Diet Coke
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Aspartame has been shown to cause holes to be eaten in your brain, leading to alzheimer's, along with miscarriages and other horrible, horrible things. I have a book and when I dig it up I'll put all the things I know about it (although I'm sure you can find tons of articles online). Also, aspartame is believed to cause fat STORAGE and hunger, so while it has no calores, it may cause you to gain weight. Note how many fat people drink diet coke. Splenda (sucralose) is much better than aspartame, but still has many health risks. The sweetener in sweet n' low (sucralose) is still the safest "common" artificial sweetener. Stevia is not CURRENTLY known to cause health problems, but not much research has been done (and you can only find this in your health food stores).
Bottom line is, NEVER use aspartame, and only use other artificial sweeteners in very limited quantities. If you are aiming for optimal health, just eat a minimal amount of real sugar. You'll eat less of it because you know it has calories and it will fill you up without making you hungry later on. Or if you must have something sweet to drink, have something like grapefruit or cranberry juice that has known health benefits (any juice is better than soda, but i wouldn't drink a whole lot of juice either). Try to just drink purified water and only splurge occasionally. Those few calories from sugar every once in a while won't hinder your performance!
Bottom line is, NEVER use aspartame, and only use other artificial sweeteners in very limited quantities. If you are aiming for optimal health, just eat a minimal amount of real sugar. You'll eat less of it because you know it has calories and it will fill you up without making you hungry later on. Or if you must have something sweet to drink, have something like grapefruit or cranberry juice that has known health benefits (any juice is better than soda, but i wouldn't drink a whole lot of juice either). Try to just drink purified water and only splurge occasionally. Those few calories from sugar every once in a while won't hinder your performance!
There is a pretty constant debate about whether or not Aspartame will have any negative side effects. As karl says, moderation is probably the best bet. Chanel, I think you are going to be hard pressed to find actual and credible scientific studies to back up any of the claims you have made about the possible things Aspartame has been "shown to cause". There are a lot of myths and lot of loose talk on this subject being tossed around without any backing.
This is not to say that I suggest Aspartame is some miracle sweetener or anything like that, but both FDA and the CDC have extensively looked into these types of claims made about the side effects of Aspartame and have not found any facts that indicate any serious health risks. It's not a great idea to tout panic-driven suspicions as fact - or to bother believing it as such - unless you have some type of cedible scientific study to back this data up.
That being said, Chanel and aevans are both 100% correct, nothing can replace water and wherever possible this should be your drink of choice before anything with artificial sweeteners (or anything else that completely lacks any nutritional value). Juice is also good (again, like everything else in life, in moderation). The jury is still out and studies are still being conducted to determine any long term risks from artificial sweeteners, so do yourself a favor and error on the side of caution and use these products in moderation, but feel free to not flee screaming at the sight of them also.
This is not to say that I suggest Aspartame is some miracle sweetener or anything like that, but both FDA and the CDC have extensively looked into these types of claims made about the side effects of Aspartame and have not found any facts that indicate any serious health risks. It's not a great idea to tout panic-driven suspicions as fact - or to bother believing it as such - unless you have some type of cedible scientific study to back this data up.
That being said, Chanel and aevans are both 100% correct, nothing can replace water and wherever possible this should be your drink of choice before anything with artificial sweeteners (or anything else that completely lacks any nutritional value). Juice is also good (again, like everything else in life, in moderation). The jury is still out and studies are still being conducted to determine any long term risks from artificial sweeteners, so do yourself a favor and error on the side of caution and use these products in moderation, but feel free to not flee screaming at the sight of them also.
If Aspartame causes holes in your brain, then mine must look like swiss cheese! I eat so many packets of Equal a day...in my coffee, tea, lemon water...even on grapefruit!
i try not to drink coke because when i see look at the labels all i see are sugars