I switched from normal sugar loaded coke to zero-sugar coke, thinking i was running away from sugar, not knowing i was simply jumping from frying pan to fire! The last time i took zero sugar coke, i noticed wth concern, written on the body 'CAUTION; CONTAINS ASPARTAME, SOURCE OF PHENYLALANINE. I didn't take it serious, thinking a big company like cocal cola would not do anything to harm its customer. How wrong i was!
Anybody reading this should please google: ASPARTAME, PHENYLALANINE, DANGERS OF ZERO SUGAR/DIET COKE. To tell u how dangerous it is. Aspartame is an artificial sweetner, another name for it is 'SLOW DEATH'. Below is 1 of the numerous articles on the dangers of Aspartame.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/10/23/aspartame-artificial-sweeteners.aspx
When You See 'Aspartame,' Think 'Formaldehyde'

Of the various artificial sweeteners on the market, aspartame is perhaps one of the most problematic. At least it has the most reported adverse effects. In fact, aspartame is the number one source of side-effect complaints to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with over 10,000 complaints filed and over 91 symptoms documented that are related to its consumption.

Besides that, there's been persistent suspicions that aspartame may contribute to the development of more serious diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's, among others.

According to Dr. Russell Blaylock, a retired neurosurgeon who has written three books about the health dangers of excitotoxins (which includes aspartame and MSG), Dr. Adrian Gross, the FDA's toxicologist who examined the aspartame research initially presented to the FDA for approval by G.D. Searle, was "absolutely shocked" at the evidence showing "an enormous increase in tumors, particularly brain tumors."

More recently, a lifetime feeding study published in 201015 found that aspartame induced cancers of the liver and lung in male mice. It was also carcinogenic in male and female rats. Another study of great importance was published just last year. It's the most comprehensive and longest human study— spanning 22 years — that has ever looked at aspartame toxicity. The study evaluated the effect between aspartame intake and cancer, and they found a clear association between aspartame consumption and non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and leukemia.

What might account for such disturbing findings?

The industry has fervently held fast to the myth that aspartame is harmless, claiming there's "no biological explanation" for the health problems reported by so many after consuming aspartame. But this is where they're wrong. According to toxicology expert Dr. Woody Monte, a biological and scientific explanation for aspartame's pathway of harm does indeed exist, and it's related to the effects of methanol and formaldehyde, both of which are extremely toxic.

How Aspartame Can Wreak Havoc with Your Health

Aaspartame is primarily made up of aspartic acid and phenylalanine. The phenylalanine has been synthetically modified to carry a methyl group, which provides the majority of the sweetness. That phenylalanine methyl bond, called a methyl ester, is very weak, which allows the methyl group on the phenylalanine to easily break off and form methanol.

You may have heard the claim that aspartame is harmless because methanol is also found in fruits and vegetables. However, in fruits and vegetables, the methanol is firmly bonded to pectin, allowing it to be safely passed through your digestive tract. Not so with the methanol created by aspartame; there it's not bonded to anything that can help eliminate it from your body. That's problem number one...

Problem number two relates to the fact that humans are the only mammals who are NOT equipped with a protective biological mechanism that breaks down methanol into harmless formic acid. This is why animal testing of aspartame does not fully apply to humans. According to Dr. Monte:

"There is a major biochemical problem here. Methyl alcohol is known now, and has been known since 1940, to be metabolized differently by humans from every other animal.'"

As explained by Dr. Monte, in humans, the methanol ends up acting as a Trojan horse, and here's how. Both animals and humans have small structures called peroxisomes in each cell. There are a couple of hundred in every cell of your body, which are designed to detoxify a variety of chemicals. Peroxisome contains catalase, which help detoxify methanol. Other chemicals in the peroxisome convert the formaldehyde to formic acid, which is harmless, but, again, this last step occurs only in animals. Human peroxisomes cannot convert the toxic formaldehyde into harmless formic acid.

So to recap: In humans, the methyl alcohol travels through your blood vessels into sensitive areas, such as your brain, that are loaded with ADH, which converts methanol to formaldehyde. And since there's no catalase present, the formaldehyde is free to cause enormous damage in your tissues.

Symptoms from methanol poisoning are many, and include headaches, ear buzzing, dizziness, nausea, gastrointestinal disturbances, weakness, vertigo, chills, memory lapses, numbness and shooting pains in the extremities, behavioral disturbances, and neuritis. The most well known problems from methanol poisoning are vision problems including misty vision, progressive contraction of visual fields, blurring of vision, obscuration of vision, retinal damage, and blindness. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen that causes retinal damage, interferes with DNA replication and may cause birth defects.

What's the Healthiest Beverage You Can Drink?

Sweetened beverages, whether it's sweetened with sugar, HFCS, naturally-occurring fructose, or artificial sweeteners, are among the worst culprits in the fight against obesity and related health problems, including diabetes, heart and liver disease, just to name a few. Remember that sweetened beverages also include flavored milk products, bottled teas, and "enhanced" water products.

In my view, I believe it is irresponsibly negligent to flatly ignore the potential impact of artificial sweeteners on our skyrocketing disease rates. Telling people to consume a toxic agent "in moderation" is just reprehensibly negligent. Ditching ALL of these types of beverages can go a long way toward reducing your risk for chronic health problems and weight gain.

Your best, most cost effective choice of beverage is filtered tap water. I strongly recommend using a high-quality water filtration system unless you can verify the purity of your water. To be absolutely certain you are getting the purest water you can, you'll want to filter the water both at the point of entry and at the point of use. This means filtering all the water that comes into the house, and then filtering again at the kitchen sink. I currently use a whole house carbon-based water filtration system, and prior to this I used reverse osmosis (RO) to purify my water.

You can read more about water filtration in this previous article to help you make a decision about what type of water filtration system will be best for you and your family. Since most water sources are now severely polluted, the issue of water filtration and purification couldn't be more important.

Ideal Water Sources

Besides purification, I also believe it's critical to drink living water. I recently interviewed Dr. Gerald Pollack about his book, The Fourth Phase of Water: Beyond Solid, Liquid, and Vapor. This fourth phase of water is referred to as "structured water" and is the type of water found in all of your cells. This water has healing properties, and is naturally created in a variety of ways.

Water from a deep spring is one excellent source of structured water. The deeper the better, as structured water is created under pressure. There's a great website called FindaSpring.com16 where you can find a natural spring in your area.

But you can also promote structured water through vortexing. I personally drink vortexed water nearly exclusively as I became a big fan of Viktor Schauberger who did much pioneering work on vortexing about a century ago. Dr. Pollack found that by creating a vortex in a glass of water, you're putting more energy into it, thereby increasing the structure of the water. According to Dr. Pollack, virtually ANY energy put into the water seems to create or build structured water.

My own R& team is working on a careful study in which we use vortexed water to grow sprouts, to evaluate the vitality and effectiveness of the water. We believe an ideal vortexer could be one of the simplest ways to improve people's health and we hope to bring our own version to market in the next few years.

Tell Coke They're a Joke!

Obesity is a serious public health problem in the United States, and you are being sorely misled by companies pretending to have a solution that, in reality, only worsen the problem.

I strongly urge you to let the Coca-Cola Company know how you feel by telling them to stop their deceptive marketing of soda products.

Join me in taking a stand against false advertising and let your voice be heard. If you're on twitter, send a tweet to #CokeCEO to let the Coca-Cola Company know you are not happy with their deceptive advertising. If you're on Facebook, please share your thoughts with them on their Facebook Page. Please also email the Coca-Cola Company to let them know how you feel!

Having a Hard Time Giving Up Artificial Sweeteners?

Just like sugar, artificial sweeteners can be addictive. As discussed earlier, they trigger enhanced activity within your brain's pleasure centers, just like sugar, yet fail to provide actual satisfaction. This separation of the taste of sweetness from caloric content means that when you consume artificial sweeteners, your brain actually craves more of it because your body receives no satisfaction on a cellular level by the sugar imposter.

To break free, be sure to address the emotional component to your food cravings using a tool such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). More than any traditional or alternative method I have used or researched, EFT works to overcome food cravings and helps you reach dietary success. If diet soda is the culprit for you, be sure to check out Turbo Tapping, which is an extremely effective and simple tool to get rid of your soda addiction in a short amount of time.

If you still have cravings after trying EFT or Turbo Tapping, you may need to make additional changes to your diet. My free nutrition plan can help you do this in a step-by-step fashion. As for a safer sweetener option, you could use stevia or Lo Han, both of which are safe natural sweeteners. Remember, if you struggle with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or extra weight, then you have insulin sensitivity issues and would likely benefit from avoiding ALL sweeteners.

Last but not least, if you experience side effects from aspartame or any other artificial sweetener, please report it to the FDA (if you live in the United States) without delay. It's easy to make a report — just go to the FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator page, find the phone number for your state, and make a call reporting your reaction.

nice

Great research! God bless you op. No more artificially sweetened drink From now on.

Translate in igbo biko cos I still don't understand all this pharmaceutical jargons.
Obinoscopy can you help out? Thanks

God save us

A friend of mine did the research last year. IT'S TRUE.

In fact, its a grand plan by freemanson to reduce population by inflicting illnesses. Coke has links with freemanson. Make I stop here.

Very soon vaccine for malaria will be sent to Africa, please don't take it

@ Mod, front page plz, let everybody benefit from this important info.

Nice one, op!

@ Mod, plz take dis to front page, more people need to get this info.

If its tonto or any celeb flashing skin, it would be on fp instanta. Butt important info like dis is not important to nairaland mods, na wa o!

This is serious.
I wish our health governing body will look into this.






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I was about to create a thread concerning this topic when I saw yours. However I have written to NAFDAC about this issue today. Here's my email to NAFDAC:


Why does NAFDAC continue to allow the use of ASPARTAME in food drinks such as Coca-Cola Zero and Nutri-C.
These two products readily comes to mind as indicated on their labels.
The use of Aspartame is a known and proven health hazard.
Kindly respond ASAP.
Nigerians deserves proper protection from NAFDAC. Thank you.

The health hazard of aspartame is quite scary. Some of which includes the following:
1. Headaches / migraines

2. Dizziness

3. Brain tumors

4. Mental retardation

5. Birth defects

6. Chronic fatigue syndrome

7. Multiple sclerosis

8. and other chronic illnesses that can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame.

well, I don't drink coke to start with so am safe cos am even avoiding carbonated drinks now

Front Page pls....

NAFDAC response to my mail:

[b]The Reforms Unit hereby acknowledges receipt of your mail.

We have forwarded your complaint to the relevant department. We will get back to you as soon as we get a feedback from them.



Thank you.

Reforms Unit

For: NAFDAC[/b]

I hope they act fast to avoid and/or stop/reduce the seen and unseen health hazards the continuous use of ASPARTAME in food and drinks causes to many people who consume these products especially children.

I will advise people to stop taking Coca-Cola Zero, Nutri-C and any other food/drink that contains ASPARTAME. Prevention is better than cure.

Am in love wit the coco! *sinqinq*




Lhood in

Below is the second response by NAFDAC to my mail received today:

The use of Aspartem has not been banned globally by stringent regulatory bodies, Codex or by Nafdac.

Aspartem like many other food additives, including sugar all have some side effects sometimes adverse in some, not all consumers.

In the light of the above Nafdac requires manufacturers of products containing such additives as non-nutritive sweeteners to compulsorily declare their content in the labels.

This empowers consumers to make informed choices regarding what is consumed and in what quantity.

Thank you.

Reforms Unit
For: NAFDAC

With this response from NAFDAC, the general public (consumers) have been placed on notice (caveat emptor ).

This also means that NAFDAC is lame duck pending a global ban by other stringent regulatory bodies.

Let the buyers (consumers) beware.

Na wa o.

i recommend this drink to you all.ZOBOCOLA.......Nigeria #1 Zobo with no additives etc added

i recommend this drink to you all.ZOBOCOLA.......Nigeria #1 Zobo with no additives etc added.Its pure,original and refreshing...

The truth is Sugar from sugarcane is more deadly than aspartame and even saccharine, google it, sugar has more dangerous than aspartame or saccharine, but all have some side effect, what other substitute do you have for diabetic people as sweetener ?

Why do people still take soft drinks when they can have fresh squeezed juice or water?


I stopped taking soft drinks last year and I don't miss or crave it.


If you value your health, stop taking soft drinks!

the adverse effects of aspartame on the health are very mild when compared to what sucralose (another commonly used artificial sweetener) does. the truth is, except you are ready for major health challenges in the future, you should stop or at least reduce to the barest minimum, consumption of sweetened drinks.