let's talk artificial sweeteners.

NDwife07 · February 2011

I'm rarely one to buy into the lady mag cover story hype, like "Blueberries extend your life by 72 years!", but I'm really starting to rethink artificial sweeteners. I know they've been controversial for quite some time, but I never paid much attention.

I don't consume a ton - mostly just in some yogurt I eat, and the occasional Coke Zero when I'm not pregnant - but I'm considering cutting them out all together.

In general, I just feel that they're icky chemicals and they can't be good for your body. (Everything in moderation, blah blah blah, but why eat them at all when you can just have sugar?)

What's your stance?

manda429 · February 2011

I completely agree...I am generally very anti chemical, which is quite ironic considering my job. However. I am really addicted to Fountain Diet Coke right now. I probably drink 24 oz a day easily. And I love those stupid light yoplait flavors.

I read the Nutrion Action Newsletter every month. It's a great little magazine that cuts through all the crap that food marketers put on their labels. They say in general the sweetner to avoid is Acesulfame Potassium because that hasn't been studied enough. That's the stuff in coke zero, btw. Nutrasweet and Splenda have been studied more and are considered generally safe. I tend to just their judgement although I would prefer to be chemical free.

NDwife07 · February 2011

manda429:
I completely agree...I am generally very anti chemical, which is quite ironic considering my job. However. I am really addicted to Fountain Diet Coke right now. I probably drink 24 oz a day easily. And I love those stupid light yoplait flavors.

I read the Nutrion Action Newsletter every month. It's a great little magazine that cuts through all the crap that food marketers put on their labels. They say in general the sweetner to avoid is Acesulfame Potassium because that hasn't been studied enough. That's the stuff in coke zero, btw. Nutrasweet and Splenda have been studied more and are considered generally safe. I tend to just their judgement although I would prefer to be chemical free.

Hmmmm, I could have sworn Coke Zero had splenda - or at least it used to! Or, I'm on crack.

According to the website, it has aspartame. Is that the same as Acesulfame Potassium?

lemen99 · February 2011

I try not to eat them!

manda429 · February 2011

NDwife07:
manda429:

I completely agree...I am generally very anti chemical, which is quite ironic considering my job. However. I am really addicted to Fountain Diet Coke right now. I probably drink 24 oz a day easily. And I love those stupid light yoplait flavors.

I read the Nutrion Action Newsletter every month. It's a great little magazine that cuts through all the crap that food marketers put on their labels. They say in general the sweetner to avoid is Acesulfame Potassium because that hasn't been studied enough. That's the stuff in coke zero, btw. Nutrasweet and Splenda have been studied more and are considered generally safe. I tend to just their judgement although I would prefer to be chemical free.

Hmmmm, I could have sworn Coke Zero had splenda - or at least it used to! Or, I'm on crack.

According to the website, it has aspartame. Is that the same as Acesulfame Potassium?

Coke Zero has all three artificial sweetners. Acesulfame is on that list a little further down. Not the same as aspartame. It is a relatively new sweetner.

Everything in moderation I think is OK too. I'm the last person that can talk in either respect right now.

NDwife07 · February 2011

Think I should have looked closer? Oops!

Thanks Andrea!

BrendaK · February 2011

So, about 6-7 years ago, my knees were really bothering me. Like, really, bothering me. I could barely get up and down stairs.

I mentioned it to one of Larry's aunts, and she was like, "oh, do you drink a lot of diet soda?" Yeah, I was a 4-5 cans of diet coke every day type of person. She told me that her knees used to really bother her and someone recommended laying off aspartame.

So, I quit drinking diet coke and my knees miraculously felt better. It was crazy. Enough scientific evidence for me!

So, I really, really avoid aspartame.

IndyGirl02 · February 2011

NDwife07:

Hmmmm, I could have sworn Coke Zero had splenda - or at least it used to! Or, I'm on crack.

According to the website, it has aspartame. Is that the same as Acesulfame Potassium?

They're not the same, but Coke Zero contains both aspartame and AceK. I drink it (a couple a week, not a liter a day or anything) because it's tasty. I'm in the "life's too short, everything in moderation" crowd on all of this.

And not to call you out Lauren, but do you still eat LCs? If you're avoiding "chemicals" like artificial sweeteners, take a look at the ingredients list of a LC. (I eat them too, but in moderation -- 2-3 a week, not one every day.) They're not the worst thing in the world, but they don't fit into "clean eating" either.

Just sayin'.

NDwife07 · February 2011

IndyGirl02:
NDwife07:

Hmmmm, I could have sworn Coke Zero had splenda - or at least it used to! Or, I'm on crack.

According to the website, it has aspartame. Is that the same as Acesulfame Potassium?

They're not the same, but Coke Zero contains both aspartame and AceK. I drink it (a couple a week, not a liter a day or anything) because it's tasty. I'm in the "life's too short, everything in moderation" crowd on all of this.

And not to call you out Lauren, but do you still eat LCs? If you're avoiding "chemicals" like artificial sweeteners, take a look at the ingredients list of a LC. (I eat them too, but in moderation -- 2-3 a week, not one every day.) They're not the worst thing in the world, but they don't fit into "clean eating" either.

Just sayin'.

I've been thinking about that - I have maybe 2 or 3 a month now, mostly because I'm doing better at cooking meals that have leftovers. I'm especially trying to avoid them now because of the sodium content, and how much I swelled up last pregnancy. I'd love to avoid that this time if I can!

Good info - thanks friends!

CiaoBella07 · February 2011

I ebb and flow with the amount of artificial sweeteners I use. I agree that I don't like them because they are fake and are essentially chemicals made to simulate real sugar, so why use them? However, I like that they don't have calories.

Lately I use sweetener in my coffee and in diet soda. I try to buy plain yogurt and sweeten it with honey and fruit, or buy yogurt that uses cane juice as a sweetener.

Amy, it's interesting that you bring up LC, because I was just thinking of that this morning! I didn't pack a lunch today because I was too lazy, and so now I will have to buy something in our cafe (likely not the best food for you). I think that Kashi makes some frozen meals that aren't bad for you, and I've heard they are pretty tasty.

And Lauren, diet coke came out with a version made with splenda a few years back. It had a realy noticeable after taste, IMO.

heatherchelle · February 2011

I try to avoid them. I'm sure I sometimes unknowingly consume them, but I check labels of products I expect them to be in.

IU_baby · February 2011

I've definitely been trying to cut back on them in general, but I still like Splenda in my coffee better than regular sugar and I like my daily Diet Coke.

The segment on the NBC news last night about it being linked to heart attack and stroke risks makes me think it's not just hype.

IndyGirl02 · February 2011

IU_baby:

The segment on the NBC news last night about it being linked to heart attack and stroke risks makes me think it's not just hype.

This is another one of those correlation vs. causation instances that, as a scientist, drive me batty. Geeked

The study found a CORRELATION between drinking diet soda every day (every day - that's a lot!) and an elevated risk for heart attack/stroke. A CORRELATION does not prove a CAUSAL relationship.

Think about the confounding variables. People who live the kind of healthy lifestyles that lead to a lower risk of cardiovascular problems are likely NOT consuming diet soda every day. People who are more likely to be consuming diet soda every day are people who are less health-conscious all around in the first place. (These two are not mutually exclusive of course, though.)

So simply saying that drinking diet soda every day = cardio problems is leaving out a lot of important info, like the other lifestyle habits of people who drink diet soda every day. You can't determine CAUSE from a statement about a CORRELATION.

(This is like the "breastfeeding makes you smarter" headline from a month or so ago, about test scores in 10 year old kids, those who were breastfed until 6 mos old v. those who were formula fed... remember talking about that on here?)

CORRELATION DOES NOT PROVE CAUSATION. But news outlets like attention-grabbing headlines.

::steps off soapbox::

SusieDMB · February 2011

I think the studies are interesting that some people thing drinking diet soda makes you crave sugar more, so you may go on a sugar binge and go eat 4 cookies. I have noticed that a lot of my friends who are thin drink regular coke--they limit it to one though.

NDwife07 · February 2011

If I understand correctly from what I heard them say in the report, the did control for other factors like weight/BMI and physical activity. They still sounded cautious about reporting the findings, but it seemed to me that it was a bit more than just a correlation (if there can even be degrees of correlation or causation).

I dunno - Amy, you'd be much better at picking apart a study like that than most. And I wonder how much info the NBC report actually gave.

arom729 · February 2011

I avoid them in everything except diet soda. And, I still have between 12-20 oz of diet soda a day even now. Somedays I don't have any, but I usually have a can of diet something with my lunch. I don't drink coffee or tea, so it makes up my limited caffeine intake, as well.

My OB said he'd prefer that everyone stayed away from diet soda in general, but that his partner (in the practice) continued to drink 3 diet cokes per day while pregnant, so I'm really not that concerned with my intake.

IndyGirl02 · February 2011

NDwife07:

If I understand correctly from what I heard them say in the report, the did control for other factors like weight/BMI and physical activity. They still sounded cautious about reporting the findings, but it seemed to me that it was a bit more than just a correlation (if there can even be degrees of correlation or causation).

I dunno - Amy, you'd be much better at picking apart a study like that than most. And I wonder how much info the NBC report actually gave.

Of course they controlled for what factors they could -- it wouldn't be a publishable study without doing so. But even when you rule out some extraneous variables, you can't control for EVERYthing -- and in this kind of study, you can only make a correlative statement, not a statement about cause. "X increases risk of Y" is a correlation... if it were causal, it would say "X causes Y," but of course these kinds of studies never say that, because they can't.

I'm not saying it's BS -- on the contrary. But I look at studies like this as simply one piece of information to be collected and considered along with other information. The media tend to report these kinds of stories as a be-all-end-all, like "Diet Coke causes strokes, stop drinking it now unless you want one!"

I dunno, I just tend to read stories like this with a big side eye, not because the science is bad, but simply because I choose not to suddenly change my opinion or my behavior regarding a mainstream food/beverage product that I use in moderation.

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