Wednesday, June 3, 2009

I'm (not) full of artificial sweetener

http://imway2fat.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/diet-soda-fat-man.jpg


This post - http://www.crankyfitness.com/2009/06/wait-minute-it-said-diet-soda-on-label.html - got me thinking again about artificial sweetener.

When I was a kid, my mom was always very wary of artificial sweeteners. Even in the 1980's, she was talking about how she didn't think it was healthy and was pretty much convinced it was a carcinogen. To be honest, I kind of thought she was off her rocker! Where was the scientific proof? And would the government really allow a known carcinogen to be so widely consumed without any warning label (a la cigarettes)?

But then every so often, I'd hear about a new study involving artificial sweetener, especially the now-dreaded aspartame. There were negative studies involving aspartame and rats. Then when Splenda came out, everyone was all excited because this meant you didn't need to consume aspartame. But I thought aspartame wasn't bad for me?

The real clincher for me came about 10 years ago when a second cousin of mine - in her late 30s and the vision of health - developed bone cancer. She was a beautiful, slim woman. We soon discovered that she consumed vast amounts of diet soda. She'd visit for the weekend and you'd have to buy at least a caseload. This is not even close to a scientific study, but when a healthy 30-something who drinks vast quantities of diet soda develops a fatal form of bone cancer, you begin to think about things.

I'm not much of a soda drinker and I hate fat-free, sugar-free yogurt (it's like creamy jello. Gross!), but I very, very rarely will consume artificial sweetener now. If I consume it, it's usually by accident. The jury is still out whether artificial sweetener is really that bad for one's health, but really, why even bother taking the risk?

2 comments:

  1. Amen Sister!

    Although I do love an occasional diet dr. pepper...

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  2. I think, like anything, moderation is key. I try to be moderate with my coffee consumption...with mostly unsuccessful results!

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