BASIC TRAINING.Byline: Jeanette Jenkins Jeanette Jenkins is the founder and president of the Hollywood Trainer fitness company. She studied human kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Jeanette Jenkins is also the host of Lifetime Television's "My Workout:Powered by Podfitness. Q: I know soft drinks are probably not going to help my plight of losing weight, but would diet sodas (Coke, Pepsi etc.) be OK? - Rob Williger Canoga Park A: Of course, everyone would like to think they can have their cake and eat it too, but unfortunately that's not the case. Rob, I'm here to give you some information, and at the end, you and others can decide for yourselves if diet sodas are safe. INGREDIENTS? Before you can decide if a food or beverage is OK, you must look at the ingredients. Let's take a look inside a diet soda - remember that the ingredient at the beginning of the list is highest in quantity, and the last ingredient is the lowest. Diet soda contains: carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame aspartame: see sweetener, artificial. aspartame Synthetic organic compound (a dipeptide) of phenylalanine and aspartic acid. It is 150–200 times as sweet as cane sugar and is used as a nonnutritive tabletop sweetener and in low-calorie (NutraSweet) or sucralose sucralose: see sweetener, artificial. (Splenda), phosphoric acid phosphoric acid, any one of three chemical compounds made up of phosphorus, oxygen, and hydrogen (see acids and bases). The most common, orthophosphoric acid, H3PO4, is usually simply called phosphoric acid. , potassium benzoate Potassium benzoate, the potassium salt of benzoic acid, is a food preservative that inhibits the growth of mold, yeast and some bacteria. It works best in low-pH products, below 4.5, where it exists as benzoic acid. (to protect taste), natural flavors, citric acid citric acid or 2-hydroxy-1,2,3-propanetricarboxylic acid, HO2CCH2C(OH)(CO2H)CH2CO2 and caffeine. First of all, there are nine ingredients in this beverage, and most people are probably familiar with only three of them: carbonated water, natural flavors and caffeine. But what are the others, and why would people drink high quantities of ingredients that they know nothing about? Aspartame and sucralose are artificial sweeteners, and studies reveal that they can stimulate your appetite, increase carbohydrate cravings and stimulate fat storage and weight gain. The bottom line is that these are not naturally formed ingredients like sugar that the body is capable of breaking down without any toxic side effects Side effects Effects of a proposed project on other parts of the firm. . I recommend that anyone who consumes artificial sweeteners read some of the current research, including that in the International Journal of Obesity's July 2004 issue. You should also visit www.mercola.com, where Dr. Joseph Mercola This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. provides several research articles. NUTRITIONAL FACTS Next, let's take a look at the nutrition facts: 0 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of carbohydrates. Right away, we know that this item has no nutritional value at all. It is not providing you with energy (fuel) or any essential vitamins or minerals. Are diet sodas OK for you? You decide. Here's your chance to ask a personal trainer about your concerns or workout. For more healthy lifestyle tips or questions, contact Jeanette at www.thehollywoodtrainer.com. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) no caption (Diet Coke) (2) no caption (Jeanette Jenkins) |
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