Health Effects from Diet Drinks

Watch this movie, it will tell you everything you need to know about artificial sweeteners http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_9978.cfm

i just google and i find this

Sugar free ‘diet’ drinks don’t contain sugar and that’s great. But they are nutritionally empty, and many contain caffeine, a mildly addictive substance, which affects the nervous system; can make children hyperactive, irritable and anxious, and can adversely affect bone health. A can of diet coke contains approximately 45mg of caffeine. Children are particularly sensitive to caffeine’s stimulating effects.
Diet fizzy drinks displace the drinking of water and milk. They are also highly acidic and can damage tooth enamel and contribute to dental disease
Diet drinks may also contain controversial additives like aspartame, which has been linked cancer in animals. It has been linked to a wide range of adverse reactions in humans as well, including migraines and rashes.

http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/nutrition/...

I wouldn't be worried about the teeth, I'd be worried about the effects of the artifical sweeteners which aren't good for anyone - they are neuro excitotoxins and they cause the death of brain cells - so that's the last thing that kid's whose brains should be developing to learn new things need (and we wonder why so many kids have learning disabilities these days!!) You can find lots of info on this on www.mercola.com - just search for "aspartame" or "sweet deception" and ignore some of the ads for his book (I like Mercola, but I feel he has gone overboard with his marketing).

And, of course, the caffeine is also really bad for kids. Has she not heard of fruit juice? I don't even give caffeine to my 15 year old. If her kids don't like orange juice, Dole makes some really good juice combos. Of course, they're likely drinking the diet coke because that's what she drinks, so she really, really needs to consider the example she is setting for her kids. And, she also needs to learn that she's the adult and that means she can tell her kids they can't drink things that adults do.

WOW! That is aweful. I don't know all the specifics like the other moms who have answered, but I remember years ago (I was pretty young). A friend of my dads from the airforce (a pilot) said that he was not allowed to have a Diet soda of any kind less than 24 hours before a flight. He said there was some kind of effect it had on your brain. It is stuff like that that really makes me sick! I mean if the Airforce or hospitals or who ever know of HORRIBLE side effects like that, then why don't we? And then too, why is that stuff still on the market?

OH MY GOSH!!! That is just horrid. Have her check out this link: http://www.onlinejournal.com/health/071605Martini/071605m...

Diet drinks trick the body into thinking that it's getting sugar, but when it realizes that it was just a tease, it throws a tantrum and demands the real thing. This is a huge reason behind the growing epidemic of obesity in America. High Fructose Corn Syrup works the same way, and it's tough to get away from that product, too.

The acid in soft drinks also breaks down the soft enamel of the baby teeth, and leads to more cavities and tooth decay early on.

So, bottom line, if your SIL wants her kids to be at risk for childhood obesity, acid reflux, kidney stones, and lots of dental visits, keep it up. Oh, and don't forget the caffeine addiction...that's not good either for developing brains.

Now, the occasional soda for a treat isn't going to send them into a downward spiral, but 3 & 5 is when their bones are developing rapidly, and the carbonation in soda interferes with the bonding of calcium to the bones. Long-term effects are weaker bones and early-onset osteoporosis. If these children are girls, it's even more critical that she stop this, as estrogen increases that effect past puberty.

Whew! Guess you hit my hot button issue! :-)

Bev Biehl

I'll admit that I'm a little of a soft drink-aholic myself. However, I don't touch the diet ones unless they are made with Splenda (as some are doing nowadays). I don't allow my daughter to drink them consistently. She may get 2-3 8oz soft drinks a week, and most times the ones she gets are caffeine free. Maybe that's too much, but I'm definitely not serving it with breakfast. Many times at McDonald's or the like, we do HiC Orange or Fruit Punch, or Lemonade.

As a side note though, the reason I won't touch most diet sodas is because my dad, who's been a farmer and worked for a farm chemical company, has explained how growers use Aspertame to spray certain greenhouse plants. It is used as a pesticide, the company he worked for sold it as such.

SHOW YOUR SISTER THIS AND IF YOU NEED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SEND ME AN EMAIL.

B. C
http://www.shaklee.net/brittcarroll
GLOBAL Ambassador #DM73505
____@____.com

"Soft drinks are the single greatest source of caffeine in children's diets; a 12 ounce can of cola contains about 45 milligrams but the amounts in more potent soft drinks can exceed 100 milligrams - a level approaching that found in coffee."

"Soft drinks have replaced milk in the diets of many American children as well as adults. School purchases reflect such trends. From 1985 to 1997, school districts decreased the amounts of milk they bought by nearly 30? and increased their purchases of carbonated sodas."

"The relationship between soft drink consumption and body weight is so strong that researchers calculate that for each additional soda consumed, the risk of obesity increases 1.6 times."

"Adolescents who consume soft drinks display a risk of bone fractures three to four-fold higher than those who do not."

"Sugar and acid in soft drinks so easily dissolve tooth enamel."

"Soft drinks have long been suspected of leading to lower calcium levels and higher phosphate levels in the blood. When phosphate levels are high and calcium levels are low, calcium is pulled out of the bones. The phosphate content of soft drinks is very high, and they contain virtually no calcium."

"The United States ranks first among countries in soft drink consumption. The per-capita consumption of soft drinks is in excess of 150 quarts per year, or about three quarts per week."

"Soft drink consumption in children poses a significant risk factor for impaired calcification of growing bones."

"Of the fifty-seven children who had low blood calcium levels, thirty-eight (66.7 percent) drank more than four bottles (12 to 16 ounces per bottle) of soft drinks per week, but only forty-eight (28 percent) of the 171 children with normal serum calcium levels consumed as much soft drink. These results more than support the contention that soft drink consumption leads to lower calcium levels in children. This situation that ultimately leads to poor bone mineralization, which explains the greater risk of broken bones in children who consume soft drinks."

James A Howenstine M.D.
A Physician's Guide to Natural Health Products That Work

M., I hope you have a good relationship with your sister-in-law because if you show her all the information she will either be appreciative or she will react negatively.

It would be good if you could suggest some wonderful drinks like Organic Juices (my favorite is blueberry). She might find that she likes the juices as well. I have found that juice is pretty strong for my taste so I water it down just a little.

I know you asked about the health risks, I think you got that answer. I just wanted to give you a little suggestion as to what she could offer them instead, since they are already used to the sweetness and fizzle of the diet soda's. It will be a transition to get them to start drinking milk etc.

I think I've read in several different reports that it interferes with calcium absorption.