7 ms·

Diet soda is either on the same level of harm as seltzer, or is worse. But I believe both to be healthier than any sugared soda. Different diet sodas use diffe

by dnhz 9y ago

Diet soda is either on the same level of harm as seltzer, or is worse. But I believe both to be healthier than any sugared soda. Different diet sodas use different artificial sweeteners, so diet soda cannot be treated as a single group. Diet Coke uses only aspartame as sweetener; Coke Zero combines aspartame and acesulfame K to create a more realistic taste. I readily believe that any diet soda sweetened purely with aspartame is harmless. The chemical structure of aspartame is such that stomach acids should break it down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol, the first two being ordinary amino acids. Methanol sounds threatening, but very little aspartame is needed to sweeten a beverage. I thus have no problem drinking diet coke. What's more unclear is whether the sugar-like taste of artificial sweeteners affect the body's blood sugar regulation.

cpncrunch 9y ago
>diet soda sweetened purely with aspartame is harmless You also have to consider other additives in the soda, such as acids that can damage your teeth, and the caffeine in diet coke.
- salvar 9y ago
  True, and even if you've removed everything and are left with water, you have to consider the possibility of drinking too much water.
craftyguy 9y ago
> stomach acids should break it down "should", but it's really hard to find reliable information as to what actually happens since the internet is filled with FUD websites claiming aspartame gave their brother/grandma/cat/chair cancer. > Methanol sounds threatening, but very little aspartame is needed to sweeten a beverage Methanol is very toxic to humans, so that's a good thing. > What's more unclear is whether the sugar-like taste of artificial sweeteners affect the body's blood sugar regulation. Why would it?
- selectodude 9y ago
  The only legitimate health risk I can ever find from criticisms of diet soda is that due to it being sweet and delicious it might make you eat more and then you’ll get fat. Which is a legitimate issue but more of a personal problem than a problem with diet soda in and of itself.
  - astura 9y ago
    If a substance significantly alters the metabolism of it's users that's not a "personal problem," it's a "side effect."
- aidenn0 9y ago
  I'm not aware of human studies, but rodent studies have shown increased glucose intolerance when fed artificial sweeteners.
  - Fnoord 9y ago
    Which artificial sweeteners? Do you have a link to the study?
    - aidenn0 9y ago
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25231862 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25231862
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
  > Why would it? I believe the theory goes something like: the taste of sweetness causes changes in the body in preparation for a carbohydrate load. How much truth there is in this claim is left as an exercise for the reader.
  - creep 9y ago
    :(
  - 9y ago
e40 9y ago
Diet soda is either on the same level of harm as seltzer, or is worse. What's wrong with seltzer?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- StavrosK 9y ago
  Nothing.
  - scottie_m 9y ago
    Not true, any carbonated beverage is acidic and not so great for your teeth. As with most things moderation is the way to go, but still, carbonated beverages are decidedly not good for you.
    - corysama 9y ago
      At what point is the only thing left to be decidedly good for you plain water? I wonder what is the pH of glass of carbonated water with a squeeze of lime?
      - scottie_m 9y ago
        That’s a good question, and if you’ll permit me, I’ll give the answer in two parts. The acidity of seltzer is roughly the acidity of orange juice, so a squirt of lime in your water is just nowhere close. It is also true that most of what we should be drinking is water. I realize that’s not the first choice for people raised on juice, milk, and soda, but it’s certainly the most healthy. Remember that I mentioned moderation though? A glass or two of OJ, lemonade, tea, coffee, or seltzer a day isn’t going to materially impact your health assuming you’re not diabetic, and practice good oral hygiene. There are also many worse things for your teeth than seltzer, such as potato chips, and poor oral hygiene. If most of what you’re drinking is water, don’t sweat the glass or two of something other than water. Unfortunately too many poeple drink very little unadulterated water, and it does impact their health. Moderation is the key.
vonmoltke 9y ago
> What's more unclear is whether the sugar-like taste of artificial sweeteners affect the body's blood sugar regulation. I would like to know what feedback path could possibly exist to enable this.
- scythe 9y ago
  Consider e.g.: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0005106 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....
aidenn0 9y ago
Aren't diet sodas much more acidic than seltzer? That could affect dental health certainly (but almost certainly less than sugared soda).
- Fnoord 9y ago
  Seltzer affects dental health.
  - aidenn0 9y ago
    I meant the increased acidity of diet soda would have different affects on dental health compared to seltzer.
simonebrunozzi 9y ago
What I've heard from a friend that supposedly knows a lot about chemistry and physics is that aspartame is very bad for your health. Unfortunately I have no other data point, but... Anyone else able to shed some light on whether aspartame is good or not?
shirakawasuna 9y ago
Aspartame has been tested like crazy and does not have any known dramatic effects on health. As you mentioned, it's very sweet per molecule, much sweeter than most other artificial / sugary sweeteners, and so you don't have to use very much. Some other artificial sweeteners, like saccharin, aren't nearly as sweet per molecule, and you have to add a lot to get the desired effect. They also have an apparent effect on glucose intolerance related to one's gut biome, and it's not due to the taste - you can transfer the biome alone between mice and get a similar impact. Example source: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13793 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13793
- totony 9y ago
  I remember researching this topic in a biochem class. Aspartame turned out to be the artificial sweetener with the most potential side effects i studied. E.g. it seems to affect brain functioning IIRC
JoshMnem 9y ago
> I readily believe that any diet soda sweetened purely with aspartame is harmless. The chemical structure of aspartame is such that stomach acids should break it down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol, the first two being ordinary amino acids. I think the article is saying that it isn't that simple, because even small amounts of certain additives can change the microbiome. More articles: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/09/17/349270927/diet-soda-may-alter-our-gut-microbes-and-the-risk-of-diabetes https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/09/17/349270927/di... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-sweeteners-may-change-our-gut-bacteria-in-dangerous-ways/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-sweete...
Nux 9y ago
They do affect the blood sugar levels, all the sweetners do, with Stevia having the least impact. At least according to a BBC documentary http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/51yxBQyvqpNYPT3PF0LGL3G/are-artificial-sweeteners-bad-for-me http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/51yxBQyvqpNYPT3PF0L...
threepipeproblm 9y ago
>> What's more unclear is whether the sugar-like taste of artificial sweeteners affect the body's blood sugar regulation. How is this unclear... every study I've seen shows that artificial sweeteners are similarly obesogenic to actual sugar. Some of them also spike blood sugar quite a bit. Several studies have also showed that artificial sweeteners change gut bacteria. One study I can't find right now showed a single dose of sucralose significantly changed gut bacteria composition. Here is an article about this concept from Sci Am https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-sweeteners-may-change-our-gut-bacteria-in-dangerous-ways/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-sweete...

by dnhz 9y ago

cpncrunch 9y ago

>diet soda sweetened purely with aspartame is harmless You also have to consider other additives in the soda, such as acids that can damage your teeth, and the caffeine in diet coke.

salvar 9y ago
True, and even if you've removed everything and are left with water, you have to consider the possibility of drinking too much water.

craftyguy 9y ago

> stomach acids should break it down "should", but it's really hard to find reliable information as to what actually happens since the internet is filled with FUD websites claiming aspartame gave their brother/grandma/cat/chair cancer. > Methanol sounds threatening, but very little aspartame is needed to sweeten a beverage Methanol is very toxic to humans, so that's a good thing. > What's more unclear is whether the sugar-like taste of artificial sweeteners affect the body's blood sugar regulation. Why would it?

selectodude 9y ago
The only legitimate health risk I can ever find from criticisms of diet soda is that due to it being sweet and delicious it might make you eat more and then you’ll get fat. Which is a legitimate issue but more of a personal problem than a problem with diet soda in and of itself.
- astura 9y ago
  If a substance significantly alters the metabolism of it's users that's not a "personal problem," it's a "side effect."
aidenn0 9y ago
I'm not aware of human studies, but rodent studies have shown increased glucose intolerance when fed artificial sweeteners.
- Fnoord 9y ago
  Which artificial sweeteners? Do you have a link to the study?
  - aidenn0 9y ago
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25231862 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25231862
TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
> Why would it? I believe the theory goes something like: the taste of sweetness causes changes in the body in preparation for a carbohydrate load. How much truth there is in this claim is left as an exercise for the reader.
- creep 9y ago
  :(
- 9y ago

e40 9y ago

Diet soda is either on the same level of harm as seltzer, or is worse. What's wrong with seltzer?

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
StavrosK 9y ago
Nothing.
- scottie_m 9y ago
  Not true, any carbonated beverage is acidic and not so great for your teeth. As with most things moderation is the way to go, but still, carbonated beverages are decidedly not good for you.
  - corysama 9y ago
    At what point is the only thing left to be decidedly good for you plain water? I wonder what is the pH of glass of carbonated water with a squeeze of lime?
    - scottie_m 9y ago
      That’s a good question, and if you’ll permit me, I’ll give the answer in two parts. The acidity of seltzer is roughly the acidity of orange juice, so a squirt of lime in your water is just nowhere close. It is also true that most of what we should be drinking is water. I realize that’s not the first choice for people raised on juice, milk, and soda, but it’s certainly the most healthy. Remember that I mentioned moderation though? A glass or two of OJ, lemonade, tea, coffee, or seltzer a day isn’t going to materially impact your health assuming you’re not diabetic, and practice good oral hygiene. There are also many worse things for your teeth than seltzer, such as potato chips, and poor oral hygiene. If most of what you’re drinking is water, don’t sweat the glass or two of something other than water. Unfortunately too many poeple drink very little unadulterated water, and it does impact their health. Moderation is the key.

vonmoltke 9y ago

> What's more unclear is whether the sugar-like taste of artificial sweeteners affect the body's blood sugar regulation. I would like to know what feedback path could possibly exist to enable this.

scythe 9y ago
Consider e.g.: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0005106 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....

aidenn0 9y ago

Aren't diet sodas much more acidic than seltzer? That could affect dental health certainly (but almost certainly less than sugared soda).

Fnoord 9y ago
Seltzer affects dental health.
- aidenn0 9y ago
  I meant the increased acidity of diet soda would have different affects on dental health compared to seltzer.

simonebrunozzi 9y ago

What I've heard from a friend that supposedly knows a lot about chemistry and physics is that aspartame is very bad for your health. Unfortunately I have no other data point, but... Anyone else able to shed some light on whether aspartame is good or not?

shirakawasuna 9y ago

Aspartame has been tested like crazy and does not have any known dramatic effects on health. As you mentioned, it's very sweet per molecule, much sweeter than most other artificial / sugary sweeteners, and so you don't have to use very much. Some other artificial sweeteners, like saccharin, aren't nearly as sweet per molecule, and you have to add a lot to get the desired effect. They also have an apparent effect on glucose intolerance related to one's gut biome, and it's not due to the taste - you can transfer the biome alone between mice and get a similar impact. Example source: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13793 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13793

totony 9y ago
I remember researching this topic in a biochem class. Aspartame turned out to be the artificial sweetener with the most potential side effects i studied. E.g. it seems to affect brain functioning IIRC

JoshMnem 9y ago

> I readily believe that any diet soda sweetened purely with aspartame is harmless. The chemical structure of aspartame is such that stomach acids should break it down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol, the first two being ordinary amino acids. I think the article is saying that it isn't that simple, because even small amounts of certain additives can change the microbiome. More articles: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/09/17/349270927/diet-soda-may-alter-our-gut-microbes-and-the-risk-of-diabetes https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/09/17/349270927/di... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-sweeteners-may-change-our-gut-bacteria-in-dangerous-ways/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-sweete...

Nux 9y ago

They do affect the blood sugar levels, all the sweetners do, with Stevia having the least impact. At least according to a BBC documentary http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/51yxBQyvqpNYPT3PF0LGL3G/are-artificial-sweeteners-bad-for-me http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/51yxBQyvqpNYPT3PF0L...

threepipeproblm 9y ago

>> What's more unclear is whether the sugar-like taste of artificial sweeteners affect the body's blood sugar regulation. How is this unclear... every study I've seen shows that artificial sweeteners are similarly obesogenic to actual sugar. Some of them also spike blood sugar quite a bit. Several studies have also showed that artificial sweeteners change gut bacteria. One study I can't find right now showed a single dose of sucralose significantly changed gut bacteria composition. Here is an article about this concept from Sci Am https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-sweeteners-may-change-our-gut-bacteria-in-dangerous-ways/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-sweete...