https://blogs.mercola.com:443/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2019/02/21/this-is-why-drinking-diet-soda-does-more-harm-than-you-think.aspxIf you like to drink a couple cans or more of diet soda a day, then those are at least two reasons why you should be wary of reaching for them, especially if you&rsquo;re over 50. New research shows that those two sodas &mdash; or more &mdash; can addenCommunityServer 2008.5 SP1 (Debug Build: 31106.3070)https://blogs.mercola.com:443/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2019/02/21/this-is-why-drinking-diet-soda-does-more-harm-than-you-think.aspx?ShowAllComments=True#9456833/15/2019 11:30:11 AM24451277-a5aa-4add-96dc-64081bfd86fa:945683Dr.jeffrey dach<p>A good friend avidly consumes two to three cans a day of Diet Coke. &nbsp;He recently suffered a stroke-like event with loss of speech. &nbsp;Thankfully he quickly recovered with return of function. &nbsp;His friends and family are worried and have urged him to cut out the diet sodas, yet he remains oblivious and continues his addictive behavior. &nbsp;A new study by Hannah Gardener presented at the 2011 American Stroke Association Conference showed daily diet soda consumption had a 61 percent higher risk of stroke.(1-6) &nbsp;Diet sodas contain aspartame, a questionable food additive that should be avoided. &nbsp;Aspartame is a neuro-stimulant which provokes migraine headaches &nbsp;and potentiates epileptic seizures &nbsp;in animal studies.(7)(8) &nbsp;Dr. Olney says aspartame consumption explains the increased incidence of brain tumors &nbsp;in the population. &nbsp;Animal studies show an exceedingly high incidence of brain tumors in aspartame-fed rats compared to no brain tumors in concurrent controls.(9) &nbsp;A 2005 study by Italian researcher &nbsp;Morando Soffritti found aspartame to have carcinogenic potential in animal studies. (10)</p> <p>For more see: &nbsp; <a rel="nofollow" target="_new" href="https://jeffreydachmd.com/diet-soda-aspartame-migraines-brain-tumors-and-stroke/">jeffreydachmd.com/diet-soda-aspartame-migraines-brain-tumors-and-stroke</a> </p> https://blogs.mercola.com:443/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2019/02/21/this-is-why-drinking-diet-soda-does-more-harm-than-you-think.aspx?ShowAllComments=True#9432762/23/2019 9:38:16 AM24451277-a5aa-4add-96dc-64081bfd86fa:943276dale95<p>It took six months to get off of Mountain Dew and a year to stop occasional slip-ups. I had day dreams about it. I thought about it all day.</p> <p>Fasting helped. I realized, in a physical way, I did not need to eat until my fat reserves were used up and that was months away. I noticed the times of day that triggered hunger, the places I went that triggered hunger, the bill boards. It was interesting what and how I wanted to eat and what things manipulated me. &nbsp;It was interesting how fast or slow I would gain weight back after a fast by what I ate.</p> <p> Mountain Dew and the related foods like pizza and burgers made my weight go up fast. Salads, avocados and eggs were much better.</p>