[The Verge] You don’t have to freak out about aspartame in your diet soda

Richard@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 42 points –
You don’t have to freak out about aspartame in your diet soda
theverge.com

"The IARC will reportedly classify aspartame as a possible carcinogen. But this isn’t a food safety agency, and the context matters."

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I think a good rule of thumb is "everything in moderation." Excessive use of anything isn't healthy.

Yeah, I mean drinking too much soda in general isnt exactly gonna be good for you regardless of how its sweetened.

However, if you are drinking a lot of soda, better you drink diet versions and get exposed to this spurious "possible" cancer risk than get exposed to ridiculous amounts of sugar that will all but guarantee weight gain and the build up of insulin resistance

Generally I agree with your point, but there is evidence that diet drinks increase cravings leading to greater overall calorie consumption. So it may not really be that much better.

I'm really far behind on clinical literature on the subject (I'm in a different field), but I remember a recent discovery that there were "sweetness" sensors in the gut. I'm not sure if it was speculation or already shown, but the theory is that detection of sweet things in the gut stimulated release of insulin. Since blood glucose doesn't increase with zero calorie drinks, it can drop blood glucose, increasing hunger.

It's known that some zero calorie sweeteners we can't digest, but our gut bacteria can, and it changes them in a negative way.