/ck/ - Food & Cooking

There are no "bad" health effects from ingesting sugar substitutes. Aspartame, ace-K, stevia, et al. are harmless, despite what some psychotic health-nuts and the general populace might imagine.

Soda has varying levels of acidity - coke and other cola-like sodas can wreck havoc on your enamel if you drink it a lot; root beer is the easiest on your teeth. That's about the only issue with diet soda, and even then, you'd have to drink a shitload and have poor oral hygiene to get into "bad for you" territory.

Some people claim they encourage you to eat more sugar/calories afterward, since you're tricking your body into thinking that it's getting calories when it isn't. This is bullshit.

Diet Coke/Diet Pepsi is the only soda I drink. I actually don't like regular coke or pepsi. I drink like 3 cans a day and I've never had a cavity in my life.

basically it's the everything gives you cancer mentality.

the long and short of it is that these artificial sweeteners are tested for short-term negative effects before approval by the FDA/other regulatory agencies, but not for long-term detrimental effects. After the products have been on the market for enough years, independent research tends to look at these effects in longitudinal studies. Usually these studies find things that are less than positive.

Are you going to get cancer from drinking a diet coke? No.

Are aspartame and sucralose completely benign substances? Also, no. There are definitely much worse things out there for you and the research on their exact effects on metabolism, overall health, and cancer risk over prolonged usage is still in its infancy, so we have to take all current studies with a grain of salt until enough replications have been done to declare a consensus.

>>4226974
This.
Have a couple of cans per week and you should be ok.

But remember, your body needs water, so drink that shit.

>>4226974

Agreed, I err on the side of caution. And if I want to drink a soda, I drink a goddamned soda.

>>4226937
>Every damn time I go to drink some people
they've already won by making you care

>>4226937
>mfw people tell me diet soda is bad for me
>as they eat a bag of chips/cookies/some other sugar laden thing

everything in moderation. like >>4226974 said, longitudinal research is costly and difficult to extract direct cause-and-effect. kind of funny, since so many aspects of our modern lifestyle have only been introduced in the past 20 or so years, not even long enough for a young generation to start dying off. god knows the amount of shit we're doing now that'll be declared indisputably unsound in the not-too-distant future.

people freak out about everything--lots of barely-educated hippies assume they'll literally be guaranteed brain cancer from using cell phones. lots of bloggers take it upon themselves to spread folk science and cure-all remedies.

>>4227797
You're acting like ones worse than the other. Theyre both equally bad but id rather eat actual sugar and exibit self control and moderation than binge on fake sugar because it's 0kcal and therefore must be "healthy". On that note, anyone else ever notice how it's always the fatties consuming all this diet low fat faddy bullshit?

>>4227891
>they're both equally bad

When I'm at 15% bodyfat and they're a fat fuck no, they really have no room to talk.

>>4227348
>But remember, your body needs water, so drink that shit.

Implying that any flavoured beverage you imbibe does not contain water.

>>4227891
Yeah nah, I'm a physique competitor and hover between 6-10% bf and I enjoy a diet coke every now and then. It's just the fatties who boast about it.

>what the hell's the problem with it
it tastes like shit

>>4226964
yeah except for the fact that longterm effects are unknown and it actually does make you wanna consume more calories http://www.time.com/time/health/arcle/0,8599,1711763,00.html
also OP the acid in most soft drinks (caused by mostly the carbonate but sometimes also added acids) causes your blood acidity to rise and over a longer period of time and leads to osteoporosis and kidney malfunctions. the pH of diet drinks is higher than of other soft drinks consequently increasing the rate at which it affects your body. furthermore diet drinks have less electrolytes than other ones, consequently making less effective in hydrating your body. in addition it is a scientific fact (fucking google it) that sugar substitues have the capacity to turn into neurotoxins if they are not cooled properly (this means anything warmer than a fridge)- these WILL cause cancer. hope your question is answered.

>>4227913
Also contains sugar and flavouring. Straight water is better for you.

I hear tell that drinking diet soda with booze gets you drunk faster than regular soda

Just a fun fact

Drank around 64 fl oz of Diet Coke Caffeine Free each week for the past two years. Cutting calories and such. No side effects and did blood work not so long ago and 100% healthy including liver and lung test. No cancer in my family as far as I know of.

I drink it for that nice tingle in the back of your throat when you take a nice big gulp. Pretty much what cocaine does for cokeheads is what diet caffeine free coke does for me. I need that tingle fix.

>>4227913
0/10, or you are just an idiot

I always found it fascinating that diet sodas make you want to consume more calories.

This result of some studies just prove that people are dumb and have no control over their bodies. Hell, just watching a good cooking show makes me want to consume more calories, but it doesn't mean I will.

>mfw Americans put sugar in their diet coke
lol

>>4226964
>>4227943
>http://www.time.com/time/health/aicle/0,8599,1711763,00.html
and as a superpretentious nutrition bachelor I can tell you this isn't total bullshit, it still requires more hard evidence to be spread as common fact, but stuff in article has come up a few times in my academic career

>>4227913
>using the word imbibe to sound more intelligent and thus win an internet argument
>shiggs

What's the difference between American normal coke and diet coke? Your normal coke isn't made with real sugar anyway, so what's special about diet?

In Europe normal coke is made with real sugar and diet is made without sugar.

Diet coke is great for oral hygiene as it denies your oral commensual bacteria the sugars they would readily find in regular soft drinks.

That being said, they put a pretty big strain on your kidneys.

>high fructore corn syrup: 55% fructose 45% glucose
>table sugar: 50% fructose 50% glucose
>hfcs designed to replace table sugar
>superior to table sugar
>indulgent americans getting diabetes and heart disease from gorging on sweets
>blame innocent HFCS while table sugar grins on every dinner's table
>rise of sugar alternatives
>sugar still grinning

>>4228062
normal coke is normal and diet coke mimics normal coke but doesn't have the same sugar sweetness, but still is sweet. lower calories unless you get coke zero.

In all honesty i've come to like the taste more than regular soda. However i'm sure the whole world would disagree with me on this

>>4228084

Sugar we use is not glucose nor fructose. It is pure sucrose.

>>4228062
Here in America our beef lasagna is made with beef

in Europe it is made with horse meat, even though it's labeled beef

>>4228112
In sucrose, the components glucose and fructose are linked via an ether bond between C1 on the glucosyl subunit and C2 on the fructosyl unit. The bond is called a glycosidic linkage.

>>4228118

Not even clever.

>>4228112
Let us know when you pass third grade.

OP, the problem with diet soda is that it tastes like shit. So does most normal soda. If you want to drink sugar water, get some juice.

>>4228121

Speaking of sugar substitutes, what does /ck/ think of erythritol? It's a zero-calories sweetener that has been proven to have dental benefits like xylitol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythtol

The deal is that if you live in a warm place (or your soda is distributed from a warm place) Then the Aspartame can convert to either Arsenic or Cyanide (both are very poisonous... I just can't remember which one it becomes) when the temperature rises above 88F. Which in a Mack Truck isn't that hot, and these sodas are shipped unrefrigerated, stored unrefrigerated, and sold unrefrigerated. Granted it has about as much risk of hurting you as apple seeds if you drink in moderation, but people hear Cyanide and run like hell.

I have no problem with other sugar substitutes, but they do get your body to craving calories so you need to have discipline to not go chow down on a candy bar or a bag of chips after you've gotten your sweet fix. I personally just keep whole wheat snacks (like whole wheat sesame melba snacks) on hand for when I just HAVE to eat something after an artificially sweetened whatever.

If you're really worried about try soda sweetened with Agave. It's natural and calorie free.

>>4228190
agave is not calorie free, I don't know about the rest of your claims because I don't care.

>>4228190
>syrup
>calorie free

>>4228205
Crap I meant Stevia.

Boo! Ultra fail on me lol!

>>4228190
>It's natural and calorie free

It really isn't. 1 tablespoon has about 60 calories. Sugar has 45 calories per tablespoon.

>>4228190
>It's natural and calorie free

It really isn't, it has more calories than both sugar AND HFCS. 1 tablespoon has about 60 calories. Sugar has 45 calories per tablespoon, HFCS has 53.

>>4228223
Ah! I'm aware of Stevie, but not entirely familiar with it.

>>4228003
>mfw they sue when the bubbles hurt their tongues
>mfw they sue for even more when they get fat from eating fat

>>4228244
>mfw they sue the mobility scooter company for encourgaing them to get fat

>been on /ck/ for about a month
>read the responses in this thread
>mfw I've concluded that the majority of this board is fat as fatass

Cya.

>>4228278
nope, just American and angry. Ever so angry.

>>4228284
There are no Americans ITT, it's morning there they're all working hard to contribute to sociaAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

There was something on a document on tv some days ago about these sugar substitutes, they said stuff how your brain and you wont get that same feeling of being full/satisfied from sugar substitutes which in turn can make you drink more of them+eat more food in general because you dont get that satisfied feeling from it.

No idea if it's scientifically proven and shit but something to think off atleast.

>>4228287
>mfw they sue their jobs for not working hard enough

>>4228298
It's funny 'cause it's true.
>>4226937
Diet pop is not healthy for you, food substitutes never are. With that said, regular soda is not good for you either. Drink fruit juice and/or water, stop eating fake shit you fatass.

>>4226937
I learned it kills brain cells and gives you that buzz and full fulfilling feeling.
And it can cause blindness as well.

Lets brush up on some things

>soda in general is terrible for your health( i like it though)
>diet soda has certain ingredients that has some side effects just like with regular soda
>12oz+ is not suitable for drinking and having a small gut
>Japan has smaller portion beverages and food

Drinking diet coke is a pleasure just like regular soda since it does not offer any benefits.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsle/2011/aug/22/should-i-give-up-fzy-drinks

diet pop isn't GOOD for you but it's certainly not worse than the regular version. i tend to choose diet versions when i can because i find the kind of "heavy" sweetness of regular pop overwhelming after not very long. (i know aspartme and saccharin are sweeter than real sugar but for some reason i find it really sickly in drinks)

drink on, OP, in moderation

I only drink water. The tap water here is better than most bottled water, comes directly from a mountain spring.