WSJ: Is Aspertame Bad for Your Health?
WSJ: Is Aspertame Bad for Your Health?
This is one of those times when it would be great if WHO had some credibility.
Two different arms of the World Health Organization are expected soon to release separate reports on aspartame, the sweetener used in Diet Coke, Pepsi Zero Sugar and other diet sodas.
Nobody imagines that the WHO will put out a clear and consistent message that doesn’t insult the intelligence of regular people.
Beverage industry experts say they expect one of the groups to reaffirm its decades-long assessment that aspartame is safe. They expect the other group, called the International Agency for Research on Cancer, to identify aspartame as a possible cancer hazard.
The two reports are likely to contradict each other, and journalists will cover the contradiction as if science is a complicated endeavor that people should not try to understand or question.
Is it safe to drink Diet Coke?
Yes, in moderate amounts. Food regulators around the world agree that aspartame is safe. Aspartame has been studied for decades. The WHO recommends that people consume no more than 40 milligrams of aspartame a day for each kilogram they weigh—which would be a lot of soda.
So, Aspartame is likely literally everything else in the world. It’s fine as long as you aren’t drinking a gallon of Aspartame a day. That’s all they have to say. Also, drinking a gallon of sugar pop isn’t good for you.
I avoid artificial sweetener because it trains a person to prefer sweeter foods and it isn’t clear how the human body handles the signal that sweet foods are being digested. Coffee is a miracle drink, but don’t consume a gallon per day. Water is great, unsweetened tea has no down side. Fruit juice is like drinking a doughnut and fancy coffee is like having a milkshake.