Now diet drinks cause strokes and dementia

[Christine]

These are not proper set up scientific research projects with double blind data etc. It's like licking your finger and putting it up in the air and concluding that buying stocks in companies with names that rhyme will make you rich fast.

I wish journalists would care more about verifying facts than hunting clicks with shocking headlines.

 

[haha]

What is the calorie control council?

About the Calorie Control Council

A damage control arm of the less sweet and artificially sweetened beverage industry.

So they found nothing meaningful here-well duh! That does not mean that there is nothing to be gleaned from this paper. Clearly there are limits to this sort of paper. That does not mean that it is totally meaningless,

I figure if sweetness per se is important to someone, perhaps they should eat an orange, or just kick the sweet tooth. No one is likely to die from either under-consumption of natural or artificial sweeteners.

Ha

 

[travelover]

These are not proper set up scientific research projects with double blind data etc. It's like licking your finger and putting it up in the air and concluding that buying stocks in companies with names that rhyme will make you rich fast.

I wish journalists would care more about verifying facts than hunting clicks with shocking headlines.

I would say it is more like data mining, which is perfectly legitimate in its own right, but not the same as scientific research.

 

[braumeister]

I find it very encouraging that so many people here are trying to cut through the hype and get to the meat of reports like this. You renew my faith in the good sense of our community.

The bottom line in most of these things is that relative risk is generally reported as if it were absolute risk.

A. One person out of 100 develops PROBLEM A and drank bottled water.
B. Three people out of 100 develop PROBLEM A and they drank tap water.
C. Therefore, drinking tap water is 3X more likely to give you PROBLEM A.

You simply can't argue with the conclusion in "C" because it's a fact.

But the effect is tiny and might be within the margin of error.

 

[Meadbh]

We'll just have to disagree then. I don't think that an author pointing out the limitations of the study make it "bad science". Claiming it was a definitive study with these limitations would be my definition of "bad science".

Sure, maybe he is just fishing for grant money. But then again, maybe this is deserving of grant money?

-ERD50

This is just normal expected discussion in a scientific paper.

 

[Walt34]

Yep, gotta stay away from that dihydrogen monoxide. Nasty stuff.

 

[meierlde]

It's not just diet soda that's not good for you!

Woman died from drinking 10 liters of Coke a day, coroner says | Fox News


Mike

Of course that does raise the issue of excess, 10l a day is a lot. Enough water will itself just as well kill you. The last generation it was aluminum pots that were the apparent culprits. At 66 it is best to enjoy life because something is going to kill you it is just not clear what that thing is. Clearly beating your head against a wall enough will do the job however.

 

[ERD50]

About the Calorie Control Council

A damage control arm of the less sweet and artificially sweetened beverage industry.

So they found nothing meaningful here-well duh! That does not mean that there is nothing to be gleaned from this paper. Clearly there are limits to this sort of paper. That does not mean that it is totally meaningless, ...

Ha

Agreed. I think some people are making more of this than the authors of the study did.

-ERD50

 

[Fedup]

Of course that does raise the issue of excess, 10l a day is a lot. Enough water will itself just as well kill you. The last generation it was aluminum pots that were the apparent culprits. At 66 it is best to enjoy life because something is going to kill you it is just not clear what that thing is. Clearly beating your head against a wall enough will do the job however.

I have the same agreement. I'm an equal opportunity eater. I'm sure something out there is bad for me. Unless there is real clear evidence like what I've heard on the news, eat frogs but not toads. One can be poisonous.

 

[oma]

So now we have two new studies showing that diet sodas and juices and sugar laden juices are associated with higher rates of dementia. One claimed a 33% relative increase for stroke and dementia over ten years with as little as one diet soda a day. (That one didn't find a problem with sugar). These studies are irritating. Researchers just mine the Framingham data-set and pull out correlations. Then they speculate - maybe it is real cause and effect, maybe the unhealthy cohort switched to diet drinks in a vain attempt to stave off consequences, maybe... This is the same technique that shows weight gain from diet drinks. Argh, switch to water only? Forgo my morning coffee with cream and Splenda? Switch to Stevia? - but who knows what the correlation correlates to? This is all over the news so we will be hearing about it for a while.

chronic consumer of artificial sweeteners and diet soda ....wonder if I cease now if that'll help or reverse the use from all those years (40+).....now 54 yrs old.

 

[oma]

Dementia seems to be the No. 1 fear these days, so all the scare-mongers are linking everything to it, while the snake-oil (coconut oil) mongers are all claiming their particular nostrum will cure or prevent Alzheimer's.

I remember when everything was said to either cause, or prevent, cancer. Nobody used to mention dementia.

now that we're living longer and taking statins and BP meds, the next worry is dementia, especially if we get into our 90s.

 

[Dash man]

I stopped my addiction to Diet Pepsi a little over a year ago and have avoided sugary drinks for years. My cardiologist is happy with my weight loss and blood work. As far as dementia...time will tell.

 

[timo2]

I'm thinking the diet soda executives had a stroke when they saw this story in the press.

 

[Dash man]

I'm thinking the diet soda executives had a stroke when they saw this story in the press.

I doubt that. Would any cigarette manufacturers still be alive with all the bad press cigarettes have had for the past 60 or so years? People will still drink their diet sodas.

 

[RAE]

As Chuckanut and others have said, just eat mostly real, whole foods and you will probably be fine. I try to stay away from most highly processed foods (with long lists of ingredients on the side), as I don't think it's a great idea to consume things that the human body was never designed to ingest and process. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store, and stay away from all the processed junk in the interior aisles, is a pretty good rule to follow. Better yet, grow your own garden, and buy your meat and eggs from local farmers if you can.

 

[Rustic23]

Saw a doctor talk about the study on one of the morning shows. She made a point of saying the relationship was very small and the key was there was no causation proved.

 

[Hermit]

....
What is reasonable? I figure it's something that my grandmother could have done to the food in her kitchen 50 to 100 years ago. I don't have to do it myself, it's just that she could have done it. For example, churning milk into butter passes my reasonable test. Adding another hydrogen atom to seed oils to create trans-fats does not. That's me. Your definition of reasonable may differ.

My grandfathers died in late fifties and early sixties. Not sure I want to eat what my grandmothers prepared on a daily basis, but as I remember, it sure tasted good! (Both grandmothers died at 73.)

 

[Bir48die]

My mom had TIA's and dementia and never drank a diet soda in her life.

 

[haha]

My mom had TIA's and dementia and never drank a diet soda in her life.

Well that settles it!

 

[braumeister]

Well that settles it!

I should say so!
Any advice for those of us who can't decide between placebo and anecdote?

 

[oma]

Saw a doctor talk about the study on one of the morning shows. She made a point of saying the relationship was very small and the key was there was no causation proved.

thanks - was curious about that - won't see my md for another 6 months annual check up

 

[friar1610]

Many important advances came from some one simply noticing something (penicillin, vulcanization of rubber, etc). We don't call that "bad science", we call it observation. Then the observation gets followed up with more studies and experiments. Plenty of room for bad science in all that, but I would not call this observation bad science, unless they weighted it beyond what you can draw from all the limitations of the data set. I don't see where they are doing that.

-ERD50

I think you're right. I recall reading that Viagra was originally developed as a blood pressure medicine. Then during the trials to determine its effectiveness a number of the guys participating started to notice "something". And the rest, they say, is history (as well as a gold mine for Pfizer).

 

[Chuckanut]

Minoxidil was originally a high BP med that had unusual side effects.

The Unusual History of Minoxidil as a Hair Loss Treatment

 

[Music Lover]

I'm also (mostly) a JERF...just eat real food. I estimate that 80-85%% of my diet is actual food completely unprocessed. I don't worry about the other 15%-20% very much as even though some of it is processed, it's not heavily processed.

I've also never been a soda pop drinker...the only thing I drink is water, with the exception of a cup or 2 of coffee in the morning, the occasional beer, and once or twice a month I'll have a couple shots of rum with the now deadly diet soda.

 

[Nemo2]

.the only thing I drink is water, with the exception of a cup or 2 of coffee in the morning, the occasional beer, and once or twice a month I'll have a couple shots of rum with the now deadly diet soda.

Make that 3 coffees, and eliminate the rum/soda, and that's us too.