I think I’m going to cry! I love Coke Zero – it was like the best thing ever. But now research says it might be destroying my brain?
So I was looking for something interesting to write about and found something scary on a personal level. Big headlines about diet soda causing strokes and dementia! I read on and it only made me sad because I really like Coke Zero.
I grew up drinking Coke – my dad was a huge fan and I’d been hooked on the bad drink since grade school (dare I say younger). But, you know, I wasn’t too into health back then and figured that Coke probably just causes acne, and its sugar bumps up your risk for diabetes and gaining weight.
I didn’t put too much weight on the hype stuff, like how they use Coke to clean cars and blood stains. I mean, you can use vinegar to sterilize your floor – but it’s pretty healthy to drink too. I also wasn’t too much into health research, so yeah – just kept chugging the stuff.
Then when I was about to leave my teen years and my lifestyle situation changed, I started becoming increasingly paranoid about stuff like diabetes and heart problems. I always felt extra nervous when I’d be eating spaghetti with Coke due to the extreme carb load. I kept wondering if it was this meal that would be the last straw that causes diabetes.
And then Coke Zero came into being, and it was like zen! It’s like the first time ever that there came into existence a truly zero-calorie soda. My mom bought it for me to try it out, and to my surprise it wasn’t gross like Diet Coke. It tasted almost exactly like regular Coke, except for a very bearable bitter aftertaste.
Ever since then I’ve been able to eat spaghetti with Coke Zero and a clear conscience. But this new research changes all that.
Why Diet Soda Might Be Destroying Your Brain
I was so crestfallen when I read these new findings that artificially sweetened drinks have been linked with causing stroke and dementia! Now I can’t drink Coke Zero without worrying anymore…
They found that people 45 and up who drank one can of an artificially sweetened drink were three times more at risk of developing an ischemic stroke and dementia. But if they only drank up to six cans of diet soda within a week, there’s no increased risk of developing dementia and only 2.6 increased risk of having an ischemic stroke.
And it’s only diet soda (and artificially sweetened drinks) that give you these increased risks! Legit, they found that if you drink regular soda or other sugar-sweetened drinks, it’s not linked to causing dementia or an ischemic stroke. That’s so ironic – and so scary. That just means that diet soda is a no-no and could be worse for you than regular soda.
One of the researchers said that they think that artificially sweetened drinks destroy the blood vessels in your brain and cause hardening of the arteries. These are both risk factors for dementia and ischemic stroke.
Now, I don’t know about you – but I don’t want to drink anything that destroys my blood vessels – especially not the ones in my brain! So I guess that means I gotta stop drinking Coke Zero and switch to something truly healthy, like fruit juice. Ugh. Why can’t there be a junk food vice that isn’t so horrible? You should switch too.
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