You Are What You Drink: Diet Coke

Recording artist Taylor Swift has penned a deal to join the Diet Coke team. The association of the lanky doe-eyed pop star with the "pop" brand has added to the stream of controversy relating to marketing of processed foods or drinks to kids. 

NRDC's Laurie David blogged in Huffington Post, criticizing the brand's swift reach to hook younger kids to the addictive soft drink.  Aspartame and other ingredients in the diet soft drink have been associated with a who's who of medical and neurological problems, most pooh-poohed by the soft drink industry.  Should one of America's strongest performing exports be marketing to children?  We'll table  that discussion for another day.

I'm here to come clean today about my own past.  I am a reformed Diet Coke addict.

TaB was my gateway drug.  In fact, when Diet Coke was first introduced into the food supply back in 1982, I'd drive miles in search of the pink can with its spicy, peppery taste.  Eventually, I succumbed to TaB's replacement.  My college days often started with a Diet Coke from the cafeteria, especially tailing a late night pizza binge.  Coca Cola's marketing agency so appreciated  my story, I won a silver purse in a writing contest in honor of the soft drink's 25th anniversary. 

Though Coca Cola, the FDA, and the makers of NutraSweet will defend the artificial sweetener to the end, I can tell you from personal experience diet soda has some strong addictive properties.

I had pretty much conquered my habit till an at home writing job brought me back to my college desk littered with empty Diet Coke cans.  After researching the various medical and neurological symptoms associated with NutraSweet/aspartame, I decided to clean house.  I told my daughters we'd no longer be adding Diet Coke to the shopping cart.

A few years later, the 3 pm craving for an icy can is gone.  I've substituted green tea or a club soda.

My story is far from unusual.  A friend's husband who typically downed at least two six-packs a day shared with me last year he had gotten a handle on his addiction.  He quit cold turkey.

Just like alcoholics can't take a sip, a can or two leads to cravings and a can or two a day can lead to more symptoms than cited by voice over in a pharmaceutical ad.  Since the 1980s, most complaints addressed to the FDA concern aspartame or NutraSweet.  The sweetener has been associated with everything from migraines or memory loss to vertigo, dizziness, digestive issues, increased risk for diabetes, kidney disease, heart attacks, strokes, and depression.  The list continues.

A  study at the School of  Medicine at the University of Texas San Antonio tracked the waist measurements of those who guzzled diet soda with teetotalers of the bubbly stuff.  Diet soda drinkers showed a seventy percent increase in waist measurement over nondrinkers.  So apparently, the drink we choose to acquire or maintain that youthful svelte physique a la Taylor Swift wasn't exactly meeting its mark.

The perils of aspartame or NutraSweet bring a pretty high cost for that icy can or fountain drink at the movies.  I'm so committed to getting you to drop that can, I'm dedicating my next few blogs to the safety issues surrounding diet drinks.

To borrow from Diet Coke's 1998 marketing campaign, "You Are What You Drink.:"

Signing off until tomorrow,

Beth