Has anyone encountered criticism about using sugar substitutes post surgery? With the whole "aspartame causes cancer.." etc etc argument?

A friend sent me a website a few weeks ago and posted this on her facebook, which basically summed up the article

"Drink diet soda? Artificial sweeteners? Anything containing aspartame? I would stop now. It used to be on the biochemical warfare list, took decades to be FDA approved, it's an excitotoxin that causes brain cell and receptor site death which causes neurological disease. When exposed to temps over 85 degrees it is converted into formaldehyde. Your body temp is 98.5 degrees. And to top it all off it is a leading cause of obesity due to increasing the body's insulin resistance and deteriorating healthy tissue to form sugars to give the nutritional component that aspartame lacks. No joke. How do you feel about diet soda now? I'll stick to the real stuff with real sugar thanks!" She's in school in Toronto for health medicine type courses and they covered this topic

I get flack everyday for diet coke or crystal lite etc. Do any of you get the same? Any suggestions on how to deal with this?

ugh me too

I'm thinking I'll drink whatever is left in the house and then THATS IT! I gotta do it. I feel like it's prolonging my tiredness and headaches, the weening off thing isn't working well for me.

I've been trying to wean myself, too....ugh! It's awful. I get the worst headaches. I hate coffee, so that's not gonna happen... I tried excedrin migraine before when quitting but it doesn't really work. I think beyond the caffeine, I'm totally addicted to the texture. Even now, that I'm thinking about the fizzing, I totally want a sip.

347*294/284/135 (*347HW/294SSW) | (twitter) @Mwrarr | mwrarr.wordpress.com

I quit exactly 1 week before surgery I think. My instructions were to quit all caffeine 1 week before surgery, and I drank it right up to that point. At that point I didn't have a choice, I HAD to stop. You don't want to do anthing that might impact your surgery so just the fear of that is enough to help you quit I had headaches for a few days. Now post op, I don't miss it.

Thanks for your replies and suggestions, I know you guys know exactly how I feel!

I cut diet coke cold turkey when I hit my pre op diet. I did NOT want to stop drinking it' date=' I was so addicted! I never thought I'd be able to do it. But other than a few days of headaches from the caffeine withdrawals (I don't drink coffee) it wasn't so bad. I am not craving it now. I only got the aspartame from the diet coke though, other than that my preferred sweetener is Splenda or erythritol. I can't buy Truvia in Canada and I don't like straight stevia.[/quote']

When I quit smoking 7 years ago I accidentally quit diet coke too... I used to buy 2 20oz drinks with cigarettes daily. I stopped stopping for cigarettes... Hence no diet coke. The nicotine and caffeine withdrawal was awful. I was a mean insomniac! Now I don't miss either anymore... I also prefer Splenda to aspartame.