DIEt Sodas...

Have you ever noticed the irony in diet soda? In particular, pay closer attention to the first three letters: "DIE-". Hmm...indeed.

Did you know that people who drink diet sodas to lose weight, actually tend to gain weight!? Aspartame is one of those food industry inventions we should have known was too good to be true. A sweet taste, with no calories, that will allow us to consume sweets without the added guilt or damage to our waist lines...who doesn't wish that was actually possible? But, aspartame is actually linked to over 92 adverse health effects.

What is Aspartame?
You probably already know, aspartame is an artificial sweetener known as NutraSweet, Equal, Sweet One or Spoonful, and it's used in a variety of foods from diet soda, gum, candy, and vitamins.

But, did you know it can be hidden in foods under the name acesulfame potassium. It's composed of 3 main chemical ingredients: phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol.

Phenylalanine is an amino acid that can be toxic in high doses. Just one diet soda raises the level of phenylalanine in the brain, causing serotonin levels to decrease and may lead to depression. Phenylalanine has been found to be higher in people with cancer.

Aspartic acid is a non-essential amino acid that can over stimulate neurons, causing them to die. It can also cause an amino acid imbalance in the brain. Although phenylalanine and aspartic acid are both amino acids found naturally in foods, they are not meant to be consumed individually and in these particular ratios. The fact that they are separated from food and other naturally occurring amino acids is what leads to the unexpected health consequences seen with aspartame consumption.

Methanol is a type of alcohol that is metabolized into the neurotoxin formaldehyde. It can interfere with DNA formation and lead to birth defects, like spina bifida.

Aspartame and Weight Gain?
Aspartame can stimulate your appetite and increase cravings for carbohydrates. The calorie "savings" from consuming foods sweetened with aspartame ends up not saving you anything due to the increase in appetite and therefore calorie consumption.

The MESA study evaluated the effect of diet soda consumption on rates of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes in over 6,000 participants. It was found that the consumption of just one diet soda per day significantly increased the risk for increased waist circumference and elevated fasting glucose. Both of these are precursors to diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Aspartame and Illness
In my practice, I have seen a high correlation with aspartame and migrane headaches. Excitotoxins like aspartame, MSG and soy are actually a major culprit common to many headache suffers (See Dr. Russell Blaylock's papers, books and extensive studies).

The list of medical conditions linked to aspartame consumption is extensive and includes:

anxiety
depression
short term memory loss
multiple sclerosis
fibromyalgia
hearing loss
weight gain
fatigue
brain tumors
Although these illnesses may not all be caused directly by aspartame consumption, they may exacerbate the symptoms. Aspartame can aslo increase risk of strokes and cancer.

Overall, limit or eliminate your consumption of aspartame. Instead of aspartame as a sweetener choose raw local honey, raw coconut nectar, or natural stevia.

Further, two recently peer reviewed studies strongly correlate with the statement, "Stay away from diet drinks and aspartame!"

Study 1:

Diet Soft Drink Consumption is Associated with an Increased Risk of

Vascular Events in the Northern Manhattan Study

Journal of General Internal Medicine

January 27, 2012 [epub]

KEY POINTS FROM THIS STUDY:

1) This is the first study to examine the association between diet soft drink

consumption and incident combined vascular events, including stroke.

2

2) The association between sugar-sweetened soft drinks and obesity, insulin

sensitivity, and hypertension may be attributed to their high calorie and sugar load,

and lack of nutrients.

3) "Artificially-sweetened 'diet' soft drinks have been marketed as healthier

alternatives due to their lack of calories. However, recent studies suggested that

diet soft drink consumption may also be associated with health consequences,

particularly type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome, risk factors for

cardiovascular disease, ischemic stroke, and all-cause mortality."

4) "Frequent diet soft drink consumption was uniquely associated with white

race, former smoking, hypertension, elevated blood sugar, lower HDL, elevated

triglycerides, increased waist circumference, BMI, peripheral vascular disease,

previous cardiac disease, and the metabolic syndrome."

5) "Frequent regular soft drink consumption was uniquely associated with male

sex, black race, current smoking, carbohydrate consumption, greater diastolic BP,

and lower prevalences of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia."

6) "We found no association between regular soft drink consumption and risk of

combined vascular events, adjusting for demographic and vascular risk factors."

7) "Those who drank diet soft drinks daily had a 43% increased risk of vascular

events as compared to those who did not drink diet soft drinks." The data of this

study also tended to show that the more diet sodas consumed per day the greater

the incidence of vascular events.

8) "Light diet soft drink users did not have a significantly increased risk of

vascular events."

9) "Daily diet soft drink consumption was associated with a 66% increased risk

of myocardial infarction as compared to no diet soft drink consumption." [The

greatest risk from daily consumption of diet sodas was heart attack].

10) When the authors excluded all participants who were obese, with a history of

diabetes or metabolic syndrome, there was a "57% increased risk of vascular

events among those who consumed regular soft drinks daily, and a 59% increased

risk among those who consumed diet soft drinks daily." [This means that even

if you are healthier, either daily consumption of regular sodas or diet

sodas are bad for you].

11) "After controlling for these potential confounders, daily diet soft drink

consumption at baseline was associated with an increased risk for vascular events

during follow-up."

12) There is substantial literature on the negative health consequences of the

consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.

13) This study agrees with previous studies that have shown an association

between diet soft drink consumption and metabolic syndrome.

14) Diet sodas are significantly associated with elevated blood glucose levels,

increased waist circumference and metabolic syndrome. [Ironically, people

consume diet sodas precisely to avoid these problems].

15) "The health consequences associated with regular soft drink consumption may

be attributed to its high caloric content, glycemic load and consequential

inflammatory responses, and added sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup,

which may increase the risk of vascular disease due to its association with blood

uric acid levels and triacylglycerol concentrations."

16) Studies show that consumption of artificially sweetened drinks is associated

with gaining weight.

17) Consumption of artificial sweeteners may weaken the ability to anticipate the

caloric content of foods, leading to increased food intake and gain in body weight.

18) "The caramel coloring of both diet and regular soft drinks may contribute to

increased levels of proinflammatory advanced glycation end products."

[Caramel colored sodas in and of themselves are bad for you].

COMMENTS FROM THIS STUDY:

Sugar sodas are bad for you. This study shows that diet sodas are not healthier

than sugar sodas; diet sodas significantly increase the risk of vascular events,

especially for heart attacks. Caramel coloring in any soda, sugar or diet, adds to the

soda's unhealthy risks.

Study 2:

Fueling the Obesity Epidemic?

Artificially Sweetened Beverage Use and Long-term Weight Gain

Obesity

August 2008, Vol. 16, No. 8; pp. 1894-1900

1) "Over 6,000 products- including foods, beverages, cosmetics, and

pharmaceuticals- contain aspartame alone."

2) These authors assessed long-term weight change among participants in the

San Antonio Heart Study who use AS products compared with those who did not.

3) During the past 30 years, people have increasingly turned to artificially

sweetened (AS) foods and beverages in an attempt to lose weight or control it.

4) Manufacturer's messages and conventional wisdom suggests that use of AS

products would enhance weight loss or prevent further gain.

5) Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was 75% less in ASB users

compared to nonusers.

6) "Percent of calories from protein, total fat, and saturated fat were significantly

higher in AS users." [Suggesting appetite control damage]

7) Dieting rates about the same in both groups.

8) The researchers adjusted the ORs for baseline BMI, age, ethnicity, gender,

education, socioeconomic index, baseline and interim change in exercise frequency, baseline smoking status, and interim smoking cessation.

9) Overall, obesity "showed significant dose-response relationships with ASB

consumption."

10) For each AS beverage consumed, users experienced significantly higher

increase in BMI.

11) "Several studies have described increased appetite, hunger, and food

consumption following AS exposure."

12) Other studies show that the incidence of metabolic syndrome increases with

increased diet soda consumption (by 34% to 53%). "Increased incidence of

metabolic syndrome has been observed among AS users in two major observational studies."

13) The authors suggest that because AS are 180-13,000 times sweeter than

sugar, their consumption leads to "taste distortion," increasing appetite for

intensely sweet, highly caloric foods. "AS use-or sweet taste itself-may increase

hunger, cravings, or food intake."

14) Studies have shown that AS cause elevated insulin levels. [Important: Gary

Taubes (Good Calories Bad Calories {2008}, Why We Get Fat {2011},

Newsweek May 14 2012 "The New Obesity Campaigns Have It All Wrong")

notes that elevated insulin levels upregulates the enzyme lipoprotein

lipase which opens the door to the fat cell, increasing fat storage]

15) Aspartame is 40% aspartate. Aspartate is toxic to neurons in the arcuate

nucleus of the hypothalamus. The arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus is a key

site for leptin signaling. Leptin signaling in the arcuate nucleus of the

hypothalamus instructs us to reduce food intake. The earlier the exposure to excess

aspartate, the more profound the damage to the arcuate nucleus. [Byron

Richards (The Leptin Diet {2006}) notes that the hormone leptin is key for

turning off our hunger so that we stop eating]

16) Animal experiments show that in utero exposure to aspartate produces

offspring obesity and causes severe loss of neurons in the arcuate nucleus.

17) The authors suggest that aspartame exposure may cause neurotoxicity with

increased leptin resistance and obesity.

18) "We observed a classic, positive dose-response relationship between AS

beverage consumption and long-term weight gain."

19) "Are ASs fueling-rather than fighting-the very epidemic they were designed

to block?" These authors suggest the answer is "yes."

20) "These results, together with findings of increased lymphoma and leukemia in

young rodents exposed to aspartame, should be carefully considered when policy

recommendations to deter the development of obesity in children and adolescents

are being formulated-particularly those recommending increased AS consumption."

Lessons Learned

*Even though it has no calories, aspartame is more harmful than sugar.
*Aspartame is made up of three highly toxic chemicals.
*Consuming diet beverages, sweetened with aspartame, can lead to weight gain.
*Several medical conditions have been linked to aspartame consumption from cancer, birth defects, stroke, and autoimmune disease.