I used to work with a man who went through three, two-liter colas every eight hour workday. And there are people who drink eight or ten cups of coffee a day. That’s a lot. The guy who’s working for me now seems to live on empty carbs, caffeine and tobacco. He complains about irritability and not being able to settle down. He’s 23, and I don’t see a long life in store for him. I’ve taken to bringing him into my house for lunch to at least get a nutritious meal into him when he’s under my control.
The research on alcohol indicates that drinking four to six drinks (not more than one or two drinks per day) of any kind (wine, beer, licquor) per week has health benefits. This doesn’t apply during pregnancy. As one increases the number of drinks, the health benefits diminish and health risks occur.
I share your concerns on aspartame, and try to avoid the stuff.
As for the study, you have to ask yourself what a study really means, and if the advertised conclusion is actually a valid one. An example:
A few years ago there was a study on one of the new COX-2 inhibitors, Vioxx. This is a powerful anti-inflamatory drug that is usually given to people with chronic inflamation such as arthritis sufferers. The study seemed to link Vioxx with a slightly increased risk of heart attack.
I asked a few doctors about this study, and the concensus among the docs is that while the data in the study is accurate, the interpretation is not. To understand why, you have to understand that most of the anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) that preceded Vioxx had a side-effect of slightly reducing the chance of a heart attack. Vioxx doesn’t carry this benefit, thus the apparent connection in the trending data when compared to patients who take older NSAID therapies.
That is why the medical community likes to see several studies, preferably with as much diversity as possible, before making decisions regarding such things as new drug therapies and lifestyle changes. A single study is a lot like a single EKG: it may show you there is a problem, but without having others to look at, you cannot be 100% sure what the problem really is.
There is also something to be said for common sense: did it really take a study to show that drinking many soft drinks a day is a bad idea? I’m also reasonably sure stuffing a whole roll’s worth of paper towels into my nostrils is a bad idea, but no one really has to do a study to convince me of it.
I have been a diet coke addict for many years. I drank as many as 8 cans a day. I now drink caffiene free diet coke or pepsi since I had a heart attack. Now I drink no more than 3 cans a day and sometimes none. I do drink about a liter of flavored Seltzer each day and several glasses of just plain old water. The stimulant effects of caffeine can exascerbate arhythmias and even cause one to go into fibrillation. The caffeine is not to bad if you have no arhythmia problems but if you have an unknown problem you could trigger an attack. Stronger stimulants such as cocaine are even more dangerous in this regard. If you want to be real safe drink plain old water. As for milk, I can’t stand the taste of the stuff. But I have never met a piece of cheese I didn’t like.
I have never drank soda (maybe 3 times my whole life), and I am a milkaholic. I have also never broken a bone, excluding my big toe–which, come on now, that doesn’t really count! And I’m active in a lot of activities that are, let’s say, conducive to bone-breaking. Taken plenty of nasty spills that never resulted in more than a sore bruise.
Correlation? I dunno. Just thought I’d mention it.
