You might want to put down that can of diet cola.
According to recent research by the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Columbia University Medical Center, a can a day does not keep the doctor away. In fact, it can increase your risk of heart attacks and strokes by some 43 percent. It can even cause liver damage much in the way of chronic alcoholism. Not to mention, this.
The culprit: the artificial sweetener aspartame, named "by far the most dangerous substance on the market that is added to foods" by Mercola. Aspartame use in the long term was also found to up risk of diabetes and cancer. (Interestingly, aspartame was initially banned in the States. Described as a neuro-toxic drug by the FDA, it was eventually approved by one Donald Rumsfeld during the Reagan administration. And golly gee, I feel a bit like Michael Moore telling you this -- but surprise, surprise, guess who was the former head of aspartame's founding company, Searle? Rumsfeld, of course.)
Ironically, diet soft drinks are marketed as the healthy option, when research suggest they actually make you consume more calories.
Time to kick the soft drink habit once and for all. Or if you really can't, give yourself the occasional treat, but opt for the regular brand instead of diet.
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