Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi?

A Tough Choice at BigU

Oddly, a study published last July by U of M researchers is only now surfacing in the local (Pioneer Press) and national (Reuters) media. Surprise, surprise, diet pop is bad for you!

Because of the U of M's financial arrangement with Coca-Cola and the dean of the medical school's membership on the board of directors of Pepsi [sic(k)], the U of M's research on the harmful effect of diet pop on people's health is triply ironic. Mr. B. has previously posted on BigU's Coke connection:

Coke or Pepsi, The Age Old Question

And on the ick factor of the Dean's deal with Pepsi (~100K$ the first year):

It's The Ick Factor

BigU Med School Dean Sits on Pepsi Board

But then again, Coke and Pepsi have the money and that we need. "In this world one thing counts, in the bank, large amounts."

Meat, diet soda linked to heart disease

Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:02am IST

By Ed Stoddard

DALLAS (Reuters) - People who eat two or more servings of red meat a day are much more likely to develop conditions leading to heart disease and diabetes, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

Eating two or more servings of meat a day increases the risk of suffering from a cluster of risk factors known as metabolic syndrome by 25 percent compared to those who had only two servings of meat a week, the researchers reported in the journal Circulation.

The symptoms of metabolic syndrome include excessive fat around the waist, high cholesterol, high blood sugar and high blood pressure.

The study also found that diet soda consumption was linked to these elevated risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, echoing the findings of a study published in July.

"When we found that diet soda promoted risk we were surprised," said Dr. Lyn Steffen, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota.