Despite warnings about the risks of chemicals in diet sodas, many people still rely on their daily Coke Zero. They take the risk because their greater concern is weight control. The sad irony is that diet sodas may actually be adding inches to their waistlines.
A newly published study is destined to reignite the decades old controversy about aspartame's safety, or lack thereof. Aspartame converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are highly toxic to the body, but the nervous system in particular.
Sugar and artificial sweeteners are so accessible, affordable and socially sanctioned, that few consider their habitual consumption to be a problem on the scale of say, addiction to cocaine. But if recent research is correct, their addictive potential could be even worse.