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Comment by pupppet | Hacker News Reader

How is there not a slam dunk answer to whether this 50+ year old incredibly popular ingredient is ok for us or not?

I can be a case study. I drink over 2 liters of Coca-Cola with aspartame, per day, every day on an empty stomach. With an energy drink, containing aspartame. I am not bragging, it is an addiction.

I also did that for 10+ years. I was actually drinking 3L a day in the last few years.

My BMI and checkups were good. But I was also IFing a lot, having big meals in my eating window and eventually had stomach problems: mild gastritis, hiatal hernia and strong esophagitis. As my family has some history of stomach problems, it's hard to say what was the culprit.

It is possible you are addicted to the caffeine rather than Diet Coke.

Did you try switching to coffee or caffeine pills?

I like the taste. This is why Monster energy and Coca Cola are my only two drinks. With a hint of 7-up.

The flavor of Diet Coke only vaguely resembles Coca Cola.

My taste buds say Coke Zero better approximates it, although it goes stale in just a few months so cannot sit on the shelf. To me, Diet Coke tastes shallow and like chemicals.

Is it really specific to Aspartame though? What if you switched to a product with a different sweetener, such as Sucralose?

Limiting yourself to sucralose means paying a premium (it's only used in premium brands) and restricting what brands you can get. If you want "coke" specifically, aspartame is your only choice. They don't make sucralose cokes.

Is "Diet Rite" really a premium brand?

The "zero sugar" version has sucralose

No?

https://www.coca-cola.com/us/en/brands/coca-cola/products/ze...

>CARBONATED WATER, CARAMEL COLOR, PHOSPHORIC ACID, ASPARTAME, POTASSIUM BENZOATE (TO PROTECT TASTE), NATURAL FLAVORS, POTASSIUM CITRATE, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM, CAFFEINE, STEVIA EXTRACT.

Not sure how stevia got on there. The zero caffeine version (also on that list) doesn't have it. Nor does Amazon's listing

https://www.amazon.com/Coca-Cola-Zero-Sugar-Fridgepack-Pack/...

I was hooked on diet coke until one day I decided to take a break, and my tongue felt... weird. It felt slightly fizzy as if my brain was signaling that it was time to drink diet coke. On top of that, I felt lazy for a couple days.

I'm glad I was that self aware because I stopped drinking it everyday. Maybe 1 or two a month.

I attempted this just recently, I went 12+hrs without caffeine intake and I had the worst, headache that wouldn't go away with regular pills. Basically very intense caffeine withdrawal.

That lasts for up to a week and then you are through. You should find a quiet week and suffer through once just to prove to yourself you can and to decide whether to consume agaib clean

Or just taper. It is quite simple with caffeine for most people. Takes a few weeks. Just reduce consumption by 10-15% every 2-3 days. Symptoms should be much more manageable. I am at 2-3 cups of coffee per day. Maybe a diet red bull. If I stop outright I rarely even notice other than feeling a little slow that day. I am fine with that.

I drink 1 24 oz cup a day and if i miss it by 2pm i have a rager of a headache. Funnyhow different amount hit different folks differently

>On top of that, I felt lazy for a couple days.

probably because of the caffeine?

I only really had one a day around 3pm. It’s got like what, 50mg of caffeine? Not much.

Not even the morning/noon tea would pick me up. It was a different kind of lethargy that’s hard to explain and it went along with this uncomfortable sensation on my tongue.

Yeah I used to do 2-4 2-liters per day before I gave it up around 12 years ago. I’m hoping that, to the extent it does damage, the effect stops when you stop drinking it.

As far as I've read, our coke zero has a lot of added phosporus or a source of, it seems to somehow bind to calcium leading to perhaps bone loss.

I had an injury I thought was unrelated, but could be. Premature ankle joint wear. On inspection from a CAT scan machine, I was told I seem to have some abrasions on the bone around the damaged area, likely from or similar to osteoporosis and/or osteoarthritis.

Ok… I’ll be the one to rudely ask, how tall and how much do you weight. I’ll drink 1L of sugar free coke a day, but that’s my definite limit

Similar usage... I really do try to drop coke and can go several weeks sometimes but habits are hrd to kick...

189cm and 72kg... For your datapoints.

I don't know why it is rude to ask. Those are physical attributes that everyone can see IRL.

167cm, and 63-65kg.

You could compete in an "Aspartakiad" event. :)

There is non (or anyone, cite it!). There are so many people consuming it, and have consumed this over such a long period of time that the fact that nothing conclusive has been found means that it's, on average, safe.

PS: Note that anything in excess and out of balance causes health issues, I'm not debating that.

It's not a generic thing that's applicable to "everyone". For most(?) people aspartame is just fine. Science is weird with stuff that's not universal, it requires too much studying and narrowing the exact prerequisites and people just give up (or don't get funding).

For others (like me) aspartame is not OK in some cases. I can either drink aspartame and ingest no sugar. Or I can drink sugary drinks. Both are fine.

But if I have both a diet coke AND sugary sweets -> my intestines produce gases that are considered a war crime even by Putin.

No idea why, but it just happens.

Have you read the abstract? I'm a physician with a BS in human nutrition, and at first glance I find it hard to consider anything about that abstract a "slam dunk" for mice and monkeys, far less for humans.

I'm very open to human data that aspartame is bad for humans in reasonable amounts, if you have any, but I haven't seen it.

I'm looking to avoid erythritol these days though.

I think you misread the comment you are replying to. They are not saying that the abstract is a slam dunk.

Yes, I misread -- thank you. I thought it began with "how is this" and not "how is there".

> I'm looking to avoid erythritol these days though.

Why? My loose sense of the current thinking on this is that erythritol is one of the "safer" alternatives.

Several studies posted to HN in the last year or so regarding increased risk of blood clots in humans at blood levels similar to those seen at usual amounts of consumption.

There is!

There’s strong evidence that all artificial (including “organic non-caloric”) sweeteners disrupt metabolic responses, leading to lethargy and more weight gain than a comparably sweet amount of sugar.

In addition to making you fat, most others have some other bonus side effects like causing cancer, migraines, screwing up gut microbes, etc.

There is weak or no evidence of this. These products have been widely consumed by hundreds of millions of people over very long timeframes and are broadly very safe. The literature mostly shows the opposite of your weight gain claim.

Citation absolutely needed, I’m calling bullshit.

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