Does Diet Pepsi Have Aspartame?

WHO's cancer research agency to say aspartame sweetener a possible carcinogen -sources

The World Health Organization (WHO) agency International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is set to declare the artificial sweetener aspartame a "possible carcinogen" in July. This means aspartame may potentially increase cancer risk based on published studies, though it does not determine a safe intake level. Aspartame is used in many drinks and foods like Diet Coke, chewing gum, and Snapple. While IARC rulings raise consumer concerns, they only assess hazard, not risk. Other WHO experts determine safe intake levels which inform regulations.The IARC ruling will put pressure on food companies to reformulate products.The IARC decision comes as another WHO committee reviews aspartame this year to determine a safe intake level. The committees' findings will be released together on July 14, potentially creating confusion for the public about aspartame's safety. Critics argue IARC rulings on potential carcinogens can be misleading without accompanying safe intake guidance.

Diet Pepsi does contain aspartame, which is an artificial sweetener. Here are some details:

• Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that is about 200 times sweeter than sugar. It is often used as a sugar substitute in reduced-calorie and "diet" foods and drinks.

• Diet Pepsi has been made with aspartame since the early 1980s when it was first approved for use as a food additive.

• Aspartame breaks down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol in the body. There have been questions raised about the safety of aspartame, especially for people with the rare genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU).

• While aspartame is considered safe and approved by the FDA and other regulatory agencies worldwide, some studies have suggested possible links to health issues like headaches, seizures or certain cancers. However, the evidence is mixed and most major health organizations consider aspartame an acceptable sugar substitute.

• Some people choose to avoid aspartame due to the inconclusive research and some reports of side effects in sensitive individuals. If you want to avoid aspartame, you should check labels carefully or choose alternatives to diet soda.

So in summary, yes Diet Pepsi does contain aspartame as an artificial sweetener. Aspartame has been studied extensively but questions remain about its possible long-term health effects, especially at high levels of consumption. It is up to you to decide if you are comfortable consuming products made with aspartame based on the available research and your personal health objectives.

More on this topic here

Diet Soday May Cause Stroke and Dementia

 

According to a new study consuming diet sodas may result to higher risk of stroke and dementia. Drinks with artificial sweeteners like diet sodas are linked to higher risk of stroke and dementia according to the study, which published in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke on Thursday.

However, the researchers failed to determine an actual cause-and-effect relationship between consuming artificially sweetened drinks and an increased risk for stroke and dementia. Therefore, some experts caution that the findings should be interpreted carefully.

No connection was found between those health risks and other sugary beverages, such as sugar-sweetened sodas, fruit juice and fruit drinks.

"We have little data on the health effects of diet drinks and this is problematic because diet drinks are popular amongst the general population," said Matthew Pase, a senior research fellow in the department of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine and lead author of the new study.
"More research is needed to study the health effects of diet drinks so that consumers can make informed choices concerning their health," he said.

The new study involved data on 2,888 adults older than 45 and 1,484 adults older than 60 from the town of Framingham, Massachusetts. The data came from the Framingham Heart Study, a project of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Boston University.

The American Beverage Association was quick to defend diet drinks.

“Low-calorie sweeteners have been proven safe by worldwide government safety authorities as well as hundreds of scientific studies and there is nothing in this research that counters this well-established fact,” it said in a statement. It added:

    While we respect the mission of these organizations to help prevent conditions like stroke and dementia, the authors of this study acknowledge that their conclusions do not — and cannot — prove cause and effect.






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Diet Drinks Declining Sales

A Coke advertisement defends the safety of its diet drinks.

The company is faced with declining sales of its sugary and non-sugary drinks has plans to educate the consumers about its diet drinks products particulary about the safety of artificial sweetener "aspartame." "The safety of aspartame is supported by more than 200 studies over the last 40 years," the ad assures consumers.

Sales of diet soft drinks are falling at a faster rate than regular soft drinks in the U.S., according to Beverage Digest. Last year, for example, sales volume for Coke fell 1%, while Diet Coke fell 3%. Pepsi fell 3.4%, while Diet Pepsi fell 6.2%.

The decline in sales is because of negative news about these artificial sweeteners and that no-calorie sweeteners may not help your diet and instead could boost your risk for diabetes, heart disease and extra pounds.

The Food and Drug Administration approved six non-nutritive sweeteners for use in foods and drinks:

aspartame - NutraSweet, Equal
sucralose - Splenda, Nevella
acesulfame potassium - Sunett, Sweet One
saccharin - Sweet'N Low, Sugar Twin
rebaudioside A (stevia extract) - Truvia, PureVia
neotame - used in commercial food products

Despite being approved by FDA everynow and then a research pop-up about the dangers of these sweeteners. The latest study say that artificially sweetened drinks are associated with weight gain in adults and teens, and raise risk for diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

Their reason why artificial sweeteners may trigger weight gain is that if you are given a brownie made with artificial sweetener you are more likely to eat two or three brownies simply because you do not feel they are as bad for you. Sugar-free foods still contain calories in the form of carbohydrates, protein, and or fat. Certain studies have shown that the caloric consumption of foods sweetened with artificial sweetener is similar to that of foods sweetened with sugar, meaning you will not be cutting calories by simply switching to artificial sweetener.

Another thing is compensation, people tend to justify rewarding themself a second slice of pie because you've eliminated hundreds of calories by choosing diet beverages.

Another research says artificial sweeteners flood your taste buds with sweet flavors but don't give your satisfaction centers in your brain the way real sweets do which cause cravings to build.

Artificial sweeteners also may increase your body's response to real sugars and carbohydrates that spike the levels of blood sugar that link them to metabolic syndrome, prediabetes and diabetes. But there are still no slam dunk research that can directly link artificial sweeteners to weight gain, risk for diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.