" As an avid diet coke drinker I can vouch for my kind, and claim yes, diet coke is addicting. I thought that a full week of caramel-colored cleansing would leave me feeling renewed and healthier. I must admit, I almost fell off the wagon a couple of times, and went on a binge in the days following the diet coke free week. Soda is just about everywhere. It seemed as if every market or vending machine was calling my name. Part of the reason the week was so hard is that I don't like many other drinks. I hate milk, and as for tea, coffee or juice, none of them satisfy me on an everyday basis. They all leave a bitter aftertaste. Others, however, argue that diet sodas are the drinks with the bad aftertastes, due to the aspartame used to sweeten them. Is this artificial sweetener really going to give you cancer or worse?.
Aspartame, which is found in NutraSweet and Equal brand sugars, is made up of two amino acids: Aspartic acid and phenylalanine. These acids are consumed by thousands in foods like milk and vegetables every day, and regardless of the source the body digests it in the same way. There are many highly regarded medical organizations including the American Medical Association and the Food and Drug Administration in the United States that say aspartame is safe. The Food Standards Agency says that, "there is no reliable scientific evidence to back up claims that aspartame causes any of the serious disorders with which it has been linked. An average adult should consume no more than 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram of body weight per day." To exceed that limit, most people would need to drink at least 14 cans of diet drinks a day. .
If you type "aspartame" into Yahoo internet search engine you would get 113,000 results, including links to an aspartame victims" support group and an official-sounding Aspartame Toxicity Centre. The fanatics at aspartamekills.com claim the sweetener causes such things as lupus, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome and Gulf war syndrome.
