Overweight children are a national concern with advocates pointing the finger at sugary sodas right in schools' vending machines. Ex-President Clinton and the American Heart Association teamed up in 2006 to eliminate regular sweet sodas from schools but diet sodas are still filling the machines. Many adults have given up non-diet soft drinks too and rely on diet drinks for weight loss.
But most diet drinks contain the artificial sweetener aspartame that two biochemists say acts the same way in the blood as sugar. This claim is made in the book The Modern Nutritional Diseases by Alice and Fred Ottoboni, published by Vincente Books Incorporated in 2002. Sugar adds calories for weight gain and it also spikes blood sugar levels and that's not good.
What Does Sugar Do in the Bloodstream?
When there is too much sugar in the blood, the body responses by releasing insulin to try to keep the blood sugar (glucose) in a certain range. If drinking and eating too much sugar-filled food becomes a habit, too much insulin over time can end up as body fat and cholesterol. The Ottobonis say aspartame acts the same way in the body as sugar, negating any value for potential weight loss.
What Other Health Problems Are Linked to Aspartame?
The artificial sweetener aspartame was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for diet soft drinks in 1983, but many people repeatedly experience dizziness, headaches (including migraines), and even seizures after regular consumption of diet sodas containing aspartame. Thousands have filed complaints with the FDA.
Furthermore, even though The National Cancer Institute in 2006 cleared aspartame as a cancer risk, Russell Blaylock, M.D., who has done extensive research of aspartame, claims that the study was flawed in that people were asked to fill out a questionnaire based on memory; one of the poorest techniques of research.
In addition, The Center for Science in the Public Interest in its May 2008 Nutrition Action Health Letter noted that a recent Italian study of animals found that regular use of the artificial sweetener may increase the risk of cancer. The Center advises that aspartame is a substance that everyone should avoid.
Is Anyone Doing Anything About Aspartame?
Acknowledging thousands of consumer complaints, the states of New Mexico and Hawaii have been trying to get the chemical substance banned in their states; New Mexico failed in 2006 and Hawaii's quest is still in progress. Many experts have been trying to sound the alarm over aspartame for some time. Alternative medicine guru Andrew Weil, M.D. doesn't trust what is not known about aspartame.
What Can Replace Diet Soda?
Regular and diet sodas contain empty calories; they have no nutritional value and both actually add weight, so it's better to avoid them altogether and drink water, low-fat milk, or vegetable juice if you want to avoid weight gain and at the same time pass up other health problems.
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