I prefer Aspartame to Sucrlose, personally. Sucralose has too persistant of an aftertaste...Takes some time for it to clear from my mouth.
Oh, well after reading about Sucralose, I feel 1000x better about Coke Zero (and the other Zero products) than I did with ecky's scaremongering! The worst thing written about Sucralose is: Yea, I don't think I'll have that much Splenda in a lifetime, let alone in a month... I don't drink Zero everyday, just when I get a craving for soda.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_zero#Ingredients According to this it does contain Aspartame. Nonetheless, doesn't bother me - I've decided I really don't care about Aspartame. All I cared about: can I drink it without the "you get fat!" effect normal soda has - i.e. is it "like water" in terms of weight gain - don't care about other, unrelated health hazards.
It's a zero calorie soda, no no, no weight gain. But it doesn't help with your body's recognized hydration like water does, meaning your body isn't going to recognize hormonally that it's getting water and isn't going to metabolize the same way.
Anyone ever do a study on which takes the most time off your life: the drugs from the coke you're putting into your system, or the worry of whether or not to put those drugs into your system?
Coke Zero, while amazingly Coke-like, still has consequences. It's still loadied with caffeine and it is stil carbonated... but the fact that it has no calories is enough for me to have an occasional drink or two.
The theory is that it causes bloating, decreasing total fluid intake, decreasing hydration levels, so that if you're going to exercise, or are doing anything else that increases the risk of dehydration (drinking alcohol, caffeine, having a high-salt meal, spending an afternoon at the ballpark in the sun, etc.), you're better off with noncarbonated drinks. Personally, I think the effects are pretty minimal, and I don't know of any real studies offhand showing a significant link between carbonated drinks and dehydration, but it can't hurt to choose noncarbonated drinks whenever you're at risk of dehydration or a little dehydrated to begin with. It's not something I'd worry about though, except with respect to exercise.
Coke Zero is my favorite. I was a devoted Diet Coke drinker until I discovered Coke Zero. It has an aftertaste, but i find it much more pleasant than the Diet Coke aftertaste. I've been listening to people bitch and whine and moan about artificial sweeteners for so long, I just don't care, anymore. If it doesn't make me fat, and it doesn't give me diarrhea, then I'm gonna drink it. And Coke Zero falls neatly into that category. I might stop if they pull a Merck and recall it because it causes heart failure. But until then, I'm ignorantly and blissfully guzzling down my Coke Zero. Drinking some, right now, as a matter of fact
Has anyone here seen Cherry Coke Zero? I've become addicited to it... Of course for me, "addicited" means I had 2 20 oz's in one week. I can't wait for Lime Coke Zero!!
Sucralose has a nasty aftertaste, aspartame gives me indigestion, and saccharine just tastes bad. I stick to sugar. Other than the possible brain issues (which I gather are more important than the liver issues), all artificial sweeteners have one major problem, especially if you're obese and at risk for Type II diabetes: Eating artificial sweeteners, that is, anything without sugar in some form, will flood your system with insulin, which does not get used. You will build up a resistance to insulin which can tip you to Type II, or exacerbate it.
You can buy egg whites in a little carton, like Egg-Beaters. Hard to find, though. Aspartame makes me pee a lot. Sucralose (Splenda) is better. IMO.