It is known already that aspartame ingestion leads to consumption of more calories in general, and more carbohydrates. Aspartame is known to cause weight gain, ironic since it is hyped as a "diet drink".
So now they are finding aspartame is also linked to depression? Why am I not surprised? It is a neurotoxin.
They're talking about sugary drinks, not aspartame. BTW, aspartame is two amino acids -- that's all.
EDIT: Whoops, you're right!
"And all that extra sugar isn't the actual problem: The research showed that low-calorie diet sodas, iced teas, and fruit punches were linked to an slightly higher risk of depression than the high-calorie stuff. Researchers say that the artificial sweetener aspartame may be to blame."
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2013 09:03PM by Makurosu.
About the author: Ethan Evers is author of the award-winning medical thriller "The Eden Prescription," in which cutting-edge researchers perfect an effective, all-natural treatment for cancer, only to be hunted down by pharmaceutical interests which will stop at nothing to protect their $80 billion cancer drug cash machine.
Really, Mak? You're going to attack the writer of the article reporting about the study, for being under-qualified or biased? Isn't that like Mopologists attacking Simon Southerton because he is only a plant geneticist and a dirty apostate, and therefore not qualified to discuss human genetics?
What did you think of the study the article reported and discussed? It's a 22 year long study of aspartame soda users, the longest study ever done on this compound's effects.
Evers is just a reporter in this case. He is not affiliated with the study.
hello Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Really, Mak? You're going to attack the writer of > the article reporting about the study, for being > under-qualified or biased?
One thing that is certain: no one needs to wait for government sponsored science to affirm or dis-affirm one's own experience. If aspartame or MSG give one a headache etc, every single time, then what the research says or fails to say is superfluous.
I say this because my very stubborn TBM brother-in-law (former) insists that the anti-aspartame/MSG/etc people are nothing more than weak-@ss liberal Commies willing to say and do anything to thwart ligitimate and god-loving business interests. Yet every time this guy drinks pop, which is every night, he complains of a headache and shooting pains down the back of his neck --every single time. He simply refuses to even consider it's the pop.
I myself and two of my three kids have noticed very significant and instant side-effects to aspartame and MSG. It's instant. No need for a list of papers pro and con to confirm the side-effects.
I have had all the forwarded emails and warnings about aspartame, and when you look the evidence goes nowhere. the papers cited do not existed, the 'doctors' names are made up.
Just sit around and wait for a while and someone else will come up with some different results.
Let's see, the first time I was suicidally depressed, I didn't drink diet drinks because I was a good little mormon girl. I found out my boyfriend was gay. Maybe that was it. When I started drinking diet coke, I was married to my gay husband and I was happy. Best place I'd been in a long time. I started drinking diet coke to work my 2 time a week swing shift job.
I was still drinking diet coke when he left me. But it must have been the diet coke that made me need Prozac OBVIOUSLY. I drank diet coke the whole time I was pulling myself up out of that mess and somehow I did it--through financial ruin, through my son trying to commit suicide twice--I still drank that stuff and I wasn't on antidepressants, but it must have been the diet coke that made me depressed.
When my dog died 2 years ago I WASN'T ON DIET COKE and, guess what, I was depressed. I had to go back on antidepressants for the first time in 5 years. Must have been the lack of diet coke in my system.
I started drinking it again 6 months ago when I totaled my car. It probably was the diet coke that made me depressed.
I type medical records. I'm skeptical of any reports that come out. I'm skeptical of any doctor telling me THEY KNOW.
How many drugs have we seen come on the market approved by the FDA and then all these law suits come out?
I don't believe the LDS church claims--I certainly don't buy every word I read on the internet. I'll go on drinking my diet coke until I'm ready to give it up. AND, yes, I'm somewhat overweight, but I started gaining weight when my husband cheated on me. Oops, probably was the diet coke.
Drink black coffee and you won't be depressed! Soda increases likelihood of depression and diabetes and coffee reduces them. TSCC approves soda and rejects coffee. Figures.
I was married to a research nutritionist/biochemist who had access to it several years before it was approved for human consumption.
It is extracted from egg white. It can't be heated because it does what egg white (and all proteins)does when you heat it - it permanently changes flavor and texture.
As cl2 observed, the world is chuck full of things way more depressing than Diet Coke. There are only so many things worth worrying about, and aspartame doesn't come close to making my short list.
I just couldn't let that one go without commenting.
There are all kinds of studies about alcohol, but many here drink alcohol and I do sometimes. Most of my inactive siblings drink to excess. I don't. They also smoke. So my addiction happens to be diet coke?? Sure costs a lot less, too. My son is addicted to his prescribed medicines--doctor prescribed. He chases his pills with vodka. I guess I should be more worried about that than my diet coke habit.
Actually my diet coke was often what made it possible for me to get out of bed in the morning during the worst years of my life. So be it. At least I was functional.
My first thought after reading the article, and their sample method, is it does not address cause/affect.
Comparing to my own experience, I prefer black coffee and green tea, but occasionally I like to have a diet cherry coke. It reminds me of when I was going to school in Florida and drank a lot of it. It was a happy time for me. I drink it now as a comfort food.
So maybe some depressed people are turning to the sweet drinks instead of the sweet drinks causing depression.
I can immediately tell if something has artificial sugar in it. I hadn't bothered to look at the Little Debbie I bought as a quick snack and spit it right out in the parking lot and threw the rest directly in the trash. So gross!
Whatever the stats, the point, as I see it is: moderation. That is exactly what I was taught growing up. A little of this, a little of that, and we're OK. Excess seems to be the thing that causes problems.
On the other hand, it's your life: eat and drink and do whatever you want! Life is short. Enjoy it!
Humans get diseases. Sometimes there is no accounting for why. It's just the nature of living.
Almost all of these cautionary articles seem to have the word: "may" in them. That is enough for me to note that nothing is absolute.
`More important, while TSCC has now approved depression-causing sodas, it still forbids depression-fighting coffee. Clearly, TSCC thrives on depressing people. The general doctrine of having to earn the CK is bad enough, but it compounds this by the Wow. Make no mistake, people can die from depression. Utah has the highest rate of depression and a high rate of suicide. For each life saved by a lower alcohol abuse rate resulting in fewer alcohol traffic fatalities, a sleepy driver, passenger or innocent dies because of faith in the Wow (approximately equal, that is). Besides, the WoW is a boon for psychiatrists, psychologists and drug companies.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2013 05:40PM by rhgc.
"Gee. People who drink fizzy soda drinks are more likely to become depressed. Therefore, fizzy drinks cause depression."
It is equally able to posit the following: People who tend towards depression might need something to make themselves feel better about themselves. And, hey, maybe, as a result, they tend to drink more fizzy drinks.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2013 06:05PM by matt.
I would disagree because I know that if I ingest too much sugar, it causes me to be depressedm clinicallly depressed. For me it is a one-to-one correlation. Since I know many other people with a similar effect, the drinking of sodas IS causative and not merely a result of depressed people tending to drink soda. Similarly, I know that if I drink coffee, a do not get depressed. Also, in Utah where a substantial portion of the population drinks soda and NOT coffee, the portion of the population suffering clinical depression is highest.
I was depressed for years as a member of TSCC and, because I am freed from LDS strictures under the WoW, I no longer suffer. As for the other observations, I have checked the data and items such as the rate of auto deaths and alcohol are also confirmed: the death rate in total is not reduced but those from alcohol are fewer. I also know of specific cases of deaths from drivers falling asleep - drivers who were TMB and would NEVER drink coffee or tea. Coffee is the best avenue for quick caffeine in the bloodstream.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2013 06:36PM by rhgc.