Dec 15 2008
The Fizzy, Black Line
We all have things we think we’ll never do. I just started doing one of them. I went to a restaurant and ordered Diet Coke. And I liked it.I used to drink Coke by the bucket, part of what has rendered me Type 2 diabetic. I couldn’t stand the taste of the diet version and only tried one recently because I happened to be at a party and wanted to drink something other than water, the black stuff being my only option. The experiment turned out successfully and now, I have another option on the list when I go to restaurants and other places with soda fountains.
But not without some reservations.
In general, I’m against artificial sweeteners. I don’t think the food additive industry is evil or doesn’t deserve to make money or anything like that. I just prefer that things I put in my body be minimally processed and tested by centuries of use.
Diet sodas have come under scrutiny lately, some studies showing that the sweet taste alone causes your body to spike insulin production and negatively affecting weight loss. The thought is that you may not be putting sugar into your body, but your taste buds fool your body into thinking you are and it reacts accordingly. There’s also the fact that diet soda still has caffeine and other ingredients that are considerably less good for you than say water, not to mention that aspertame (the sweetener in Diet Coke) has been linked to headaches in studies, to cancer in less conclusive studies.
I can’t say that any of the articles I’ve read have 100% convinced me one way or the other if Diet Coke is the devil or not, but still I think that as with anything, you should pay attention to what a substance does to your body and that all things consumed should be consumed in moderation. I’m not intending to start hooking myself up to IV’s of the stuff but knowing that Diet Coke, which I used to consider utterly foul, is now an option, makes me happier. I’ll keep my eye out for additional articles and keep an eye on myself to monitor the side effects, but when I go to the movies I now know that I have some other option besides bottled water to accompany my viewing pleasure.
I wonder what I’ll think will taste okay next.
Some links:
A piece on Diet Sodas with a scholarly yet alarmist bent.
Another article, this time from a more journalistic perspective.
