5 ms·

How brain damaged do you have to be to drink even a liter of cola per day?

msluyter 17y ago
I'm pretty brain damaged I guess. I must drink at least a 3 liter bottle of diet Coke a day, probably more. I've tried stopping at various times and it's not easy; it's a somewhat more serious addiction than a lot of people might believe, imho. The best luck I've had was with drinking coffee for the caffeine and club soda for the bubbly sensation (not simultaneously), and I managed to get away from it for a month, but I've since lapsed. Will try again upon reading this article.
- berntb 17y ago
  I personally quit when I got too much teeth problems. You might want to quit carbonated and sugared drinks before you get that incentive...
  - azanar 17y ago
    Diet sodas contain aspartame, which does not promote tooth decay. A google search will produce a number of results, with varying degrees of motivation to market aspartame, all saying pretty much the same thing. For carbonated beverages in general, the concern appears to be more about the acids in the substance than in the carbonation, at least as my limited research suggests. Some of these same acids occur in a variety of other foods as well (citric acid in citrus fruits, for instance.) Others, like phosphoric acid, which has been correlated to decreased bone density in some studies, are only in certain soft drinks. Even then, the risk is not certain. Carbonation, on it's own produces very little relative tooth decay (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water#Health_effects http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water#Health_effects). There may be other concerns worth voicing, but these seem marginal.
    - Shooter 17y ago
      I wish there was a low/no calorie sweetener that was actually safe to use. Aspartame is a carcinogen, as are most other artificial sweeteners...even Splenda contains chlorine. Aspartame also gives me migraines, so I generally stick with cane sugar or honey. Stevia, xylitol, and erythyritol have many positives, but they're pricey and often have a bad aftertaste and/or laxative effect. I'm addicted to sweet tea, but I'm trying to reduce my sugar consumption. White and green tea and fruit spritzers are the only alternatives I've found that work for me...black tea just makes me crave sugar.
      - silentbicycle 17y ago
        Municipal tap water often has chlorine, too. I'm not sure how much, and water varies from city to city, but there's often enough to affect bread rising, so it's not a completely trivial amount. At the same time, anything that gets added to tap water (to discourage micro-organisms, which of course includes yeast) is probably reasonably harmless in small quantities. As sweeteners (both artificial and real) go, I doubt there's going to be a clear view of their pros and cons in the near future -- there's way, way too much money involved. (I like honey and vanilla sugar, but try to not use too much.)
    - berntb 17y ago
      pH is still very low in light coke (which were discussed), isn't it? You get tooth damage from that. (That is why you shouldn't brush your teeth for half an hour after eating e.g. an orange.) Also, afaik the diet cokes seem to stimulate appetite (the taste promise sugar, but the body doesn't get any).
- gojomo 17y ago
  Coffee can have its own issues; I've found tea (green or black, hot or cold) and carbonated water the easiest glide-path down from periods of cola and coffee overconsumption.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
randallsquared 17y ago
How brain damaged do you have to be to suggest that brain damage accounts for people doing things they like?
- jraines 17y ago
  So if someone really likes crystal meth, is any strong metaphorical perjorative out of bounds, or just "brain damaged"?
  - randallsquared 17y ago
    I'll let the crystal meth users defend themselves. ;)
gort 17y ago
If my teeth aren't rotting (they're not) and I'm not getting fat (I'm not) then why shouldn't I? (I do.) It wasn't exactly obvious to me that it would be depleting my potassium levels. :)
- silentbicycle 17y ago
  Diabetes.
  - Shooter 17y ago
    My wife works in the medical field, and she deals with many diabetic patients. Until recently, I underestimated how horrible this disease can actually be. I knew it could be serious, but I mainly just thought about people having to watch what they eat and having to monitor their blood sugar levels. Seeing the photos of the huge, oozing wounds that never heal and hearing the stories about renal failure, blindness, and amputations have certainly made me more aware of my diet. Eating one large, high GI meal per day (as I used to do) is basically a ticket to diabetes (and probably Alzheimers, which many researchers are arguing is essentially just another type of diabetes.) I now eat 5-6 smaller meals per day, and I try to balance them and monitor the GI load. There are new studies that indicate that you can do permanent damage to your brain by eating large, sugary meals even BEFORE you have any indication that you are doing so. Some people have damaged their brains even before they register as pre-diabetic on blood tests.

I'm pretty brain damaged I guess. I must drink at least a 3 liter bottle of diet Coke a day, probably more. I've tried stopping at various times and it's not easy; it's a somewhat more serious addiction than a lot of people might believe, imho. The best luck I've had was with drinking coffee for the caffeine and club soda for the bubbly sensation (not simultaneously), and I managed to get away from it for a month, but I've since lapsed. Will try again upon reading this article.

berntb 17y ago
I personally quit when I got too much teeth problems. You might want to quit carbonated and sugared drinks before you get that incentive...
- azanar 17y ago
  Diet sodas contain aspartame, which does not promote tooth decay. A google search will produce a number of results, with varying degrees of motivation to market aspartame, all saying pretty much the same thing. For carbonated beverages in general, the concern appears to be more about the acids in the substance than in the carbonation, at least as my limited research suggests. Some of these same acids occur in a variety of other foods as well (citric acid in citrus fruits, for instance.) Others, like phosphoric acid, which has been correlated to decreased bone density in some studies, are only in certain soft drinks. Even then, the risk is not certain. Carbonation, on it's own produces very little relative tooth decay (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water#Health_effects http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water#Health_effects). There may be other concerns worth voicing, but these seem marginal.
  - Shooter 17y ago
    I wish there was a low/no calorie sweetener that was actually safe to use. Aspartame is a carcinogen, as are most other artificial sweeteners...even Splenda contains chlorine. Aspartame also gives me migraines, so I generally stick with cane sugar or honey. Stevia, xylitol, and erythyritol have many positives, but they're pricey and often have a bad aftertaste and/or laxative effect. I'm addicted to sweet tea, but I'm trying to reduce my sugar consumption. White and green tea and fruit spritzers are the only alternatives I've found that work for me...black tea just makes me crave sugar.
    - silentbicycle 17y ago
      Municipal tap water often has chlorine, too. I'm not sure how much, and water varies from city to city, but there's often enough to affect bread rising, so it's not a completely trivial amount. At the same time, anything that gets added to tap water (to discourage micro-organisms, which of course includes yeast) is probably reasonably harmless in small quantities. As sweeteners (both artificial and real) go, I doubt there's going to be a clear view of their pros and cons in the near future -- there's way, way too much money involved. (I like honey and vanilla sugar, but try to not use too much.)
  - berntb 17y ago
    pH is still very low in light coke (which were discussed), isn't it? You get tooth damage from that. (That is why you shouldn't brush your teeth for half an hour after eating e.g. an orange.) Also, afaik the diet cokes seem to stimulate appetite (the taste promise sugar, but the body doesn't get any).
gojomo 17y ago
Coffee can have its own issues; I've found tea (green or black, hot or cold) and carbonated water the easiest glide-path down from periods of cola and coffee overconsumption.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

randallsquared 17y ago

How brain damaged do you have to be to suggest that brain damage accounts for people doing things they like?

jraines 17y ago
So if someone really likes crystal meth, is any strong metaphorical perjorative out of bounds, or just "brain damaged"?
- randallsquared 17y ago
  I'll let the crystal meth users defend themselves. ;)

gort 17y ago

If my teeth aren't rotting (they're not) and I'm not getting fat (I'm not) then why shouldn't I? (I do.) It wasn't exactly obvious to me that it would be depleting my potassium levels. :)

silentbicycle 17y ago
Diabetes.
- Shooter 17y ago
  My wife works in the medical field, and she deals with many diabetic patients. Until recently, I underestimated how horrible this disease can actually be. I knew it could be serious, but I mainly just thought about people having to watch what they eat and having to monitor their blood sugar levels. Seeing the photos of the huge, oozing wounds that never heal and hearing the stories about renal failure, blindness, and amputations have certainly made me more aware of my diet. Eating one large, high GI meal per day (as I used to do) is basically a ticket to diabetes (and probably Alzheimers, which many researchers are arguing is essentially just another type of diabetes.) I now eat 5-6 smaller meals per day, and I try to balance them and monitor the GI load. There are new studies that indicate that you can do permanent damage to your brain by eating large, sugary meals even BEFORE you have any indication that you are doing so. Some people have damaged their brains even before they register as pre-diabetic on blood tests.