Who is addicted to diet soda? Why is it bad for endurance sports?

Triathlon Forum
1

My name is Dave. I am addicted to Diet Dew.

I have like two liters a day:)

I know what people say about all the chemicals and crap in there, but it is my only unheathly practice. No alcohol, no fried foods, no fast food, etc.

Is there a negative effect on performance?

2

Yes and no.

I drink way too much as well and do just fine.

The worst is knowing this: aspartame is metabolized into formaldehyde by our Liver … nice.

3

I have been having a debate with someone about how the body processes artificial sweeteners. Do you have references to articles for your statement? If you do it would help me greatly if you could post a few titles. Thanks

4

One of the main arguments (I agree) is that if you are drinking a large amount of diet sodas, you are not able to consume enough “good” liquids to stay hydrated.

Personally, I used to drink three to four diet cokes per day, and now that I have stopped, I can tell a difference in how I feel, as I have replaced those cokes with mostly water.

5

I’m pretty heavy on the diet coke I’ve had bouts where I cut it out for good and have seen no difference in my performance whatsoever. You only live once do what makes you happy, seems to me you live pretty clean as it is.

6

Yes, but from a nutrition/ health standpoint, if one is consuming a 2-Liter of Diet Coke per day, he or she is not taking in all that much water, green tea, coffee, protein/ recovery drinks… the list goes on.

Again, it is also harder to stay well-hydrated when one is drinking that much carbonated beverages.

7

I have been having a debate with someone about how the body processes artificial sweeteners. Do you have references to articles for your statement? If you do it would help me greatly if you could post a few titles. Thanks
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question536.htm

copied the text in here for ease of use…

  • The fact that aspartame is digested by your body is what makes it so controversial. After you eat or drink an aspartame-sweetened product, aspartame breaks down into its starting components: phenylalanine, aspartate, and methanol. Methanol accounts for about 10 percent of this. Methanol itself is not harmful, but enzymes in your liver break it down into two very toxic compounds. The big debate is whether there’s enough of these toxins produced from the methanol in aspartame to damage your body. *
  • What is methanol, and why is it even in a sweetener? Methanol is one of a host of alcohols normally produced during the fermentation of carbon-based compounds. An alcohol is basically a water atom (H20) with one of the hydrogen atoms replaced by a chain of carbons and their attached hydrogen atoms. Methanol (CH 3OH) is the simplest alcohol with a chain consisting of a carbon atom with three hydrogen atoms attached. Ethanol (CH3 CH2OH), the intoxicating ingredient in beer and other alcoholic beverages, has a chain that’s twice as long. *
  • Methanol can be distilled from fermented wood, so you may know it as wood alcohol. It’s an ingredient in commercial products like antifreeze, glass cleaner, and paint thinners, but many people regularly drink other, more innocuous products that contain methanol. Methanol is found naturally in fruit juice and distilled spirits such as whiskey, wine, and beer. A typical glass of wine contains a small amount of methanol, from 0.0041 to 0.02 percent by volume. In comparison, the same glass will have about 10-15 percent ethanol. Methanol is much sweeter than ethanol, and even a small amount adds flavor to these beverages. This sweetness is what makes methanol attractive to use in an artificial sweetener. *
  • All alcohols are toxic to some degree, but the dark side of methanol lies in the metabolites produced during its breakdown in the body. The same set of enzymes digest both methanol and ethanol. This stepwise degradation eventually yields the final products of carbon dioxide and water. The process prevents ethanol from building up to toxic levels in the body. But the small difference in the structures of the ethanol and methanol molecules means that the intermediate steps of the same process turn methanol into compounds that are far more dangerous than methanol itself! *
  • In the first enzymatic reaction, methanol is broken down into formaldehyde. If you’ve ever dissected a frog in biology class, you may have witnessed one of the many uses of this chemical. Formaldehyde reacts with the amino acids in proteins. Proteins are chains of amino acids that fold to form very unique structures. The way these chains fold gives proteins the proper shape and the flexibility to interact with other molecules. Formaldehyde diffuses into tissues and cells where it forms crosslinks between different amino acids. The protein is stuck rigidly in whatever conformation it was in and is no longer able to carry out any reactions! This property makes formaldehyde useful for a number of chemical processes that fix things in a particular state. Some examples are: **embalming **leather tanning **corrosion prevention **wood finishing *
  • Formaldehyde may also cause cancer in humans, but this requires long-term exposure. Formaldehyde doesn’t stick around long in your body because it is so rapidly metabolized to formic acid by the second enzyme in this metabolic pathway. Formic acid is also extremely toxic to humans. It disrupts the function of a cell’s mitochondria. Mitochondria normally serve as the “powerhouse of the cell” (for more information on mitochondria, see How Cells Work) and disrupting their function is like abruptly shutting down a nuclear reactor. Not only do all the cellular processes stop for lack of energy, but the cells themselves are blown apart by a massive accumulation of different molecules involved in energy production. The cells that make up the optic nerve are exquisitely sensitive to formic acid, which is why blindness is so closely associated with methanol poisoning. *
  • Does aspartame produce enough methanol to harm people? The short answer is, “there is a lot of controversy around this question,” as you will see in several of the links below. Most people regularly consume up to 10 mg of methanol per day as part of their normal diet. One 12-ounce can of aspartame-sweetened soda contains about 200 milligrams of aspartame reference]. You’d add a tenth of this amount to your diet as methanol following digestion (20 mg). *
8

diet sodas hydrate you fine. yes, caffeine is a diuretic. drinking a coke, diet coke etc still has a large net hydration effect.

you could drink coke the whole way through an ironman no problemo

Yes, but from a nutrition/ health standpoint, if one is consuming a 2-Liter of Diet Coke per day, he or she is not taking in all that much water, green tea, coffee, protein/ recovery drinks… the list goes on.

Again, it is also harder to stay well-hydrated when one is drinking that much carbonated beverages.

9

Thanks for the info. Its a nice start to a review of some journals on the topic.

10

I know that when I drink soda that I a lot less water. I would also think that any benefit of caffeine taken on race day would be reduced if you use it every day.

11

So - what about diet beverages with Splenda? I drink Diet Coke with Splenda for caffeine, and Waist Watchers Lemon Up w/ a splash of juice in its some other times.

As far as hydration is concerned, it is still possible to drink enough water. I guzzle 32 oz. as soon as I wake up, and at least 64 oz. at work (2 Nalgene bottles) in the afternoon after I’m done with the Diet Coke. Then more water when I get home. That’s not counting water I drink while working out.

I don’t drink coffee, so really don’t see the problem with 3 cans of DC w/ Splenda from 8-Noon.

12

So - what about diet beverages with Splenda? I drink Diet Coke with Splenda for caffeine, and Waist Watchers Lemon Up w/ a splash of juice in its some other times.

As far as hydration is concerned, it is still possible to drink enough water. I guzzle 32 oz. as soon as I wake up, and at least 64 oz. at work (2 Nalgene bottles) in the afternoon after I’m done with the Diet Coke. Then more water when I get home. That’s not counting water I drink while working out.

I don’t drink coffee, so really don’t see the problem with 3 cans of DC w/ Splenda from 8-Noon.
well…that’s up for debate too. doesn’t sound as bad as aspartame, but there is some research that it could have some negative effects too.
i admit…i don’t ‘get’ pop. yes, when i was 8 i liked it, but i just don’t get why people want to chug a sweet, syrupy concoction all day…it’s a childish (i’m ducking).
add to that that people seem to think they’re doing themselves a favour by removing sugar and replacing it with a chemical ‘for their health’? does not compute.
this stuff was originally manufactured by DRUG companies…nuff said.

this isn’t a dig at you, i just don’t get how people have gotten so far away from the common sense of just eating and drinking ‘real’ foods.

13

This is some scary stuff. I’ll just keep drinking my 2 liters of coffee per day. :wink:

14

I was addicted for years but went cold turkey as of Jan 1st, 2009 and have not had a drink of pop since. Do not miss it and have a 2L bottle of Coke Zero sitting in the pantry that I bought for over Christmas.

15

It’s pretty much my only vice (Diet Soda…Pepsi or Coke…which ever is on sale). People tell me that it messes with your bone density. The carbonic acid breaks down the calcium. I’m not sure where that comes from but I’ve heard it from a few folks so it’s probably reliable. I’ve toyed with the idea of stopping but, hey, I like it.

16

If I recall correctly, you can treat methanol poisoning with ethanol (it’s a competitive inhibitor). I guess this means that as long as you follow every glass of diet soda with a shot of tequila, you will be just fine.

17

The fact that methanol and formaldehyde are breakdown products of aspartame sounds scary to consumers. Therefore, it is important to know that formaldehyde is produced by our bodies every day in amounts thousands of times greater than you would ever get from aspartame, as it is a key metabolite that is needed to make other essential compounds, including DNA. Also, the known toxic effects of methanol relate not to formaldehyde, but to the build-up of formic acid in the blood. The breakdown of formic acid is slower than the breakdown of formaldehyde, so if there is a very large dose of methanol (or formaldehyde) coming into the body, formic acid can build up and that causes the adverse effects seen in methanol poisoning.
*To put *this into perspective, studies in healthy adults and infants consuming up to 200mg per kg of body weight (50 times the amounts Americans consume on average), showed no change in the levels of formic acid in the blood (1,2).
…
Adults that consumed up to 200mg per kg (the average American daily consumption is five mg per kg) had a small increase in blood methanol (100 times lower than the amount needed to cause methanol poisoning) and no change in formic acid levels (there is always a small amount in blood). Formaldehyde was not detected in the subjects’ blood. Studies in infants and children show the same thing. In one study, adults were given 10mg per kg (about double the daily amount) every hour for six hours. Individuals were monitored and there was no change in blood methanol or any other metabolites. The bottom line is that the amount of aspartame in diet sodas or foods produces so little methanol that there is no chance that it could cause a build-up of formic acid and cause adverse effects.
https://www.adaevidencelibrary.com/topic.cfm?cat=4089

The amount of formic acid that is produced by your body from ingesting aspartame is less then what you would get from drinking a glass of tomato juice. Formaldehyde and Formic Acid sound scary, but once the truth is known it’s not so scary. Plus all of this is found in Spirits and Wine neither of which am I about to give up. :slight_smile:

Diet Dew has 85mg of Aspartame in a 12 oz Can. This means you would have to drink more than 1 can for every pound of body weight to get to the amount tested for in the studies. I used to drink a lot of diet dew, but there’s no way I could drink 180 cans/day. (Diet Pepsi has more aspartame because it contains no sucralose, but you would still need to drink 90+ cans)

18

Actually the stuff was first made by Drug Stores, which is significantly different from Drug Companies. Are you going to give up Malts, Milk Shakes and Floats? :slight_smile:

19

If I recall correctly, you can treat methanol poisoning with ethanol (it’s a competitive inhibitor). I guess this means that as long as you follow every glass of diet soda with a shot of tequila, you will be just fine.

LOL! You are most correct sir. Must be why I’m doing OK with the stuff … :wink:

20

Actually the stuff was first made by Drug Stores, which is significantly different from Drug Companies. Are you going to give up Malts, Milk Shakes and Floats? :slight_smile:
now wait a minute…since when was searle a ‘drug store’. they manufactured prescription drugs…not distributed. that company is now owned by monsanto (also not a drug store).