Goodbye, to a Poisonous Friend

I have a friend who cures and causes my headaches. My friend makes me feel good only to leave me feeling worse. I need this friend but I know it's doing more harm than good. This friend, or foe, is named Diet Coke, and although we have been together for years, I'm just not into it anymore.

Today marks the first day of my own version of the 12 step program. Step one: admit you have a problem… I, Linden Rock, am a Diet-coke-a-holic. Ever since I was little I preferred the crisp taste of a diet soda to the overly-sugary regular coke. I can remember chugging tab and diet cherry vanilla cola (hey, it was on sale) on warm summer days. In college or before field hockey games I would guzzle down a can in seconds to get that extra boost of energy. Now in the middle of the day when my head starts to pound and my body feels sluggish I want, no NEED, that magical drink that seems to keep me going through the day. That’s when I realized that this addiction was just that, an addiction.

I don’t even like the taste anymore but I can’t stop, even if I try. Every day like clock-work I go into work, proud of myself for avoiding the can in the fridge, swearing that today will be the day I choose water over aspartame. Suddenly, the sun rays slip through my window and seem to stab through my eyes to the back of my head. Pounding ensues and I grow grumpy and unmotivated. Ice cold diet-coke cans, which taste so much crisper than the bottles ones, wait for me 5 floors down in the deli shop. They sit, condensation forming on their cool silver containers, WOOING ME, TAUNTING ME!!!! It’s too much to resist- until now.

Thanks to Twitter, I have learned about everything from where the closest gluten-free joints are and how to get there to what a deep and insightful person John Mayor is (John Mayor=diet coke, but alive… double swoon). Today, I learned about aspartame, which is an artificial sweetener in DC and other products, such as Nutrasweet, Equal Measure, and some desserts, yogurts and even chewable vitamins! According to an article in Natural News, research conducted as far back as 2005 has shown that there is a connection between lymphoma, leukemia, and aspartame. Apparently, when aspartame enters the body it turns into formaldehyde, which according to the EPA is a probable human carcinogen. Apparently, the aspartame isn’t immediately eliminated from the body, but it binds to tissue in protein and builds up causing more damage over time. Frightening? Yes.

I decided to do more research and was further disgusted by what the FDA has approved that I have been putting in my body for years. The use of aspartame is linked to systemic lupus, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and symptoms including vision loss, slurred speech, anxiety attacks and depression, just to name a few. Another symptom? Weight GAIN. Yes, while we all sit back and drink our diet sodas, not feeling guilty, we are actually drinking something that makes us crave carbohydrates and gain weight. The aspartame also turns into formaldehyde, as I described before, and stores itself in fat cells our hips and thighs. ARGH.

So, here I go, day one without any aspartame, aka no diet cokes for me. The worst part isn’t giving it up, it’s the fact that the FDA let me get addicted in the first place. They have done the studies that show the harmful effects of aspartame, yet they say tell us it’s still safe. It’s sick to know what a government organization will do to defend major corporations. But the valuable lesson I’ve learned through all of this research is you really do have to do research and find the answer for yourself. You have to educate yourself on health issues because the people that are supposedly ‘protecting’ don’t really have our best interests at heart.

Wish me luck!

-HH(thirsty)H