nutrasweet and diet soda a neurotoxin - new study and article

[mouser]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/business/yourmoney/12sweet.html

nytimes requires a free signup.

(see here for summary: http://susiemadrak.com/2006/02/12/16/12/not-so-sweet-news/)

this is kind of big deal, and i'm off diet soda after this, at least on any regular basis - i've decided the risk is to high for my comfort.

[Rover]

@mouser:  FYI the 2nd link didn't work for me... 403 error.

[Rover]

While I appreciate the information, I'm not sure what to do with it anymore.

Way back in the 1970's we learned about Red Dye #2 and all of it's cancer causing effects.  Prodcuts disappeared off of the shelves to be destroyed.  Red M&M's were MIA for many years.  Suddenly saccharine and 1/2 the worlds products (slight exaggeration) were found to cause cancer... at least in rats.

"Latest breaking news: Gov't reports on cancer causing agents found to cause cancer." 

A few years ago I heard that most of the hype around red dye #2 and saccharine was bogus.  Turns out that the rats used in the dye #2 test were prone to cancer anyway, so the test didn't prove anything.  It's been rumored for years that Nutrasweet was more dangerous in other ways than saccharine ever dreamed of being.  It was interesting to see how fast this new "wonder product" made it thru FDA testing... almost like it was ready to go before the saccharine downfall.  (What exactly is nutritional about this stuff?  I think the name is way misleading too).

Anyway, with all of this seeming mis-information, we add MSG to the mix as the nicotine for food.  What can I eat anymore?

Everyone who produces one of these reports has an agenda.  Who is behind this one?

Again, thanks for sharing; I just don't know who to listen to anymore.

[taichimaster]

The research found that the sweetener was associated with unusually high rates of lymphomas, leukemias and other cancers in rats that had been given doses of it starting at what would be equivalent to four to five 20-ounce bottles of diet soda a day for a 150-pound person.

Oh my, thanks for sharing.  I hope the study is flawed as I regularly consume 3-4 cans of diet soda every day (since they have them for free at work).

[allen]

While I appreciate the information, I'm not sure what to do with it anymore.

I won't even go into the back and forth about eggs being good for you/bad for you/good for you/ bad...

Here's the honest to god truth: anything you introduce into your body is a foreign mass.  Everything you insert into your body has the potential to help and the potential to hurt.  Almost everything inserted into your body does, in fact, help in some ways while hurting others--though there are things that swing one way or the other.  Unfortunately, while science tries to predict precisely which side of hurt/heal things are on, they'll almost always end up changing their mind.

So, don't worry about it.  I can say with a decent degree of certainty that, either way, you'll eventually find yourself dead -- but, that's ok.  It's inevitable.  Chances are, you won't die of what you think you will, either.  Spend your whole life avoiding eggs and cancer agents . . . and get sideswiped by a truck.  You just never know.

Best bet: Worry less, take nutricional science with a grain of salt (They're in the pockets of their financers anyway) and don't forget to floss.

[mrainey]

As far as I know, everybody agrees that Splenda is safe, plus it tastes fine.  Splenda is in one of the Pepsi diet colas, and maybe some others.

[allen]

As far as I know, everybody agrees that Splenda is safe, plus it tastes fine.  Splenda is in one of the Pepsi diet colas, and maybe some others.

We all had to know it was coming . . . recent research says otherwise regarding splenda being a healthy alternative sweetner.  Risks including prolonged pregnancy, low birth weight, failed pregnancy, liver/kidney damage, depression . . .

. . . and some interesting info.

Nothing is safe

[mrainey]

I get my food safety info primarily from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).  They're an extremely skeptical outfit, and very much oriented toward consumer safeguards and truth in labeling.

This is clearly an area, like politics and religion, where people have wide differences of opinion.




http://www.cspinet.org/new/200502141.html

Today we're talking about Splenda, which contains the artificial sweetener sucralose. The product itself appears to be safe. Unlike sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, it is low in calories and does not promote tooth decay.



http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm

Approved in the United States in 1998, sucralose — marketed as Splenda — is used in soft drinks, baked goods, ice cream, sweetener packets, and other products. It previously had been used in Canada, Europe, and elsewhere. Sucralose is safer than saccharin, acesulfame-K, and cyclamate. The manufacturer, McNeil Nutritionals, advertises Splenda as being "made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar." That statement may be literally true, but is misleading. In fact, the sweetener is a synthetic chemical that is made by chemically reacting sugar (sucrose) with chlorine. However, just because it is synthetic does not mean it is unsafe.

[allen]

Those sources don't say much, though. "Seems" unsafe and "Just because it's synthetic doesn't mean it's unsafe" don't terrify me, but they don't do much by way of lending me confidence either.

If I really cared about these things, I personally wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket -- or rely on one source.  Usually the truth lies somewhere between the two extreme views, very seldom absolutely on one side or the other.

[housetier]

I eat want I want to eat.

If you "listen" to your body, it will tell you what it needs. That's what we have appetite for. On rare occasions I ind myself picturing pineapples or bananas; there is something in these fruits my body cannot get elsewhere. Same happens with eggs: every once in a while I fix myself a rather large serving of scrambled eggs (with all kids of yummy seasoning and addons and...). After eating that I feel very fine again.

I had to train myself to listen to my body more. Most people mistake hunger for thirst; while there are fluids in most foods and the feeling goes away ater having eaten something, a cup/glass of <your favorite liquid> would have helped also and reduced calory intake at the same time. (wow complicated sentence, I hope I correctly came out of that mess) People can learn to only eat what they need and want, and not what they are used to. Basically I want to encourage people to eat anything and everything they want, as long as they make a concious decision and then enjoy it.

Eating is fun, you should enjoy it. It is not about guilt, about feeling bad afterwards. Media coverage in the past has been vey confusing, even contradicting:

...I just don't know who to listen to anymore.

It's time to go back to enjoying food and eating, not thinking about all the (bad) consequences but to make a conscious decision: "I want to eat that and I want to enjoy it." Once you get to that point, your life will have become easier; you will less to worry about.

I hope I could make my points clear...

[mouser]

i agree we need to learn to "listen to our bodies" but some of our bodies are telling us to eat m+m's all day..

[housetier]

I'd say that's the habitual part of the brain sending strong signals.

[brotherS]

Kinda related:

Traces of a carcinogenic chemical have been found in soft drinks at eight times the level permitted in drinking water, it was revealed last night. There is a legal limit of one part per billion of benzene in British drinking water. The latest tests revealed levels of up to eight parts per billion in some soft drinks

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2065539,00.html

[mouser]

fool your body into eating healthy food: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20041210-000010.html

[mouser]

another study showing soda might be dangerous for your health

http://www.alternet.org/story/33380/

Soda has already been linked with weight gain and cavities; now the FDA admits that some popular soft drinks could contain a carcinogen. Will the fizz finally go flat?

[allen]

Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool.  Newsflash: Operating a motor vehicle may be hazardous to your health.  Sleeping under a roof on a shifting continent may be hazardous.  Air may contain unhealthy chemicals.  Bathing in water may result in drowning . . .