What Kind Of Coke I Drink

Yesterday’s mention that I drink a kind of diet coke that doesn’t have caffeine or Aspartame prompted some questions about what kind I do drink.

Actually, it varies. Here’s a selection . . .

Diet_coke

None of these kinds of diet coke have either caffeine or Aspartame in them. They are all sweetened with Splenda.

Here are a few notes on them:

1) Diet 7-UP used to have Aspartame but got rid of it a while back. It is the easiest form of Aspartame-free diet coke to find. One note though: There are variants of Diet 7-UP that still DO use Aspartame, such as Diet Cherry 7-UP. Beware of these. It is the regular Diet 7-UP that you want.

2) Diet Rite is also commonly found in supermarkets, and it was the first diet coke to chuck Aspartame in favor of Splenda, as far as I can tell. It comes in several flavors, which the Royal Crown company (which makes Diet Rite) switches around from time to time. They always have a Cola flavor (which, for some strange reason, upsets my stomach; I think I’m allergic to this flavor, though other people obviously aren’t), and lately they’ve had White Grape and Raspberry (which do just fine by my stomach). Occasionally they have Tangerine or other flavors. At the moment they have Cherry Cola, so I’ll see how that does with my stomach.

3) Diet Hansen’s has a BUNCH of different flavors. Pictured here are three of my favorites (which is why I had them on hand): Peach, Kiwi-Strawberry, and Black Cherry. They also have Tangerine-Lime, Ginger Ale, Root Beer, and Grapefruit. MORE INFO. The Diet Hansen’s drinks taste really good (or at least my favorites do). It’s a little harder to find Diet Hansen’s, though. I get it at Henry’s and Trader Joe’s, but I’ve also seen it showing up at some local Vons. You can also order it online.

Incidentally, all of these drinks (Diet 7-UP, Diet Rite, Diet Hansen’s) are also sodium free–so they’re not trying to Ferengi you into drinking more of their product by putting salt in it to make you thirsty (unlike most forms of coke).

There are also other, similar caffeine-free, Aspartame-free kinds of coke, but these are the ones that I drink the most and thus the ones that I had on hand.

BTW, a word about why you might want to avoid caffeine and Aspartame . . .

Most folks know that caffeine can make you feel wired, keep you awake, etc. And some people use it precisely in order to stay awake. I’m not opposed to that in principle. However, caffeine also has some side-effects that people don’t commonly know about.

If you drink enough of it quickly enough, it will raise your blood sugar (which is bad for diabetics and dieters) and it will raise your adrenalin (which is bad if you have high blood pressure or heart palpitations). INFO HERE. Caffeine is safe for most people in moderation–or at least safe enough that they’re willing to live with the obvious side-effects–but it’s something that I avoid as part of my diet since I don’t want my blood sugar raised.

Aspartame is another story. There is a huge controversy over the safety of Aspartame, and for a long time I didn’t pay it any mind. I generally don’t get freaked out about safety claims made regarding products that are being consumed by millions of people. If there’s a significant problem with the product then, in the long run, science will out.

But I started doing some research on Aspartame and found out some things that concerned me enough that I decided to cut it out of my diet. It breaks down into chemicals that I really don’t like. It does this at surprisingly low temperatures, too (lower than body temperature), which is why diet cokes that contain Aspartame frequently have gone "stale" before you open the can. They’ve been exposed to heat that causes the Aspartame to break down and they taste funny.

Even if they haven’t broken down already in the can, they will break down in your body, and one of the things they break down into is phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is something I’m familiar with from my diet and nutrition studies.

Phenylalanine is an amino acid that is common in nature. There’s some of it basically whenever we eat meat. But that form of phenylalanine is slowly-absorbed and is pretty safe. If you’re taking a nutritional supplement or chugging down diet cokes or certain protein drinks, though, it’s another story. In this setting phenylalanine is absorbed much more quickly and causes a spike of the amino acid in your blood stream.

For certain people, who can’t metabolize phenylalanine, Aspartame is very dangerous. These people have a condition known as phenylketonuria, and if they consume phenylalanine it will cause BRAIN DAMAGE.

In your body, about HALF of the Aspartame in a diet coke converts into phenylalanine, which is why products containing Aspartame are required to carry a warning label that says "Phenylketonurics: Contains phenylalanine."

Now, phenylketonuria is rare (though it is more common among people of Irish descent), and if you have it, you’d already know about it. It’s one of the things they test for right after birth, and if you’ve never been told that you have it then you don’t.

But phenylketonurics aren’t the only people who need to watch out for getting a phenylalanine spike in their blood.

Some dieters take phenylalanine because it suppresses hunger (a good thing for dieters), but in significant numbers of people it has bad side-effects, like raising your heart rate and blood pressure (not good things for people who are overweight).

If you have been chugging down diet cokes–even caffeine-free ones–and find your heart racing or pounding or your blood pressure staying higher than it should be, it may be the phenylalanine spike in your blood stream that the diet cokes are causing.

There are a lot of other criticisms that are made of Aspartame, but I already knew about phenylalanine from my own diet and nutrition studies, so when I found out that 50% of Aspartame turns into phenylalanine, that was enough to convince me to cut it out of my diet.

Y’all can make your own decisions, of course, but I’m not waiting for the science to catch up on this one. To my mind, Aspartame is too risky. I’ll stick with other sweeteners, like Splenda or Stevia.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

94 thoughts on “What Kind Of Coke I Drink”

  1. Diet Coca-Cola now comes in either Aspartame or Splenda varieties. Still has caffeine, though.

  2. Thanks, Jimmy, for these non-apologetic food commentaries, because although apologetics and faith topics are always good for the spirit, we also have a body to deal with, the health of which greatly effects how we think, pray and in general, serve God. In my case I have a strange sensitivity to sugar, where sometimes I can eat all I want and othertimes I have severe reactions. It caused me to give it up almost completely for about 10 years. But after I got married, I thought to include it again in my diet, so as not to be a prude or burden to my wife. However, not knowing what reaction I will have when I eat it, creates quite a bit of inconsistancy in my life, and after reading your recent health posts, I am again inclined to severely reduce my sugar intake, which I have already begun to put into practice. So, just wanting to let you know that your dietary commentaries, are probably helping more people than you know.

  3. I love the Hansen’s regular cola because it is not as syrupy as the usual. Unfortunately the one store that carried it here stopped carrying it.

  4. When aspartame first came out, everyone thought it was the greatest thing. It was only after it became widespread that people started discovering the problems associated with it.
    I have to wonder about Splenda. Will the same thing happen there? I’d rather eat good old-fashioned sugar in small amounts than a whole pile of some substance with unknown qualities.
    My favorite drink to chug all day long – WATER!

  5. I’m drinking iced green tea and am now pretty much off sodas, though I have one occasionally. I just don’t care for them that much any more.
    I also drink water thoughout the day, but in the morning I have my coffee, flavored with International Delight non-dairy creamer, affectionately known in our house as “White Death”.

  7. Sigh, Ferengi is NOT a verb. Of all people you’d think Jimmy would know this and model good grammer.
    😉

  9. I *hate* the aftertaste of Splenda. HATE it. None too fond of Nutrasweet, either, other than the rare can of Fresca. If I want something sweet to drink, I usually just drink unsweetened iced tea made with half Good Earth tea and half Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Spice — you don’t need sugar at all with that combo. If I’m jonesing for carbonation (which doesn’t happen all that often), I’ll have the flavored (but calorie-free and not sweetened) sparkling water. Regular soda is a very occasional treat for me. I probably have less than 1 can of regular soda in a given month.
    Other than for diabetics, I think it makes way more sense for otherwise healthy folks who are trying to lose weight to just view sodas, desserts, etc. as occasional treats/celebration food, rather than try to come up with artificial substitutes so we can indulge at every meal.

  10. Since Aspartame/ Nutrasweet is amino-acid based, it can also cause allergic reactions. My husband has terrible digestive difficulties if he drinks it, even a little by accident.

  11. I second the comments above… nothing beats a glass of water, not even the best caffeine-free, aspartame-free soda.
    That said, thank you for your comments about Aspartame, I’ve always been VERY wary of it, since there are so many false rumors regarding Aspartame, I was beginning to wonder if perhaps my fears were unfounded. It seems not…

  12. When I was on a special diet for gestational diabetes, I wasn’t allowed to use anything with NutraSweet as a substitute for sugar (not that I would have anyway, as I hate the taste of NutraSweet). If it’s not safe for our unborn babies, why would any of the rest of us want to consume it?

  13. Joy and Realist are right: drink water! Jen, I do find that many flavored seltzer waters have small amounts of artificial sweetener in them (my ears feel congested when I drink artificial sweeteners so I can tell) so I add lemon and lime slices or frozen fruit to plain seltzer when I want bubbles in my drink. Frozen raspberries in plain seltzer water were good when I had to give up Dr. Pepper during gestational diabetes. Now, all pop is just too sweet for me.

  14. I used to HATE Splenda, but I’ve gotten used to it. My favorite Coke is Hansen’s Root Beer. My favorite sugar-loaded, caffeine-loaded coke is IBC Root Beer.

  15. I find it odd that you talk about what kind of coke you drink and not a single thing of what you shown is coke at all. I see generic pops, or sodas, or even colas, but coke being the registered trademarked name of Coca Cola company, seems to me you should have a coke in there.

  16. I don’t care for Splenda either but I have to say that Diet A&W (with Splenda) is probably my favorite diet root beer.
    I always avoid artificial sweeteners when I’m pregnant, though, and now that #4 is on his/her way I am back to water, herb tea and more water. With pregnancy #1 I developed a taste for sparkling water – Jeannette, thanks for the frozen raspberries idea! I’m going to go try that right now.

  17. What is it with people who refer to soda pop as “coke”? I remember visiting relatives in SoCal… we went to a restaurant, and for a beverage I ordered a Coke, and from there, it became a veritable Abbott & Costello routine: “What kind of Coke?” “Just Coke.” “I know, but what kind?” “Regular Coke!” “What kind of regular Coke?” “Argh!”
    This seems to be a problem which has infected the western and southern border regions in particular. Calling it just “soda” or “pop” makes some sense, but calling all varieties of soda pop “coke” is just crazy!

  18. Jeanette – I read the labels and stick with the unsweetened stuff. The Polar brand is pretty decent – just water and flavor, no natural or artificial sweeteners. Plenty of flavors, too.
    Greg – I think that ‘coke’ as a generic word for just about any soda is a southern thing. 😉

  19. Here in Ontario the diet pop known as 7-up is made with Aspartame/Ace-K. In fact 99.9% of all diet pops here, including Diet Coke which is a diet pop, are Aspartame/Ace-K.
    The only brand of diet cola, that I’ve been able to find that is made with sucralose is the Costco brand. And I’m not sure if that has caffeine. I haven’t tried it yet, since I don’t usually buy diet pop by the case.
    However, there are a number of brands of flavoured water and iced-teas that are made with sucralose. The best is Arizona Diet Blueberry Iced Tea which is just fantastic. It’s made with sucralose and a small amount of sorbitol.
    Lately though I’ve really gotten into drinking Perrier, which is just great for those fizz cravings and probably better for you. I bring a 500 ml plastic bottle with me every day to work and then you can refill it (it seals tight) with regular water to meet your daily 64 oz. total.
    On occasion (about once a week) I may grab an Aspartame/Ace-K based diet pop if I’m grabbing lunch at the cafeteria and forgot to bring something else with me. Coke Zero is pretty good. At least they are using less Aspartame now that they are mixing it with the Ace-K. I’ve never heard of phenylketonuria so I’m pretty sure I don’t have it.

  21. The Aspartame/Splenda issue was something I researched as a chemistry major in college.
    Unless Aspartame messes with you after one or two cans of coke (upset stomach or heart trouble), it is not going to do anything unless you drink 100 or so cans within a few hours. The amount of aspartame is simply too small to overwhelm someone with a normal, moderate metabolism.
    Splenda was specifically avoided by two of my professors, one a molecular biologist and one a toxicologist. For those who do not know (and did not read Jimmy’s link), Splenda has the exact same chemical structure as table sugar except three of the OH groups have been replaced with chlorine. On its own in our metabolism, Splenda does not dechlorinate. But if something were to cause dechlorination, it could wreak molecular havoc.
    On top of that, I am with Jen on hating the aftertaste of Splenda. That, however, has made it a great dieting tool. I buy stuff sweetened with Splenda and I never want to eat it.

  22. Growing up in Tennesse a carbonated beverage was (is still?) called “coke”. I didn’t know what “pop” was until I was a teenager. I guess it’s the same in Texas.
    …and yes, it did lead to coversations with a waitress like, “What kind of coke do you have?”

  23. I find it odd that you talk about what kind of coke you drink and not a single thing of what you shown is coke at all. I see generic pops, or sodas, or even colas, but coke being the registered trademarked name of Coca Cola company, seems to me you should have a coke in there.
    Actually, Greg, think of it like how people use the word “xerox”. Like when people say, “Get me a ‘xerox’ of this” and so forth; they don’t actually mean the trademarked copier machine. They actually just mean a “copy” of whatever it is they want copied (or ‘xerox’-copied, I should say).

  24. Greg E and Chris B are correct. Only “Coca Cola” products ought to be called “coke.” Some decades ago, a group of rednecks were unaware of this and started to call all soft drinks “coke.” Now that all Americans ought to be aware of the trademarks involved, NO ONE should be wrongly referring to all soft drinks as “cokes.” This includes, above all, people who purport to be intellectuals, such as James Akin.
    Slowboy, you wrote, “Sigh, Ferengi is NOT a verb. Of all people you’d think Jimmy would know this and model good grammer.” You are right — but I wonder if you misspelled “grammar” by mistake or on purpose.

  27. And I have to say I’m impressed with the fridge; I found leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, just this morning.

  28. Jimmy, by the way, I’ve been meaning to ask —
    Is that a new fridge or what????
    Looks so darn clean and tidy!!!
    Also, what happened to all the food????
    Is it because of the diet??
    Brother, sometimes you just gotta live, y’know!?!?

  29. I don’t think my fridge was that clean even when it was new.
    Cristin, remember, carbonation is said to inhibit the absorption of calcium, so go easy while you’re expecting! Good luck.

  30. The following are the effects of Splenda in Rodents;
    Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage) (EO56)
    Enlarged liver and kidneys. (EO57 & E161)
    Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus (EO51, EO56, EO151)
    Increased cecal weight (E151)
    Reduced growth rate (EO57)
    Decreased red blood cell count (EO55)
    Hyperplasia of the pelvis (EO57)
    Extension of the pregnancy period
    Aborted pregnancy (E134)
    Decreased fetal body weights and placental weights (EO32)
    Diarrhea
    It is a chlorinated sucrose derivative. Sounds yummy. Have a little sugar now and then and don’t drink soda.

  31. Let me make one argument in favor of caffeine, though:
    If you have ADD/ADHD, caffeine is an easy way to help yourself focus without using more potent drugs.
    For those who have ADD/ADHD (look, a bicycle!), the problem is that your brain thinks that it is falling asleep even when it isn’t, and so it produces a chemical stimulant. The result is that your brain no longer thinks it’s falling asleep and it’s like you’re trying to fit a square peg of available attention into a round hole of focus. Caffeine obviates the need for the chemical stimulant and so you’re able to work with the proper amount of attention.
    Of course, chewing gum or tapping a pencil is also a way to “bleed off” that extra attention if you don’t want to mess with caffeine.

  34. There is no WAY your fridge is that clean… You actually took those cans to a store and set them up in a Display model, right? NOBODY’s fridge is that clean… Please tell your fridge isn’t that clean…. PLEEEZE!

  35. I agree with rsps.
    Both aspartame and splenda are chemicals cooked up by someone in a lab. Don’t use white sugar either. If you need something sweet, use honey, agave nectar, or raw cane sugar which comes in the brand “Sugar in the Raw” in my neck of the woods.
    Stevia is a good natural substitute but the drawback is that you can’t taste the sweetness until the food or drink is already down your throat, and then you taste it in the back of your tongue where bitter is sensed.
    I remember that when I was in Rome for the International Catholic Medical Doctors conference (when I was a student) I had an argument with another doctor about acqua con gas as it’s known in Italy or seltzer water in the US. She and her kids loved the stuff and I was drinking a Coke tm 😉 and they were harping at me for putting that “nasty stuff” in my body. I finally said, “Look, the only difference in what I’m drinking and what you’re drinking is that my drink has syrup in it!”
    They fought with me over and over because they thought that the acqua con gas was “bubbled” with oxygen! So I had to explain that CO2 was bubbled in the water to create the carbonic acid that makes the “fizzy water!”
    Soda is also bad for you, whether in diet or regular forms. Didn’t you see what happened to Lisa’s tooth?

  36. Actually, Greg, think of it like how people use the word “xerox”. Like when people say, “Get me a ‘xerox’ of this” and so forth; they don’t actually mean the trademarked copier machine. They actually just mean a “copy” of whatever it is they want copied (or ‘xerox’-copied, I should say).
    I don’t know anyone who refers to making a copy as “Xeroxing” anymore. That usage seems to have stopped at least ten years ago, at least in Texas.
    I have heard people say thing like “I’m going to pick up some cokes at the store” when they may mean Dr. Pepper or something else. However, I haven’t heard anyone in quite some time order or request a “coke” unless they mean “Coke”.

  37. I remember that when I was in Rome for the International Catholic Medical Doctors conference…
    Dr. Eric,
    You’re actually a doctor????
    No offense, it’s just that with everyone calling themselves “Dr.” these days even though they’re not, I wouldn’t be surprised, especially in a blog, that somebody would actually call themselves “Dr.” for their handle although, in reality, they aren’t.

  38. So I had to explain that CO2 was bubbled in the water to create the carbonic acid that makes the “fizzy water!”
    FINALLY, someone who knows!!!
    Now, folks, this is the very reason why you had that end result in the mentos+diet coke experiment! ;^)

  40. Wow, you keep a clean fridge, Jimmy! I think that’s what most impresses me in this series of posts!

  42. Wow, you keep a clean fridge, Jimmy! I think that’s what most impresses me in this series of posts!
    Coming Up Next on JimmyAkin.org, Jimmy Akin will showcase his garage to the audience!

  45. Dr. Eric
    Thanks for the kudos.
    And if anyone wants the links to the clinical rodent trials they are available on line;
    http://www.holisticmed.com/splenda/
    Though they are on a holistic med. website they are the actual trial results. Some of the lingo is very tech/medical, but easy to read. These were the pre-approval trials for the fda and the trail conclusion is as follows;
    “While it is unlikely that sucralose is as toxic as the poisoning people are experiencing from Monsanto’s aspartame, it is clear from the hazards seen in pre-approval research and from its chemical structure that years or decades of use may contribute to serious chronic immunological or neurological disorders.”
    Being of child bearing years I generally avoid anything that has such side effects in the rodent population. ; – )

  46. Being of child bearing years I generally avoid anything that has such side effects in the rodent population.
    rsps:
    If that’s the case, you might want to re-consider most of the things that you buy in your neighborhood grocery store.

  47. I certainly try! I love Trader Joe’s, a great alternative to the local grocery, yet even there I read the labels.
    Having grown up on a farm I have a strong craving for ‘food’. Whole milk fresh from the cow, home made unpasturized cheese, fresh vegitables, fresh meat that was raised in pasture. Great stuff. When I went to college I almost gagged at every meal (reputable Catholic school with horrible, horrible food. The meat came in boxes that said Grade B Meat, processed for human consumption.)

  48. PBXVI – finally, somebody with some sanity!
    I only eat diet stuff if it tastes exactly like the non-diet original. Like Coca-Cola Zero (the only downside to that product is that it loses its soda way too quickly). I can drink Diet Coke (as in Coca-Cola) too, but for some reason the Diet Coke they give you in fast food restaurants tastes nasty, almost as nasty as Diet Pepsi.
    No cola, Jimmy? *shakes head in disbelief*
    …I don’t drink water. Most of it tastes nasty. I know water is supposed to be flavorless, and that’s precisely why I find the taste of water so nasty. It’s very hard to find water that actually tastes like nothing.

  49. …I don’t drink water. Most of it tastes nasty. I know water is supposed to be flavorless, and that’s precisely why I find the taste of water so nasty. It’s very hard to find water that actually tastes like nothing.
    A candidate for kidney stones?

  50. The poison is in the dose.
    To find that aspartame or sucralose were actually harmful to humans in normal consumption qualities, you’d have to have repeatable, double-blind tests with a sufficient population of test subjects.
    But definitely beware of DHMO, the silent killer, which is added to most of our food and drink products. It’s a universal solvent, for crying out loud! Imagine what that is doing to your GI tract, and your nervous system!

  51. Just in case you don’t know:
    What you may find surprising are some of the products and places where DHMO is used, but which for one reason or another, are not normally made part of public presentations on the dangers to the lives of our family members and friends. Among these startling uses are:
    -as an additive to food products, including jarred baby food and baby formula, and even in many soups, carbonated beverages and supposedly “all-natural” fruit juices
    – in cough medicines and other liquid pharmaceuticals,
    -in spray-on oven cleaners,
    -in shampoos, shaving creams, deodorants and numerous other bathroom products,
    -in bathtub bubble products marketed to children,
    -as a preservative in grocery store fresh produce sections,
    -in the production of beer by all the major beer distributors,
    -in the coffee available at major coffee houses in the US and abroad,
    -in Formula One race cars, although its use is regulated by the Formula One Racing Commission,
    and
    -as a target of ongoing NASA planetary and stellar research.

  53. But definitely beware of DHMO, the silent killer, which is added to most of our food and drink products. It’s a universal solvent, for crying out loud! Imagine what that is doing to your GI tract, and your nervous system!
    I hear it’s also in the air we breathe and is the leading cause of global warming (I am not making this up! It’s true!).

  54. I believe that saccharine is still used in diet coke in fountain drinks. At a job several years ago, I asserted this and was called out on it.
    We called the customer service line at Coke and she informed us this was true. So if you think fountain diet coke tastes different, it DOES!
    I love both versions. I’ll switch over to the generic ‘cokes’ in Mr. Akin’s fridge as soon as I start attending Clown and Polka masses (as in … NEVER).

  55. …and is the leading cause of global warming (I am not making this up! It’s true!).
    Actually, you just may be right!

  56. “phenylketonuria is rare (though it is more common among people of Irish descent)”
    and all this time I thought it was the whiskey that gave me brain damage.

  57. Wow, what a day, I meant to post back shortly and tell Jimmy I was joking about the coke thing, but work kept me busy and I didn’t think about it until just moments ago. Here in Ohio, I know fully well that coke, pop, soda are all interchangeable and I was just trying to give Jimmy a rough time.
    Next time I’ll make sure I can post a follow-up sooner if I am going to rib Mr. Akin.

  59. So if you think fountain diet coke tastes different, it DOES!
    A-HA! I knew it!! Take that, everyone who said I was crazy for thinking the Coke from soda fountains tastes different than the one from cans! I suddenly feel so victorious =)
    A candidate for kidney stones?
    Bah, this won’t ruin my little victory for me. No.
    That monóxido de dihidrógeno stuff truly scares me. I should inform my friends and family!

  60. There is probably a lot more DHMO in your body than you realize.
    There are many thousands of human deaths every year attributable to DHMO. True, in small quantities and with proper handling it can be beneficial, but everyone should educate tehmselves on the dangers of DHMO in larger quantities.

  61. I really don’t see what is so evil about having a regular soda sweetened with (gasp!) corn syrup every once in a while? Sodas of any sort shouldn’t be consumed regularly in a diet anyway, so what is the point of risking the affects of Aspartame or Splenda, etc.
    AB
    <><

  62. After DHMO gets released in the atmosphere air currents bring it up to the north pole where, after mutating into its more deadly form, settles in the environment there. Research suggests that the bodies of the Inuit people are just saturated with the stuff!

  63. A-HA! I knew it!! Take that, everyone who said I was crazy for thinking the Coke from soda fountains tastes different than the one from cans! I suddenly feel so victorious =)
    Well, that’s not at all a revelation since most soda fountains out there don’t properly distribute the right amount of carbonated water and soda syrup for the most part. This is why you might not get the same taste as that in a can.
    On another note, if you taste coke out of a bottle vs. that in a can, you may find that drinking coke from out of a bottle taste even better instead from a can since the can itself can also affect the taste of the coke due to the aluminum, while glass is usually the best container to put things in because it hardly affects the liquid it contains.

  65. But what is the fastest way to get those tasty beverages cold?
    The answer here!
    Good to know for those of us to don’t have Jimmy’s free fridge space… 🙂

  66. I hope the Dhmo comments are in jest.
    Dihodrogen Monoxide is just another name for water, and the ‘Dangers’ of it were circulated as a hoax to show people how to research scientific information for its validity.

  68. The following are the effects of Dihydrogen Monoxide in Humans;
    Decreased thirst response
    Increased blood pressure
    Weight gain
    Intoxicative dementia
    Internal rupturing
    Aneurysm
    Vascular failure
    Removal of skin oil
    Skin blistering
    Exacerbation of hypothermia
    Hyponatremia
    Electrolyte imbalances
    Renal stress
    Light-headedness
    Excessive sweating
    Excessive urination
    Cerebral swelling
    Drowning
    Edema
    Coma
    Death
    The consumption of or even exposure to dihydrogen monoxide has been proven to cause all of these conditions *in humans* when administered in the right conditions (dosage, temperature). I think we can all see just how dangerous this substance is! BEWARE! BEWARE!

  70. So,, we’ve established that water is dangerous and should not be part of the diet of humans! It’s just too risky!

  71. Unfortunatly I don’t drink enough of it to worry me.
    What I do worry about is the undue stress caused to unsuspecting people who now left this blog thinking they need to get tested for DHMO poisoning. Poor people. DHMO was a great lesson to many to really do your research and be able to think critically. A town in California actually was considering a ban on DHMO until they shame-facedly were informed by a scientist that it is….Water. Ahhh, that would have been money well spent!

  72. Yes, H 2 o can have all those effects in various situations.
    Dihydrogen Monoxide…..is WATER.
    Darn!
    Somebody actually pulled the plug on the joke!
    It would’ve been awesome if people got so tensed up, they actually started coming off Jimmy’s blog, marching up and down city hall, protesting with signs saying, “Down with Dihydrogen Monoxide!”

  73. hokiepundit:
    LOL!!! where? what color was the bicycle?!?!? 🙂
    thank you!
    so many issue here where to start?:
    1. I agree … all diet stuff tastes yucky… I don’t do diet.
    2. non-dairy creamer…. white death indeed! half and half and / or cream is white heaven!
    3. where did sugar get such a bad name? 100% natural… non-refined is so good for you.
    4. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) – not good for you… slipped into the food chain in the mid 80’s and it’s in EVERYTHING. There is no way for the human body to assimilate this – thus… resulting in the epidemic of obesity that we see all around us.
    5. “Those of you so strongly against calling all soda “coke,” do you call all adhesive bandages “Band-aids?””
    > what do you call the tissue you blow your nose with… a “Kleenex”?
    > what do you call the fastener that you “zip” your clothes up with… a “Zipper”?
    6. I just love these non-apologetic threads because the rabbit trails just go off in all directions.

  75. I just love these non-apologetic threads because the rabbit trails just go off in all directions.
    That’s what I love about Jimmy’s blog.
    It’s not strictly apologetics — it has other ‘crap’ in it! ;^)

  77. As some have pointed out before, it is not Coke if it is not Coke. It’s not like Xerox. Calling Sprite Coke is like calling apple juice orange juice, it just doesn’t make sense. I don’t care what part of the country you are from. Dialects are fine but this usage is nonsense.

  78. What I find most personally interesting is the info about the sensitivity to aspartame being more common among people of Irish descent”….
    I am of ( at least, predominantly) Irish descent, & from my first taste of the stuff, I have always developed a pounding migraine from the tiniest amount.
    The most I have ever heard before was “Yeah, it does that with some people”.
    I avoid it, & dream of the days when I could buy diet drinks with saccharine. (Yes, I know about the lab rats.;-) Not being of the family rodentia, I let them worry about it…).

  79. In Vino Veritas!!
    Newer negatives are being discovered re: Splenda – well, what did you expect?!
    Aspartame is probably THE most studied sugar substitute out there … and it’s still out there!
    Recent studies say caffeine helps prevent Alzheimers.
    In KY it’s “soft drinks” … no soda, pop, soda pop, etc. A soda is the traditional one from the fountain!
    No amount of worry will change the appointed time!

  80. J.R.,
    Calling Sprite Coke is like calling apple juice orange juice, it just doesn’t make sense. I don’t care what part of the country you are from. Dialects are fine but this usage is nonsense.
    I agree that it is odd to call Sprite or any other lemon-lime beverage “coke.” But many people consider “coke” to be synonymous with “cola” (and don’t be fooled, the good folks at Coca-Cola absolutely love that fact, they just have to act like they don’t to protect their trademark rights) and every dark (non-fruity) soft drink to be just another flavor of cola. At least to that point, it doesn’t seem that illogical to me.

  81. I’m 100% Irish and I just can’t get enough Diet Coke (the real kind, all loaded up with yummy caffeine and Nutrasweet…)

  82. Hey, calling soft drinks Coke makes perfect sense here in Atlanta, where Coke was born. In this context, in the early 20th century, where the first and only soft drink you ever had was Coke, anything else that came along was just another variety of the same thing, just like Puffs is another variety of Kleenex and Curad is another variety of Bandaids.
    But the influx from the north has diluted our proud heritage and alas!, most now say soft drinks or soda. Cursed be the word “pop!” I hate it!
    At any rate, I only drink water and occasionally milk or tea now, so moot for me.

  83. As some have pointed out before, it is not Coke if it is not Coke. It’s not like Xerox. Calling Sprite Coke is like calling apple juice orange juice, it just doesn’t make sense. I don’t care what part of the country you are from. Dialects are fine but this usage is nonsense.

    How exactly is the sentence “It is not Xerox if it is not Xerox” different from the sentence “It is not Coke if it is not Coke”?
    Or how is the sentence “Calling Canon Xerox is like calling apple juice orange juice, it just doesn’t make sense” different from the sentence “Calling Sprite Coke is like calling apple juice orange juice, it just doesn’t make sense”?
    This seems utterly abitrary to me. (Or were you joking, and I was just too humor-impaired to get it?)

  86. found your post via Google…will encourage my nephew to read this post as he loves drinking Soda
    My opinion, whether it is diet or non diet soda, we all should be drinking water. It’s whole lot better and healthier.

  90. If you’re drinking splenda, you should probably go ahead and drink aspartame. Splenda just has different types of artificial sweeteners. Stick with the hansens… it doesnt have any.

  92. I only eat diet stuff if it tastes exactly like the non-diet original. Like Coca-Cola Zero (the only downside to that product is that it loses its soda way too quickly).

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