Some time ago, I realised that I had an addiction to Diet Coke and Coke Zero. It was an unwelcome surprise as I didn’t believe that I had an addictive personality, however, every few days I definitely craved it.
In addition, more ominously, I found that drinking an Aspartame-laced beverage regularly made me crave carbohydrates. So I wasn’t going to lose any weight that way, and it made me ponder the customers at the supermarket with bottles or cans of Diet Coke in their trolleys, nestled in with pizzas, chips and cake. Some combination.
When not drinking Diet Coke, my craving for cake and biscuits faded. So what did I make of that? For a product advertised as an aid to weight loss, something was amiss.
In order to stop wanting to drink Diet Coke, I bought sparkling water because I realised that some of the allure lay in the bubbles. Over a couple of months, my taste buds changed from finding sparkling water lacking what I was looking for, to becoming satisfied with it and no longer craving Diet Coke.
I had heard that Aspartame (developed 1965) is considered by some researchers to be carcinogenic in humans. Several studies suggest that it can increase risk of heart disease, stroke, brain tumours, depression and weight gain. That last one is ironic, isn’t it?
