Japanese don't drink any Diet pop, juice, ect..Aspartame is susupect..

Ok, my friend from work just got back from Japan last week from a 2 week Vacation with his family. Upon talking with him at work about the trip, he looked at me and said...

Friend: "Did you know the Japanese do not drink any diet drinks. PERIOD!"
Me: ..." not one..?!?" ..
Friend: "Not a single one.."
Me: "Pepsi, Coke..."
Friend: "nada! Everywhere I went on vacation could not for the life of me find 1 diet drink on a shelf ANYWHERE!

After a brief pause *awkward silence more like* I asked..

Me: "you know why don't you?"
Friend: He looked at me and said..."Aspartame"
Me: I grinned slightly and said.. "yep..exactly!"

He calls me a CT'r, and ribs me about it all the time as well as everyone else that knows me at work. He and I go round and round at work, and I mentioned to him a month ago that Aspartame was know to cause mice to eat more that those that don't. I found it intresting that about 2 months ago, I ate a full standard dinner(meat, starch, veggie) with some of my wife's diet root beer; for me, it was abnormal only for the fact that I don't eat alot anyways, maybe once or twice a day and rarely eat a full meal unless it's my fav.

After I finished my plate and drink. I relaxed. 1 hour later, I was hungry! I was like WT...>? I still felt full but really hungry at the same time!! I was like how in the world could this be. Then appox. 2 weeks ago, I read the article that some researchers concluded they found mice to eat more after consuming Aspartame than those that don't.

Intesting enough, I just got done doing a quick search on google and found this Article

After reading a bit.. I was shocked to see this !!

...(from Wikipedia...The Bressler Report[7] compared all the available raw data and summary data against the manufacturer's FDA submission and found missing raw data, errors and discrepancies in available data, but FDA chose to ignore Bressler's report. At that point in time, there was no requirement in place in FDA regulations to include brain research in the approval process, only cancer research. Searle's Chief Operating Officer, Donald Rumsfeld, reapplied for FDA certification immediately after U.S. President Ronald Reagan took office.

WHOA WHOA WHOA!! Searle's Chief Operating Officer, Donald Rumsfeld?! Which is a link to his entire profile in Wikipedia.(scary) (following the white so sorts)

Any btw, why isn't medical conspiracies listed on the home page along with other conspiracies?? Why did have to go into my profile to find the forum. ??

One more for the books on aspartame aspartame

It's Controversy

and the company Searle which makes the drug....it's not a food supplement!

Aspartame is bad. It's basically brain poison and i've been avoiding it for a long time. It really gets me that anything that's 'sugar free' these days contains aspartame. That includes chewing gum as well as diet juice and pretty much all children's drinks nowadays. They're marketed as being healthier, whereas their just poisoning us instead. I'd have a bit of sugar and brush my teeth afterwards any day, rather than poison myself.

It really annoys me when you tell people the truth and they blow it off. Even my sister won't stop giving Robinson's Fruit Shoots to my nephew after I told her how bad it was and the side effects it can have.

Nasty stuff, and everyone please avoid it at all costs!

Excellent collection of sources and articles, thank you!! I still have a box of splenda in our emergency goods, but got rid of the nutrasweet some time ago. Important thread, IMO.

They use the natural, low calorie sweetener stevia if I remember correctly. Much more healthy I believe than aspartame, which breaks down to aspartic acid, wood alcohol, and formaldehyde.

Yes, they do use Stevia in Japan instead of Aspartame. Stevia's banned here, and I'm sure Rumsfeld had something to do with that.

These threads always hit home with me, I am massively allergenic to pretty much every sugar substitute I've come across. (Processed alternatives, never tried stevia) I get an intense migraine shortly after consuming any product containing them, and it sucks because then I'm down and out for 12+ hours.

Splenda does the same thing to me, and so I did some research on it and it seems what they're doing is taking normal sugar and replacing some of the bonded hydrogen and oxygen atoms with chlorine.

Here's a good site with info:
www.splendaexposed.com...

Great thread! I think it's important people know about this stuff! Many people just start eating diet foods because they think that's how you stay thin, it's the cheap easy way out instead of actually paying attention to what you're eating.

Originally posted by Nammu
I'd have a bit of sugar and brush my teeth afterwards any day, rather than poison myself.

That one gave me a chuckle. Fluoride anyone???

Anyway, back on topic. I think there is a strong case for drinks and foods containing these artificial sweeteners being more detrimental to your health than sugar. The alternative I use is either honey or Xylitol(sugar alcohol).

[edit on 14-7-2008 by DevolutionEvolvd]

[edit on 14-7-2008 by DevolutionEvolvd]

Originally posted by ThePiemaker
Yes, they do use Stevia in Japan instead of Aspartame. Stevia's banned here, and I'm sure Rumsfeld had something to do with that.

what's really interesting is that my friend couldn't find ANYTHING with diet or low sugar on the label in the 2 weeks he was there.. .period. If they are using Stevia, then why aren't they labeling the drinks as diet?

thanks all for replying/flagging this thread! If we keep each other informed, all the better~!

So, another question comes up, Is there another alternate sugar sub that is any good at all besides, honey?

Starred and flagged Nice post, and frankly, I did not know that the Japanese don't drink diet sodas ...

reply to post by Komodo


I drink sugar and eat butter.
I only use olive oil, any more, if I need oil.
I do not like the idea of using anything artificial or stuff never intended to be food.
Soda has high fructose corn syrup and that is probably not good for you.
I try to keep my soda intake low and I use a lot of ice, when I do drink it.
A woman friend of mine complains about how expensive aspartame was.
I asked her why she did not just use sugar.
She said, What? And get fat?
Now she has an under-active thyroid and high cholesterol.

Stevia isn't exactly "banned" in the traditional sense of the word.

In the United States, it is legal to import, grow, sell, and consume stevia products if contained within or labeled for use as a dietary supplement, but not as a food additive.

en.wikipedia.org...

In fact, I can buy it in the sweetener isle of my local grocery store. I grow it myself however. Easy to grow, and a little bit goes a long way as far as sweetening things.

I get headaches from hell whenever I eat or drink something with aspartame in it. It can't be good, whatever it is.

I'd much rather stick to water, tea, and beer anyway.

A great alternative is Xylitol. As I mentioned earlier. In fact, it actually might have some health benefits also. The only side effect I have found is if too much is ingested, sometime loose stool becomes a problem. But thats it!

Originally posted by Komodo
So, another question comes up, Is there another alternate sugar sub that is any good at all besides, honey?

I wouldn't really say honey is a sugar substitute. Calorie wise there isn't a difference. Honey does have more trace nutrients than white sugar if I remember correctly. Stevia is good, it can be used in cooking at high temperature. Xylitol on the other hand can't be used in cooking. Xylitol has a cool benefit in that it can help repair cavities from what I've read, so it is sometimes used in toothpaste. Here's another natural sweetener that I just found hubpages.com...
Besides that, I would also say buy organic whenever you can.

It is interesting just how hard it is to get natural, low calorie sweeteners on store shelves. They seem to be embraced in other countries yet shunned by the FDA. I know companies that produce low calorie sweeteners have a hell of a time trying to get approval. It's similar to finding a gas alternative, some really don't want one found.

I remember now that Coke is actually on board to get stevia approved for use. Funny that it will take Coke to get it approved, because they have a voice unlike the lowly consumers. www.carbwire.com...

[edit on 14-7-2008 by ghaleon12]

reply to post by Kruel


Be careful with your teas, there are high concentrations of fluoride. I use to drink it ever day, now I watch the intake.

do a search for fluoride in tea leaves, and you can be the judge.

there's controversies concerning stevia as well as aspartame.

sadly, political controversies and greed have made it harder for us to understand what is actually healthy. there's always conflicting studies for everything... so who knows what the truth really is, right?

i know people that have used aspartame for a long time and don't have any of those infamous side-effects. i've used it myself from time to time and have been using the water flavor packets lately...and i'm fine (so far). is there any solid proof that aspartame has caused anyone anything more than a headache? or is it just scientific studies that propose a "possible link" between aspartame and brain tumors? is possible to even pin point a brain tumor to anything? how much aspartame do you have to consume before a tumor develops?

reply to post by Komodo


In Japan, there may be no "diet" soda as those types of drinks are labeled differently - like "Coca Cola Zero" or "Coca Cola No Calorie".

www.cocacola.jp...
www.cocacola.jp...

Originally posted by ThePiemaker
Yes, they do use Stevia in Japan instead of Aspartame. Stevia's banned here, and I'm sure Rumsfeld had something to do with that.

Stevia is not banned here, I bought a box of it at GNC a few weeks ago. It simply cannot be called a "sweetener" but must be called a "food additive"

Originally posted by ghaleon12

I wouldn't really say honey is a sugar substitute. Calorie wise there isn't a difference.

While honey does contain more calories than all other sugars per tablespoon, it still doesn't compare to sucrose and frutose, with the former being the worst. IMO, to sweeten tea with honey would be fine as long as it is in moderation.

Honestly, and I haven't tried this but, a possible healthy sweetener for hot drinks could be cocont oil. Actually, if it works at all, that would be the best alternative for a hot tea or maybe even coffee.