Coke Zero: The New Antidepressant? -or- Wanted:Biochemist to Tutor Liberal Arts Conspiracy Theorist

I purchased Coke Zero initally as a result of clever packaging and low low prices, and enjoyed it for the most part.

Until I read the ingredients.

Of which there were none.

Except for aspartame, which is a common ingredient in diet sodas. But the FDA-mandated warning that this product contained phenylalanine gave me reason to pause, since I had absolutely no idea what that was or why the FDA thought I should care of it's presence in my frosty beverage.

So like any good employee bored at work and looking for a little online distraction, I researched it. And this initial search freaked me out. Were we being drugged by Coke? Why was one of the few ingredients of this soda an amino acid that could increase weight loss/control, sexual interest, memory inhancement, and allievate symptoms of depression? And frankly, it didn't help that the tag line is "Everybody Chill." As some who has said, at least to myself, that I will go out like Braveheart before UNNECESSARILY medicating myself, I was ready to boycott the drink and well, that's pretty much it. Until it occured to me that 1) I don't drink that much soda anyway and 2) Perhaps there was a more rational explanation to the inclusion of this ingredient than my original hypothisis that Coke was out to drug the world.

Ah well--at least I still have the results of the G8 Conference to piss me off.

Comments

[sara]

"Were we being drugged by Coke?" It's called COKE for a reason. It use to have cocaine IN IT. My great great aunt, who lived until she was 104, never EVER drank a Coke for that very reason. It was out to drug the world. At least they moved on to lesser known drugs like aspartame, right? ha.

[jessie a]

KT - i just found your blog (I'm so out of the loop). you don't even know it but this post was written just for me as I can now (after a year of graduate school) describe the structure and properties of each of those "lovely" compounds you listed. :-P

[contrarymary]

Doesn't it say right on the warning, "Phenylketoneurics (or something): This product contains phenylalanine"? In other words, only phenylketoneurics (the people who have problems with phenylananine) need to read this warning because no one else will care.

I don't remember where I learned about that but I thought it was common knowledge. Then again, I read the encyclopedia for fun when I was a kid, so what do I know :-)

[undergroundwhitecoat]

Phenylalanine used in Coca Cola products is the "I" isomer of the drug, which is used mainly in suppression of diet, is an essential amino acid. It has little to no other effect. It is sold in pure form from health food shops. The "D" isomer of Phenylalanine shares characteristics that are very similar to amphetamine, it can also be used as a precursor for methamphetamine. It stimulates the release of epinephrine in the body (adrenaline) and is also used to treat depression and chronic pain (by blocking enkephalinase, an enzyme that contributes to increased pain levels in the body). What you find in chewing gum products and coca cola etc with phenylketoneurics - I can bet a brick to london that it is the harmless "I" isomer of the drug. The "D" isomer is harder to acquire as there isn't much use for it and isn't manufactured for retail sale. The only drug present in coca cola that you are likely to become 'addicted' to, or is most likely to cause hyperactivity and sleep problems is the caffeine. Phenylketonuerics only warn against excessive consumption due to the fact it may cause a laxative effect and is not a cause for concern.

[botch]

For those who care all of the diet crap is nasty stuff. Aspartame has formaldehyde and methanol in it. Methanol is wood alcohol and yes it sometimes occurs naturally in fruit and some other foods but in things it is naturally found in it is bound with pectin. methanol cannot be metabolized by your liver without pectin that is why it is sooo deadly. Believe me diet drinks don't have pectin in them. When you consume methanol your body stores it because it cannot metabolize it. In small amounts like found in diet drinks it may not be enough to kill you but your body stores it so over long periods of time it builds up to toxic levels. Formaldehyde is embalming fluid I don't know how toxic it is but it cannot be good for you. You may not get sick or die from drinking a diet drink but you sure aren't doing your body any good. It is especially bad for children and may even be linked to sids , would you give your child a drink with strychnine in it just because it wasn't enough to kill them? Think about what i've said cuss me if you want to but it is a fact that wood alcohol is a serious poison. Asking your doctor about what I have written will do no good because doctors only know what they've been taught. Diets are suppose to be good for so sugar free would be the correct way to label such horrible drinks. Love to all gods children and good night!

[tony montana]

/\ aspartame does not contain any formaldehyde or methanol. If you don't believe me, google aspartame and point them out, you can't because it isn't there. You clearly have no idea what you're talking about. It's ridiculous, you actually recommend people ignore the advice of their doctor. Using your same backwards logic and misunderstanding, you can find a carbonyl, I'm sure you would interpret any derivation thereof, acid, keto, aldehyde, ester, anhydride, etc, etc, for what you view as "formaldehyde." Likewise I'm sure you're misguided views would interpret any derivation of a hydroxyl group for you're so called "methanol." Idk what sort of fantasy, wizards and warlocks world you live in where you think chemistry's some evil malevolent manifestation. "Phenylalanine" ooh it sounds so scary till someone points out it's an everyday household amino acid and you're bodies depends on them to build proteins and function correctly. It's essential, meaning you need to intake it from your diet, and D isomer isn't readily available because it's not friggin made in nature. Not trying to rant, but it's a shame you're not educated about what you're preaching.

-the thought didn't exactly follow, I meant to say, you can find what you interpret as formaldehyde and methanol in fats, carbohydrates and countless other chemicals your body uses, aspartame may not be good, but your logic's flawed. Maybe the big words scare you?(shrugshoulders)

[Micky]

Wikipedia Info:
The debate over possible adverse health effects has focused mainly on four chemical components of aspartame:

[edit] Methanol and formaldehyde
Approximately 10% of aspartame (by mass) is broken down into methanol in the small intestine. Most of the methanol is absorbed and quickly converted into formaldehyde. Some experts/scientists believe that the metabolism of aspartame does not damage the body because: (a) the quantity of methanol produced is too small to disrupt normal physiological processes; (b) methanol and formaldehyde are natural by-products of human metabolism and are safely processed by various enzymes; and (c) there is more methanol in some natural fruit juices and alcoholic beverages than is derived from aspartame ingestion.[16][17]

[Dean]

Artificial sweetners are safe.
Get over it you health nuts.

[Bernice Berg DTR]

I had a son who suddenly died at age 45.He had never had a serious illness in his life but began drinking lots of Diet Pepsi.The coroner expressed puzzlement that a fellow so physically fit could die just bike riding.He said,"Maybe he had a hidden heart defect and that I should have my other three sons checked for a defect,though again none had ever had a serious illness but they also did not drink aspartame drinks. None showed a defect.But for myself any time someone slipped a diet beverage or food as aspartame in yogurt,I was ill for days,even developed a hand tremor- all effects disappeared after four days.The body is supposed to convert phenylalaline into tyrosin,which is needed by the brain.when it is not converted it becomes a toxin floating around.I am age 80 and I have never used medications ,not even aspirin for the last 25 years.See Mission Possible on the Internet for clinical proof that aspartame is like a poison.2/26/8

[Mandi]

I was reading your information and am going to do some more research on this. I came across this blog while researching coke zero. My kids and I have had severe , what can only be described as huger pains, after drinking this drink. When I finally realized it could be the drink it had got so bad that I was laid on the bathroom floor barely able to move because of the pain and the pain was so great I believe it cause me to start vomitting. I do not recommend coke zero to anyone and will not longer bring it into my household.

[maria louisa moreto]

waht is the components of the chemical of the coke zero?

[Ralph Jamison]

Please don't believe everything you read on the internet. Unless you're phenylketoneuric, which would leave the amino acid building up in your body because you can't break it down, the amino acid will have little effect on you according to the peer-reviewed medical research that I reviewed. Of course, someone with a vitamin site will sell you a bottle of pills and a conspiracy theory, and they'll try to convince you that everything has magical powers or evil danger. If only the established medical community wasn't under the thumb of big pharma.

Your soda is not going to drug you up. Controlled studies with large doses find such small differences between those who consume the amino acid and those who do not that some studies show no significant difference and some show results that just barely clear the bar of statistical significance (as if it were a single bar). Enjoy your soda. If you're making a difference, it is so small that scientists have a hard time measuring.

[Joans Weight Loss Story]

Hey,
Cool blog, I just came across it and I'm already a subscriber
I hope it's not too brash but I have just started documenting
my own weight loss(I went down 30 pounds in a month, so pretty good
, and I was wondering if you could share
the weight loss products I used for your blog readers.
My most recent blog post is
weight loss exercise
If you're up to do a link exchange
that would be great since I want to share my weight loss success
with everyone. If I can lose weight then
any one can. Whatever you do, don't give up and you WILL
reach all your weight loss goals!
with kind regards,
Joan

[CyberDude]

I see damage control has been hard at work here with disinformation. Shame!

-----

Phenylalanine is a hidden danger to anyone consuming aspartame. Most consumers don't know that too much Phenylalanine is a neurotoxin and excites the neurons in the brain to the point of cellular death.

ADD/ADHD, emotional and behavioral disorders can all be triggered by too much Phenylalanine in the daily diet. If you are one in ten thousand people who are PKU or carry the PKU gene, Phenylalanine can cause irreversible brain damage and death, especially when used in high quantities or during pregnancy. Phenylalanine is 50% of aspartame, and to the degree humans consume diet products, Phenylalanine levels are reaching a dangerous peak.

It is important to learn about the ingredients within your foods, especially isolated amino acids like Phenylalanine. They are in combination within nature for a reason - they don't belong in isolated form for the healthy human diet.

[pdoulton]

Let's say you were very ill and needed an MD Specialist, you look up MD Specialists in the yellow pages or even on the internet.... would you choose MD Specialist names such as Cyberdude, Undergroundwhitecoat, etc. I didn't think so. Like you wouldn't go to your mechanic for brain surgery.....

[Alan Foos]

Why not ask the researcher who was initially hired by the gov, found aspartame to be dangerous as Hell, and shortly disappeared shortly after publishing his results, the product was then approved by the FDA at Rumsfeld's uring (who profited handsomely from aspartame sales) and now graces 6,000 foods, mostly unlabeled. Oh, yeah, he hasn't turned up yet, but seek and ye may find.

If the problems of snoring are too much to bear please don't rush out and get a snoring mouthpiece. These are usually ill fitting and don't work. I found a 100% natural cure that is a lot more comfortable than trying to sleep with something stuffed in your mouth!

Is snoring ruining yours or your partners life? Find out about this 100% natural 2 week cure

[Shemale Pic Tgp]

any changes coming ?

[David Harrington]

Coke Zero ain't just a new anti-depressant--it's also the new crack, adderol, and methamphetamine, depending on the place you do it ... I mean, drink it. It's called "zero-ing out", dudes.

[Matthew]

I am a long depressed individual and I have noticed that diet coke and diet pepsi do an excellent job of alleviating my depression, and that's why I found this article - to check if others experience this. It is especially beneficial when I haven't had any for over two weeks.

[Maverick]

I think for finding video or musics you must use special search engines. Rapidshare Search Engine( http://www.rapidsharemix.com ) is important to make searching in rapidshare easy and comfortable.

[tutoring centres in brooklyn]

Is this true?,I am a fan of Coke zero, but now I am not going to drink this,the way it says that coke drugged us!....

[brooklyn tutoring]

..Is this true?,I am a fan of Coke zero, but now I am not going to drink this,the way it says that coke drugged us!..