TwoTyred

The too good to be true
light is going off, and i've heard
about the 0 calorie stuff referred
to as 'sugar alcohols'?? What's
up with this seeming miracle..
My own common sense tells me
that if i heated the stuff up enough
it would burn--so it's not really 0
calorie, but how can they claim
it is? or is it!? And it's not just
sodas, i've seen other tempting
foods that claim to have 0
calorie sugar substitutes. What's
the deal?

Az B

I've got a buddy that works at the CDC here in Atlanta. I asked him about this, and the several year old internet rumour about aspartame turning into alcohol in your system.

What he told me was that the basic idea behind the fears is grounded in truth... aspartame does indeed convert into something very similar to wood alcohol when it metabolizes. However, and this is a big however, a can of soda creates only a minute amount of alcohol and the body metabolizes it very quickly. He did the math comparing the speed of the body to absorb and deal with this small amount, and the amount coming from a can of soda and determined that you would have to drink well over 200 sodas in a 1 hour period in order for it to start to become a problem.

And if you drank that much of any liquid, you'd have more problems than a little alcohol poisoning.

So the moral of that story is that any short term effects are negligible.

Az

boardline22

but how about long term problems

all I know is that I am only drinking water because it's healthy and it has been proven.

supcom

I suspect that aspertame is so sweet that it takes less than 0.5 kilocalories worth of the product to sweeten a serving of soda. Hence, they round the calorie content to the nearest whole number (zero).

In a packet of aspertame, most of the material is filler. The amount of sweetener is very small.

Az B

I'm sure that it eventually causes death. But most things do, including life.

I really don't think a soda once in a while is going to be a problem.

Az

boardline22

think about it people who usually have a soda every day where mst teenagers do and they increase to 2 what will happen, will they lose weight, turn green? I don't know just wondering for some info

TwoTyred

i'm not worried about worst case scenarios,
i'm just wondering if, in my effort to lose
weight, drinking this stuff is really going
to be the same as a glass of water??

DannoXYZ 

Aspartame breaks down into methanol, formaldehyde and formic acid. All of which are poisonous to humans. However, sugar carb calories does no harm, you just burn it off when you ride (watch out for excess sugar though). Do a basic google search for "aspartame methanol formaldehyde formic acid" and you'll have more than enough research for your PhD. No need to waste bandwidth here...

... go for the water...

TwoTyred

Last thing i want, is to get
into a tussel with "Big Sugar"..

thanks much, i'll google it, i so
love the soda and it just sounded
'too good to be true...'

Albany-12303

How about Splenda (Sucralose). Its the newest sweetener on the market. Chemicaly, its siimilar to sucrose (sugar) but doesn't get absorbed by the body.

It tastes more sugary than aspartame or saccharine

supcom

Sucralose and aspertame are both safe sweeteners, despite some of the scare monger websites. I believe that sucralose has an advantage of being more stable than aspertame and can be used for baked goods. Aspertame breaks down quickly with heat. Try storing an aspertame sweetened soda in a hot garage over the summer and you'll find it to be noticeably less sweet than a new one.

When aspertame was first introduced in the US, it was used in a blend with saccharine. This was done to extend the shelf life of the soda as saccharine is also a more stable sweetener than aspertame and would maintain the sweetness of the soda.

TwoTyred

So if i pig out on this stuff,
i won't get fat?
(what i should have asked
to begin with)

lupowolf

Soda is just chemicals and sugar, and it should never touch your lips. Water is best, fruit juice is second (good sugar).

'nother

"pig out" on anything (even water) and you're asking for trouble.

Moderation . . .

DannoXYZ 

And be sure to moderate your moderation...

TwoTyred

OMG!
now i've heard it all! perhaps there is niche market
for a binge camp--taking people with regular fitness
routines and sharing with them the way of the junk
food.. 'Everyone have a good ride? Excellent. Ice
Cream is almost ready!...."
I am so there.

Az B

Actually, we're talking about diet soda which generally doesn't have any sugar.

And don't look now, but that water you're drinking is a chemical. H 2 O. Sugar is C 6 H 12 O 6. Same moleucles as water, except with the addition of carbon, which we all know is the basis of life on this rock.

Az

TwoTyred

since i'm wondering stuff...
"Bacardi and Diet Cola has zero
carb calories." !?
How? What kind of calories
are they? Protein? Ha ha
So how can they say that?

DannoXYZ 

Gasoline is made from C H O as well...

steveknight

full stength one drop would do atleast way more then 1 gallon.

adxm

Well, no carbs in straight hard alcohol....but alcohol does have 7 cal/gram. I think it's still somewhat of a mystery how that actually gets metabolized though, and whether an alcohol calorie will fatten just like other calories. It's better not to think of such a thing at all when getting drunk

DannoXYZ 

Or just get drunk and not worry about the calories.

DnvrFox

Makes my stomach upset every time I use it. I got smart and don't - except last night my wife bought some ice cream with it and I had just a little bit and have been up with a gooey stomach since 3:30 am.

DannoXYZ 

Latest Medical News Today - Aspartame Causes Cancer in Rats at Levels Currently Approved for Humans

smoke

so go ahead and drink gas, but only in moderation