No more aspartame in Diet Pepsi

[RecoveringJournalist]

Brilliant bit he stole from Bill Hicks

Sad, but true.

 

[MisterCreosote]

I just remember in high school trying to cut weight for wrestling and being told that all I should eat was carbs, and the doctor would have told us the same thing.

I sucked weight for wrestling all the time. I was told to eat NOTHING. And run. With three layers of clothing on.

I'd bet we went to high school around the same time (early '90s). Just eating carbs is infinitely more healthy than what I did.

 

[YankeeFan]

Eat a baked potato. And a grapefruit.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

We wore hefty bags under our clothing and would run a mile just before weigh ins. We were basically told to take vitamins, (and laxatives) and the only real meal we would eat would be at dinner. It was supposed to be all noodles, no meat.

The best thing that happened to me was after my junior football season, I weighed about 215 and would have to cut down to 189 or wrestle heavyweight. They've since added a 215 class, but my football coach pulled me aside and basically told me I'd be better off bulking up for football than cutting weight for wrestling.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

Eat a baked potato. And a grapefruit.

And dry toast.

 

[BTExpress]

The caffeine alone results in dehydration.

Except the ones that are, you know, caffeine-free.

If I'm playing Russian Roulette with my body, the gun must have 345,652,709,219 empty chambers. Or, as I suspect, genetics play a much bigger role in any of this than we want to admit. People with a Terminator-like immune system --- like me --- just aren't affected by this stuff. I drink a Diet Pepsi at 10 p.m. I pish it out at 10:30. With no harm done.

Your mileage my vary, of course.

 

[doctorquant]

If I'm playing Russian Roulette with my body, the gun must have 345,652,709,219 empty chambers.

Yeah, you gotta do some serious rounding to put drinking drinks with artificial sweeteners in the realm of Russian roulette.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Yeah. Your odds are obviously better with the soda than with a 6 shooter with 1 bullet in it. I wasn't trying to be literal either, obviously. The similarity is that you are gambling with your health -- you may be OK. You may not. But you are essentially taking a risk without understanding how much of a risk you have decided to take.

Personally, I have no interest in that.

EDIT: Actually the Russian Roulette is a bit more defined in risk than the soda is. With the Russian Roulette you know your exact odds and you know the exact risk involved. With a soda filled with chemicals, you have no idea what it may or may not do to you that has short and long-term consequences.

 

[MisterCreosote]

People with a Terminator-like immune system --- like me --- just aren't affected by this stuff.

I'd agree with you, but I don't want to tempt fate.

With the mileage I've put on my body so far, it could all come toppling down tomorrow.

 

[Vombatus]

I'm still trying to figure out yeast infections.

Like how a friend got one on his face, but his wife didn't have it.

 

[BTExpress]

But you are essentially taking a risk without understanding how much of a risk you have decided to take.

I guess. But I'm not some 21-year-old who feels invulnerable. I'm a 54-year-old who never gets ill. I've never even had the flu. Blood chemistry/kidneys/liver are all normal (as of most recent checkup). Whatever 35 years of diet soda drinking has done to my body . . . where is it supposed to manifest itself?

 

[doctorquant]

Yeah. Your odds are obviously better with the soda than with a 6 shooter with 1 bullet in it. I wasn't trying to be literal either, obviously. The similarity is that you are gambling with your health -- you may be OK. You may not. But you are essentially taking a risk without understanding how much of a risk you have decided to take.

Personally, I have no interest in that.

EDIT: Actually the Russian Roulette is a bit more defined in risk than the soda is. With the Russian Roulette you know your exact odds and you know the exact risk involved. With a soda filled with chemicals, you have no idea what it may or may not do to you that has short and long-term consequences.

I know you're not being literal, but the whole "gambling with your health" is a bit far afield, don't you think?

It's one thing to say, hey, this is a brand new substance about which we know nothing and with which we have no experience.

The use of artificial sweeteners is not remotely in that class.