[Closed] Why are diet fizzy drinks bad for me?

My mum did a study for her degree and found that regular consumption of fizzy pop tied in with her patients who suffered from kidney stones. She also found links between Irn-Bru and harder to brake stones - my oh my how we laughed about it being made of girders.

Controlled study that was peer-reviewed or was it just a correlation study? I suspect the latter in which case it's meaningless.

Probably the latter but i am pretty sure it was peer reviewed as she was invited to speak about it at some big national radiography seminar so i guess there was some meaning to it.

isn't co2 the fizz element? CO2 is the bodies biggest waste product we expell it everytime we breath out and the harder we work the more we expell - wouldn't drink a glass of p*ss would you?
Also isn't there caffine and tartrazine (sp) in some of them niether of which have a great rep as being good for you
G

http://www.nature.com/nchembio/journal/v8/n8/full/nchembio.1002.html

That's a study into the mechanism of the amyloidosis of phenylalanine at high concentrations in the small number of people who are unfortunate enough to lack the enzyme responsible for breaking down the essential amino acid phenylalanine.

It's describing how the damage to those individuals might occur should they consume this protein.

CO2 is the bodies biggest waste product we expell it everytime we breath out and the harder we work the more we expell - wouldn't drink a glass of p*ss would you?

Not the same thing at all.

Everybody on this thread is actually Ben Goldacre in disguise.

Do I win £5? Alternatively a can of Pepsi Max would be great.. 😀

And on the natural/unnatural debate, anything that sounds like it should be one of the primary ingredients in a bottle of Head&Shoulders is definitely off my "must eat" list..

*sits back and waits for inevitable post listing Yak cheese as core ingredient in some expensive rip-off shampoo/conditioner*

justme - Member

isn't co2 the fizz element? CO2 is the bodies biggest waste product we expell it everytime we breath out and the harder we work the more we expell - wouldn't drink a glass of p*ss would you?

By that logic, have you stopped breathing air? It's exactly like drinking piss you know.

CO2 is the bodies biggest waste product we expell it everytime we breath out and the harder we work the more we expell

Does it freak you out to know that when we lose weight, it's all through breathing out more CO2 gas......
(Read up on Moles of atoms/elements, and figure out how much volume you'd have to breath out to lose a kilogram....)

DrP

Yes - I did just give out homework on a thread....

[i]Yes - I did just give out homework on a thread...[/i]

My dog has eaten my homework !.
😯

Breathing out acetone as well - I can smell it after coming back from a run. Don't get in on the bike as you're always moving, that and running wrecks me but cycling usually doesn't.

That's fat leaving the body. Smells like victory.

That's a sign of [url= http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Diabetic-Ketoacidosis.htm ]diabetic ketoacedosis[/url] too....

"Smell the breath for the characteristic fruity/musty odour of ketones - the smell is akin to pear drops or nail-polish remover."

You alright Gary? Still with us...??
Yup - He's deadded...

DrP

[i]Yup - He's deadded...[/i]

No wonder. In your last post ^^ you just waisted him.

That's a sign of diabetic ketoacedosis too....

...but ruins my jokey observations....

DrP

...but ruins my jokey observations....

phenylalanine is used as a sweetener and can cause Alzheimer's.

How?
And why don't these people know about it?
http://alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/google_results.php?q=phenylalanine

s****..... they must have forgotten.

phenylalanine is used as a sweetener and can cause Alzheimer's.

Phenylalanine is what we derive aspartame from. It should be avoided by people with phenylketonuria (aka "PKU"), which is what that paper you linked to looks to be talking about. But PKU is an inherited genetic disorder, you can't catch it, and it's not Alzheimer's.

Honestly, there's days when I wonder if Google's down.

CO2 is the bodies biggest waste product we expell it everytime we breath out and the harder we work the more we expell - wouldn't drink a glass of p*ss would you?

That's fantastic.

Phenylalanine is more 'natural' than cheese.
In fact there's a lot of it [i]in[/i] cheese.
There's half a gram of the stuff in an egg, [b][u]FFS[/u][/b]!

Phenylalanine is what we derive aspartame from.

the L-amino acid is used as a sweetner.

It should be avoided by people with phenylketonuria (aka "PKU"), which is what that paper you linked to looks to be talking about. But PKU is an inherited genetic disorder, you can't catch it,

it has been shown that temporary reduction of phenylalanine-4-hydroxylase activity can be induced by high levels of F in the diet

and it's not Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's is a disease related to the formation of amyloid from proteins, the core AB18-22 sequence is rich in F, and the VFF and FF have been shown to induce amyloid formation, but up until now it was not known that F does it too.

Honestly, there's days when I wonder if Google's down.

why are you using google to review the literature?

Many people clearly need to read "Bad Science" and take a look at the provenance of some of the claims on the internet, for instance when the main lobby group is run by a "Dr" whose doctorate is an honourary doctorate of humanities awarded by a non-accredited university.

it has been shown that temporary reduction of phenylalanine-4-hydroxylase activity can be induced by high levels of F in the diet
...
Alzheimer's is a disease related to the formation of amyloid from proteins, the core AB18-22 sequence is rich in F, and the VFF and FF have been shown to induce amyloid formation, but up until now it was not known that F does it too.

I'm going to need the Cliff notes on that I'm afraid.

why are you using google to review the literature?

Because I'm not a chemist or a biologist and I lack the ability to critically review it personally. So rather than using Google to 'review the literature' I'm using it to try and ascertain whether wild, unsupported claims have any bearing in fact.

My layman's knowledge indicated to the contrary; you seem to know considerably more than me in this field but frankly I'm at a loss as to whether you're disagreeing with me or not.

Either way it tastes blooming awful.

Does it freak you out to know that when we lose weight, it's all through breathing out more CO2 gas......

Does it freak you out to know that when we lose weight, it's all through breathing out more CO2 gas......

Well not quite, weight loss is achieved by converting fat to physical work or heat, which in turn produces more CO2 that then has to be breathed out.

I'm at a loss as to whether you're disagreeing with me or not.

Fantastic work guys.

Just apply for the Big Hitter Certificates in the normal way. There shouldn't be quite as many rejections as usual.

Well not quite, weight loss is achieved by converting fat to physical work or heat, which in turn produces more CO2 that then has to be breathed out.

100% on board with What I was saying..... I.e. the point was the [b]physical Weight[/b] comes "off" through breathing out CO2...

I omitted the fact you need the convert fat to CO2 by releasing it's energy somehow, as I hoped the minds of STW wouldn't think you could lose weight simply by blowing off bucket loads of hot air... (else we'd have several amaciated big hitters...)

DrP

I did enjoy a massive fatty at work telling me that diet drinks are worse for you than the full fat Coke she was chugging.

You keep drinking yours petal, I'll keep drinking mine!

They did a study on aspartame once with rats. It did cause cancer but I the amounts given were spectacularly high and would have provoked similar results for many other 'safe' food additives or even ingredients.

Either way it tastes blooming awful.

+1