thats the worst kind thats why I dont consume it. Refined white sugar is a deadly chemical.

Its addicted more people on the planet than any other thing.

Sugar is bad.

hahah

Water will do you good, my poet friend. :)

Nah there's plenty more where that came from, we're the biggest producers of tinfoil in the world

<a href=http://www.womanht.com/health/sugar_addicts_anonymous.htm>12 Steps To Beating Sugar Addiction</a>

How many are hooked?

Tha stats are mind boggling at how many people cant go a day without sugar.

Its starts with Baby Formula and candy as a kid.

Read: <a href=http://www.organicnutrition.co.uk/articles/is-sugar-bad-for-you.htm>Is Sugar Bad For You?</a>

this is why the government will one day ration chocolate!

'The biggest reason sugar does more damage than any other poison, drug or narcotic is twofold:

(a) It is considered a "food" and ingested in such massive quantities, and

(b) The damaging effects begin early, from the day a baby is born and is fed sugar in its formula. Even mothers milk is contaminated with it if the mother eats sugar, and

(c) Practically 95% of people are addicted to it to some degree or other.'

:1orglaugh

I hear ya on the caffeine fletch xxx...I am the same way. I haven't drunk caffeine for over 2 years now. I am very sensitive to it..ick.

If I don't get my Coca Cola I get fucking dizzy spells. I've tried to replace it with glucose type health drinks, but nothing else keeps me off the vertigo.
I guess I got a blood sugar problem. Oh well, at least it tastes good.

No,

Reading MrPopup's threads causes depression, anxiety, MS, eating disorders.

OK - I was diagnosed with MS about a year ago and I don't drink diet soda, I've maybe had 5 or 10 cans in my whole lifetime, I hate the fucking shit, it tastes like plastic death. Aspartame is fucking evil, that's a given.

I've cut sugar from my diet almost entirely over the last 5-10 years so that's not the problem (unless Frosted Flakes has a latency period). A lot of my symptoms have been attributed to stress, anxiety, depression - whatever. I believe my symptoms have CREATED my anxiety / depression / stress.

Having a doctor tell you that you have MS and you might not be able to walk next week stresses you the fuck out. My holistic doc feels I've been poisoned over a long period of time. That could be air, water, soil, food, sugar, fat - I dunno but my cane is hanging in the closet and I hope to never need it again.


ICQ: 45022999

Can't help but notice, below the article, under the heading, "Latest Health News" that there is a link to an article called:

<i>Why <B>too</b> much sugar is bad for you!</i>

It's the same article. There is absolutely nothing wrong with sugar, if it's consumed in moderation. In fact, eating sugar within recommended amounts, is actually beneficial. Hell, they even hint at it in this paragraph, without actually directly saying so.

<i><b>Sugar is eaten to excess</b>
It has been said that the criteria as to whether a substance (any substance) is harmful or medically beneficial is the quantity in which it is used in the human body. To point to a dramatic illustration: we all know that the venom of a rattlesnake, a cobra, water moccasin, coral, and other venomous snakes is deadly to the human system. There are some snakes whose bite is so deadly it can cause death within a matter of seconds. Nevertheless, even snake venom, deadly as it is, has been used for therapeutic, medical purposes when used in minute quantities. </i>

Shut up about sugar, it's all I have. I get no sex from the wife, I don't smoke. No booze or drugs cuz I don't want the kids to think that's ok. So that leaves sugar. Sugar is my friend.

:ak47: sugar haters

there is a biiiig difference between 'refined white sugar' and the natural sugars found in say fruits and things.

sugar as a chemically man created thing is not good for you.

eating kiwi as i do everyday of course has sugar in it, but its not REFINED sugar. huge difference.

Minus MS, those are symptoms of people who lock themselves away and work too hard as well...

..along with chronic masturbation syndrome :1orglaugh

I can only assume that the article was talking about refined sugar in that particular paragraph. There are benefits to consuming even refined sugar. Like everything else, it should be done in moderation. Personally, i've been cutting down on the amount of sugar i've been having over the last few months. I used to put sugar on everything. It was ridiculous.

By the way, are there advantages to using brown sugar instead of white sugar? I've never bothered to look it up.

i dont eat brown sugar either.

cept black girls who dig the white meat.

heh.

Blah, eating or drinking too much of anything is harmful. Everything in moderation... a soda now and again, diet or regular, ain't going to kill you.

Fletch, its whats for dinner.

:thumbsup

Man, you are an idiot. Correlation doesn't equal causation fool. Just because kids who drink soda are more likely to become fat, doesnt mean drinking soda causes one to become fat or depressed, etc.

Did you know that the more churches a city has, the higher the crime rate? Do churches cause crime? Obviously not... outside factors, in this case a high population, are the cause.

My name is J-Reel and I am a Cola addict. :(

Sounds like the caffene in Coke constricts the blood vessels in the head..which helps prevent dizziness. At least that's what my doc told me.