I’m generally convinced that Americans will believe anything, I actually mean ANYTHING, that mainstream media puts out as long as its endorsed or created by a supposed expert. Half the time these “experts” are nothing more than TV or internet “Yoda’s” who say anything they want (usually to promote their new product) claiming its scientific truth without ever providing any scientific evidence. You know, the type that comes from scientific inquiry into a subject.
The latest TV and internet Yoda fest has been Soda, Diet Soda and Artificial Sweeteners.
What Soft Drinks are Doing to Your Body
About 99.9% of what the internet Yoda’s like to claim as scientific fact in regards to the above has not been scientifically proven. It’s their Yoda opinion. That’s all it is, an OPINION, not fact. It’s all guided by how they feel about something, not necessarily about disseminating truth.
These Yoda’s like to talk about how bad sodas (diet and full strength) and artificial sweeteners are, sometimes they even quote studies. Here are some of the favorites:
Diet soda intake and risk of incident metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Nettleton JA, Lutsey PL, Wang Y, Lima JA, Michos ED, Jacobs DR Jr.Diabetes Care. 2009 Apr;32(4):688-94. Epub 2009 Jan 16.
Yoda Says: “Diet Soda drinking and diabetes you will get“
Science Says: “CONCLUSIONS: Although these observational data cannot establish causality, consumption of diet soda at least daily was associated with significantly greater risks of select incident metabolic syndrome components and type 2 diabetes.”
Association is NOT causation. i.e. One does not necessarily cause the other. It may, but we DO NOT know.
Consumption of aspartame-containing beverages and incidence of hematopoietic and brain malignancies.Lim U, Subar AF, Mouw T, Hartge P, Morton LM, Stolzenberg-Solomon R, Campbell D, Hollenbeck AR, Schatzkin A.Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006 Sep;15(9):1654-9.
Yoda Says: “Cancer brain and headache artificial sweetener will give you.”
Science Says: CONCLUSIONS: “Our findings do not support the hypothesis that aspartame increases hematopoietic or brain cancer risk.”
Problem is the American public believes everything they read, hear and see. We’ve completely lost the ability to have our BS meter turned on when it comes to media appointed Yoda’s. Whatever they say we believe, without question.
Why don’t they ever even acknowledge the other argument? Maybe diet sodas and artificial sweeteners are not the harbinger of death. Maybe they actually help people lose weight. Maybe, just maybe, they are perfectly safe……
Effect of drinking soda with aspartame or high-fructose corn syrup on food intake and body weight. MG Tordoff and AM Alleva,American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 51, 963-969 Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia 19104.
Science Says: “Drinking large volumes of APM-sweetened soda, in contrast to drinking HFCS-sweetened soda, reduces sugar intake and thus may facilitate the control of calorie intake and body weight.”
OMG! diet soda may (may not also) help people lose weight. Say it aint so Dr. Phil….
Liquid Calories, sugar and body weight. Adam Drewnowski and France Bellisle, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 85, No. 3, 651-661, March 2007
Science Says: “The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been linked to rising rates of obesity in the United States. The standard explanation is that energy-containing liquids are less satiating than are solid foods. However, purely physiologic mechanisms do not fully account for the proposed links between liquid sugar energy and body weight change………Numerous clinical studies have shown that sugar-containing liquids, when consumed in place of usual meals, can lead to a significan tand sustained weight loss.”
Nooooooooooo………this can’t be true!……..But wait, it is.
The point isn’t that these things are perfectly safe or preferable to things like water. I’m not saying that drinking a six pack a day of diet sodas is a healthy choice. Personally, even though I have done it many, many times, it’s probably, in my opinion, not.
This is probably the most even-handed and best mainstream article I’ve read on this subject.
Are Artificial Sweeteners Really that bad for You? by Claire Suddath
The point is, we need to stop believing whatever the Yoda of the minute spews out, start taking the 2 minutes to find out if its truthful and start understanding the difference between something that is proven and something that is opinion.
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