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HEALTH
GOOD FOR YOU BAD FOR YOU // DIET SODA
> Sometimes it's hard to tell.
For avid fans of diet soda, reading the newspaper can sometimes be a daunting activity. Perhaps every two weeks or so a new study says that the artificial sweeteners in most diet sodas can lead to serious health issues down the road.
"I've heard that the sweeteners are bad for you; I've heard that they can cause cancer or actually make you gain weight," Katie James, Overland Park junior and lifelong Diet Coke addict, says. The latest such study, led by Harvard neurologist Steven Greenberg, linked diet soda with strokes later in life.
Levinson, along with other health experts, has questioned the study because of the lack of peer review and lack of publication in any research.
1900 by Elliot Metz Diet worries: Zero-calorie sodas may not be as bad for you as some new studies suggest.
diet soda with strokes later in But don't be so fast to cut those tasty zero-calorie drinks out of your diet, says Manhattan-based registered dietitian Jessica Levinson. "It's completely new to see diet soda linked to heart problems," she says. "It's such a limited finding; it hasn't been reviewed by other researchers."
medical journals. She says that diet sodas are good replacements for full-calorie drinks in anyone's diet. "Based on a lot of different studies that have been around for years and new studies that have come out recently, I have no problem with them; I recommend them to my clients." Levinson says.
them to my christmas.
So all you Diet Coke enthusiasts out there,
enjoy without fear.
VERDICT: Good for you!
// ELLIOT METZ
THAT'S DISGUSTING // VOMITING BILE
> Dude...gross.
Waking up with a hangover is never a pleasant experience. Your body hurts, you're unbearable and unquenchably thirsty, and worst of all, your stomach feels like a violent battlefield.
But believe it or not, the next few hours are actually more pleasant if you've got some food in your stomach. Otherwise, you'll likely end up vomiting your own stomach bile. "Anyone is likely to vomit bile if they do a great deal of vomiting," Ann Chapman, registered dietitian at Watkins Health Center, says.
Regurgitating stomach bile is usually much
Photo by Elliot Metz Running on empty. Dehydration, alcohol and an empty stomach is a recipe for disaster.
worse than just puking up whatever late-night munchies you may have had the evening before your hangover. Beau Scaggs, Denver senior, has gone through the unpleasant experience. "It was very painful, and I had stomach pains for the next few days," he says.
for the next few days. No sayns For those who haven't had such an experience, stomach bile is a bitter greenish to yellowish substance that aids the digestive process. It's definitely something you want to keep inside you. "It's never a good thing and indicates dehydration at the least," Chapman says.
So if you want to avoid a good look at your own bile, make sure to eat something before you pass out on your buddy's couch. Or, better yet, limit the number of drinks you have while you're out at the bars. Otherwise, you could have a morning similar to Scaggs'.
"The rest of the day I had a hangover that would rival Charlie Sheen's," he says. "I just had no energy whatsoever."
// ELLIOT METZ
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