Science in Sport Products

TheTalkingTurboTrainer
TheTalkingTurboTrainer Posts: 916
edited March 2010 in Training, fitness and health
They still contain Aspartame. A substance recognised as having numerous side effects that range from bad to ... well death (extremely unlikely I'm sure, but it's still documented.

So why is it still so popular? Great marketing? Great tasting? Nobody's reading the label? Am I missing something?

I admit I didn't realise until I saw a Nutritionist recently and she strongly advised against it for this reason. She's put me onto Torq now instead which I'm enjoying.

Thoughts?
Vive les All Blacks!!! [:D]
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Comments

  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    I'm going to die eventually anyway. Might as well have some good fuel in the system for the 'ride'.
  • TheTalkingTurboTrainer
    TheTalkingTurboTrainer Posts: 916
    Pokerface wrote:
    I'm going to die eventually anyway. Might as well have some good fuel in the system for the 'ride'.

    So it's a sprint not a marathon then? Fair enough.
    Vive les All Blacks!!! [:D]
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    TheTalkingTurboTrainer wrote:
    Pokerface wrote:
    I'm going to die eventually anyway. Might as well have some good fuel in the system for the 'ride'.

    So it's a sprint not a marathon then? Fair enough.

    I don't know. Is using a product that contains aspartme going to kill me in the next 3 years?


    If so, I'm screwed because I've been using products that contain it in some form for years! :oops:
  • SBezza
    SBezza Posts: 2,173
    Shed loads of products that are used everyday contain it, are you going to check every product on the shop shelves to make sure you don't eat/drink any.

    Virtually every diet drink contains it, many low fat/low sugar food contain it, where do you stop with other ingredients.
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,786
    I agree and try to avoid the stuff, but the 'it's got aspartame why is it so popular' question doesn't really make sense, not when you see how popular diet Coke is. Clearly most people don't know/care.
    http://cyclinganddesign.blogspot.fr/
  • TheTalkingTurboTrainer
    TheTalkingTurboTrainer Posts: 916
    SBezza wrote:
    Shed loads of products that are used everyday contain it, are you going to check every product on the shop shelves to make sure you don't eat/drink any.

    Virtually every diet drink contains it, many low fat/low sugar food contain it, where do you stop with other ingredients.

    Shed loads don't as well as I've learnt after looking into the topic. they often market their products on this angle.

    As for other foods, I've not had to adjust many things to avoid it if I chose to. Besides, it was just a question. It seems fairly likely that in today's world of E numbers and the like, people are going to choose a product that is going to give them the nutritional value they seek for whatever they are doing whilst avoiding the less pleasant ingredients if at all possible. So my point (and comment I guess) was essentially "I'm surprised SIS is so popular given it contains this, I'd have thought that a company that size and with such a big following would still allow their products to contain this and not make an effort to remove them"
    Vive les All Blacks!!! [:D]
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    What is the alternative when it comes to artificial sweeteners? Is there one?
  • jibberjim
    jibberjim Posts: 2,810
    Pokerface wrote:
    What is the alternative when it comes to artificial sweeteners? Is there one?

    For sports drinks, artificial sweeteners are ludicrous. All the calories that are used taste sweet themselves!
    Jibbering Sports Stuff: http://jibbering.com/sports/
  • SBezza
    SBezza Posts: 2,173
    TheTalkingTurboTrainer wrote:
    So my point (and comment I guess) was essentially "I'm surprised SIS is so popular given it contains this, I'd have thought that a company that size and with such a big following would still allow their products to contain this and not make an effort to remove them"

    Sorry, I was just saying that loads of products here in the UK contain it, it is very commonly used, and as such in the UK, there isn't the same fear over it.

    Now whether that is right or wrong remains to be seen, I don't think it is as bad as some of the reports I have seen, but I could be very wrong.

    I drink diet coke everyday, so if I were to use SiS, again it having this in it, wouldn't worry me as such. Personally I prefer the taste of SiS compared with Torq, but you might prefer Torq.

    I don't think it is really needed in the product, as Jim has mentioned the ingredients should be sweet enough anyhow.

    I actually use Gatorade as an energy drink, and For Goodness Shakes as a recovery drink, neither which contain it, but that wasn't the reason I use these.
  • oaky
    oaky Posts: 141
    I used to drink Diet Coke every day too. Then last year I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and went through 6 months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Some people claim a link between aspartame and cancers - particularly lymphoma. So whether its true or not, I'm avoiding it from now on.
  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    powders - I use High5 mostly, or Torq

    bars - zipvit

    recovery - GoodnessShakes mmmmm

    gels - SIS Smart

    I've stopped using SIS apart from the smart gels. In all other cases there is something tastier/better/healthier out there. The smart gels are ace though.
    Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! - Homer
  • arnie-77
    arnie-77 Posts: 61
    Aspartame is regarded as 'safe', but in relatively small quantities I believe. I think the problem starts when its in every product in a range, and you use multiple products from that range in fairly high volumes.

    Lots of people complain about not getting on with nutritional supplements, and I think a part of this may actually be a reaction to artificial sweeteners.
    "Life is like riding a bicycle - in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving." A. Einstein
  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    Like most things in life aspartame is probably safe in moderation.

    Have there really been documented cases where aspartame was determined to be the cause of death or are you believing the conspiracy theories?
    More problems but still living....
  • Ands
    Ands Posts: 1,437
    SBezza wrote:
    Shed loads of products that are used everyday contain it, are you going to check every product on the shop shelves to make sure you don't eat/drink any.

    Virtually every diet drink contains it, many low fat/low sugar food contain it, where do you stop with other ingredients.
    I do. My daughter has a reaction to aspartame - a product which is widely found in children's medicines (e.g. Calpol and some prescription antibiotics). Her mouth and throat swell up and she comes out in a rash. I also have to check every label for certain colour additives (E102, E104, E110, etc etc).

    These products are still legal in the UK, and therefore companies will still use them, even though many of them are banned in other parts of the world. I have a list of about 7 E numbers to avoid - most of them are banned somewhere in the world - US, Norway, Australia, France, etc. The government encourages companies not to use them but hasn't actually banned them. Some supermarket chains have stopped the use of aspartame in their own-brand products.

    I don't have a problem managing my shopping so as not to buy products with additives/sweeteners that I need to steer clear of - there is enouhg choice out there. I do have a big problem in sourcing prescription medicines that don't contain aspartame or some brightly coloured pink, blue or yellow additive!
    Cannondale Six Carbon
  • Ands
    Ands Posts: 1,437
    amaferanga wrote:
    Have there really been documented cases where aspartame was determined to be the cause of death or are you believing the conspiracy theories?
    I don't think it is down to conspiracy theories - just inconclusive evidence.

    The FDA would not approve aspartame for about 10 years because of the effects that it had on lab animals during testing. I believe that it was only with a change of government that it finally got approval. The circumstances that led to its approval were very controversial. However, I am not an expert in this field so there are probably many sides to this story.
    Cannondale Six Carbon
  • oaky
    oaky Posts: 141
    There have been studies that show that (high levels of) aspartame can convert to formaldehyde in the body. And there have been studies that show that, among other things, formaldehyde can cause blood cancers such as lymphoma. And you don't need a study to show that lymphoma can lead to death. I'm not saying you should avoid aspartame. I'm just saying that I am.
  • 52Teeth
    52Teeth Posts: 67
    Try making your own sports drink, this recipe is equivalent to a SIS Go type product and will cost about £4 for nearly 1kg of powder as apposed to £15 for the branded product.
    All ingredients available on line or at the supermarket.
    Maltodextrin 720g
    lo-salt 3.6g
    sea salt 7.2g
    calcium powder 2.4g
    magnesium powder 1.2g
    When you mix it add a splash of no added sugar orange squash or similar for taste. :D
  • softlad
    softlad Posts: 3,513
    52Teeth wrote:
    Try making your own sports drink, this recipe is equivalent to a SIS Go type product and will cost about £4 for nearly 1kg of powder as apposed to £15 for the branded product.
    All ingredients available on line or at the supermarket.
    Maltodextrin 720g
    lo-salt 3.6g
    sea salt 7.2g
    calcium powder 2.4g
    magnesium powder 1.2g
    When you mix it add a splash of no added sugar orange squash or similar for taste. :D

    and if you still don't like the taste, put some Nutrasweet in it. Oh, hang on....
  • SBezza
    SBezza Posts: 2,173
    52Teeth wrote:
    When you mix it add a splash of no added sugar orange squash or similar for taste. :D

    And these generally contain aspartame :wink:
  • deal
    deal Posts: 857
    how about just adding some actual fruit juice?
  • guv001
    guv001 Posts: 688
    While were on the subject of scare foods is it not the case that all preserved meat is processed with Sodium Nitrate and this has been proved as a cause of cancer. How many people still eat bacon, sausage, packaged meat slices etc. My point is that people are only put off using something for a short time by these reports of food linked illness and unless its Ecoli generally not many people are put off at all.
  • fortytwosixteen
    fortytwosixteen Posts: 261
    SBezza wrote:
    Shed loads of products that are used everyday contain it, are you going to check every product on the shop shelves to make sure you don't eat/drink any.

    Virtually every diet drink contains it, many low fat/low sugar food contain it, where do you stop with other ingredients.

    Yes, I do. It's very easy. just dont buy processed food. You dont need it, in fact the opposite - it does you harm. Artificial ingredients are only there for the manufacturers benefit, i.e make it last longer on the shelf, or give it a different colour, so they can make more money.
  • alp777
    alp777 Posts: 211
    Don't waste your money on brand name sports drinks, make your own

    Take a look at this

    http://jibbering.com/sports/drinks.html

    All ingredients available at http://www.myprotein.co.uk/
  • SBezza
    SBezza Posts: 2,173
    fortytwosixteen wrote:
    SBezza wrote:
    Shed loads of products that are used everyday contain it, are you going to check every product on the shop shelves to make sure you don't eat/drink any.

    Virtually every diet drink contains it, many low fat/low sugar food contain it, where do you stop with other ingredients.

    Yes, I do. It's very easy. just dont buy processed food. You dont need it, in fact the opposite - it does you harm. Artificial ingredients are only there for the manufacturers benefit, i.e make it last longer on the shelf, or give it a different colour, so they can make more money.

    I eat very little processed food, but I doubt I would ever eat a 100% free processed diet, and that will go for a big majority of the population. I know some people will have a 100% processed free diet, but that is not the norm, and it is not really the norm to check every ingredient in the food you buy.

    Even fresh chickens you buy from the supermarket are processed to a degree, with having stuff like meat protein and water injected into them to make them heavier. You would have to go 100% organic, to eliminate processed food from you diet totally. A 100% organic diet, will cost a whole lot more than a processed food diet. Processed foods are generally cheap for a reason.
  • simon_e
    simon_e Posts: 1,706
    SBezza wrote:
    Shed loads of products that are used everyday contain it, are you going to check every product on the shop shelves to make sure you don't eat/drink any.
    Yep. It's not a chore, and probably takes less time than I spend researching which tyres to buy. I don't have to examine every product in the shops on each visit, we buy a much smaller range of foods than is on the shelves. Drinks are obvious candidates for the sweeteners - the 'no added sugar' squash, the diet and other fizzy pop in particular. We use diluted juice, which has a more natural flavour and is more thirst-quenching (which is what it is intended for!).

    I avoid sweeteners like Aspartame and Acesulfame K for the same reason as I use toothpaste without Fluoride, beeswax-based lip balm, shampoo and soap without SLS/SLES, and avoid lots of petroleum-based sh*t that goes in these things. I don't know if these chemicals will do me measurable harm but they certainly won't do me any good!

    It might sound laborious and strict but it's the same as choosing to walk past the doughnuts and buying a banana. The more processed a product is the less nutritional value (vitamins & minerals etc) it contains. Our bodies aren't designed for trans-fatty acids, E-numbers or artificial preservatives, colours and flavourings concocted in a chemistry lab.

    It's a crime what so many manufacturers do to our food, but they're only in it for the money. You can either trot along like a good little consumer-sheep and buy buy buy all the processed crap or you can take your head out fo the sand and start asking why the ingredients list on that jar is so long and why many of the names don't sound remotely like food.

    SiS now have certified organic versions of PS22 and Go. These definitely have no Aspartame (it's not allowed in the regulations, and neither are GM products). Organic PSP22 contains: Organic Maltodextrin, Organic Agave Syrup, Organic Orange Juice, Fructose, Mango Flavouring, Organic Elderberry Extract, Sea Salt.
    Aspire not to have more, but to be more.
  • fortytwosixteen
    fortytwosixteen Posts: 261
    Simon E wrote:
    SiS now have certified organic versions of PS22 and Go. These definitely have no Aspartame (it's not allowed in the regulations, and neither are GM products). Organic PSP22 contains: Organic Maltodextrin, Organic Agave Syrup, Organic Orange Juice, Fructose, Mango Flavouring, Organic Elderberry Extract, Sea Salt.

    Completely agree with all your post Simon E.

    But what is "Mango Flavouring"? why don't they just use Mangos if they want it to taste like mango?

    Also Maltodextrin is a highly processed corn starch, Not exactly what you'd call food.
  • wander wheels
    wander wheels Posts: 64
    I've gone over to using High Five as an Energy drink their 4:1 Carbohydrate/protein doesn't contain any artificial sweetners. I tend to avoid anything with artificial sweeteners for the same reasons as pointed out by others.
  • JackCB
    JackCB Posts: 92
    Some perspective:
    Although some political activists, conspiracy theorists, and a few medical researchers have questioned the safety of aspartame, the most recent medical review on the subject concluded that "the weight of existing scientific evidence indicates that aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption as a non-nutritive sweetener."

    http://skeptoid.com/episode.php?id=4127&comments=all
    # The idea that aspartame causes "methanol toxicity" is based on the fact that when digested, aspartame does release a tiny amount of methanol. It's less than the amount you get from eating a piece of most any fruit. Tomato juice, for example, gives you four times the methanol of a can of diet soda. It's a common, naturally occuring environmental compound that is found in many foods. Nancy Markle, one of the most vocal aspartame conspiracy theorists, charges that the autoimmune disease lupus is actually misdiagnosed methanol toxicity caused by drinking 3-4 cans of diet soft drinks per day. If she's right, everyone who drinks a glass of tomato juice each day (or the equivalent in other fruits) is gravely ill with lupus. Time Magazine once devoted an entire article to debunking Nancy Markle's baseless claims about aspartame.

    # Much has been made of the claim that aspartame turns into formaldehyde in your system. This is true, because formaldehyde is a natural byproduct of digestion of methanol, and it happens whenever you eat almost anything. Formaldehyde is carcinogenic and is considered very dangerous in cases of occupational exposure, for example, when you get a dosage many orders of magnitude greater than the trace amounts produced during natural digestion. Again, aspartame does this in much smaller amounts than many common foods, so this has been a normal, healthy component of digestion for as long as humans have been eating fruits and vegetables.

    And, incidentally, the recommended daily allowance of aspartame is 50mg per kg of body weight, so a 60kg person could consume 3000mg aspartame. That amounts to roughly 17 cans of Diet Coke!

    All that said, of course it is absolutely the consumer's prerogative to choose whether or not the want to drink aspartame products. I don't knowingly drink any myself, but it's because (1) I don't like the taste, and (2) I feel no need to cut down on my sugar intake. But there's no reason to feel worried if you are consuming it.
  • sampras38
    sampras38 Posts: 1,917
    TheTalkingTurboTrainer wrote:
    SBezza wrote:
    Shed loads of products that are used everyday contain it, are you going to check every product on the shop shelves to make sure you don't eat/drink any.

    Virtually every diet drink contains it, many low fat/low sugar food contain it, where do you stop with other ingredients.

    Shed loads don't as well as I've learnt after looking into the topic. they often market their products on this angle.

    As for other foods, I've not had to adjust many things to avoid it if I chose to. Besides, it was just a question. It seems fairly likely that in today's world of E numbers and the like, people are going to choose a product that is going to give them the nutritional value they seek for whatever they are doing whilst avoiding the less pleasant ingredients if at all possible. So my point (and comment I guess) was essentially "I'm surprised SIS is so popular given it contains this, I'd have thought that a company that size and with such a big following would still allow their products to contain this and not make an effort to remove them"

    Stick to water if you want to be 100% natural..and see how far you get..;-)

    I wouldn't worry about it personally.
  • JimmyK
    JimmyK Posts: 712
    I just ordered 500g of SIS original today !! need I be concerned about its ingredients :shock: ? there seem to be a few naysayers here about SIS.

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