So disgusting.
I think it was 2008, or around the first year of my PhD. But suddenly on campus, colorful bottles of "Vitamin Water" started springing up.
I never bought it. Not a single one. It freaked me out. I had lived through the "Crystal Lite" fad, I had been reading Yoni Freedhoff's blog "Weighty Matters" for over a year, and I wasn't going to get coned into that disaster.
And the time, I thought it was simply, water, vitamins, and sugar. That's how most dietians have described it. Basically a multivitamin and some sugar. Nothing to pay outrageous prices over.
But the colorful (and attractive) displays persisted. I saw my colleagues bring them to class, I saw students guzzle them in the mis-belief they were "healthy." Don't get me wrong, I'm all for junk food when you want junk food. I love chocolate, I had a softspot for all dressed ruffle chips, and Orange Crush and peanut M&Ms.; But when I eat those things, I am aware that they are junk food.
I continued on my silent boycott. I noticed the product was staying, and lasting. It's be a 4 year fad so far. I'm aware that a lot of intelligent people in my life are into this stuff. A few weeks ago, I had someone attempt to explain that there's a newer, healthier line of Vitamin Water with less calories. My eyes and ears glazed over, I wasn't persuaded.
Two days ago, I won an athletic award if you can believe that. Last spring, I entered a few "fun runs" in the women over 150pounds category. I ended up ranking 2nd place in that category for the whole season. Pretty neat.
My award consisted of a framed photo of me running in one of the events, and a huge gift bag of goodies. The gift bag contained brochures for fun runs and marathons, coupons for athletic stores, and some actual products like energy bars, energy gels, hand lotion, a travel mug, and a 591ml bottle of Vitamin Water.
I had the urge to toss the Vitamin Water right in the garbage. But I took it home, put it in my fridge, and decided to think about it. I mostly drink water, but once in a while I drink soft drinks, and sugary fruit drinks. Certainly this drink is no worse for me than those. The next time I'm craving Orange Crush or a fruity drink, maybe I'll crack open the bottle of "Recoup Peach Mandarin."
Today at lunch I decided to give it a try. Two twists and the "10 Calories" cap came off. On the tip of my tongue, it tasted just like Tim Horton's peach juice. Not bad, ok. I took it to the computer to sit down.
But then the juice hit the back of my tongue, "Whoa, terrible after taste!" I exclaimed in shock. "It's so bitter and gross. Ughhhhh. Why would it- oh."
I realized what the bitter taste was. I had only ever tasted it once before - when I tried Diet Coke by accident. Aspartame. That's why there's only 10 calories in a bottle, there's a toxic chemical in it. Funny enough, it doesn't seem to list aspartame as an ingredient, but a quick search on the web tells me that I'm correct and it's in there.
Well, that's just evil. Putting a toxic chemical in a product, not listing that chemical on the label, and then selling the product as a health food. Wow.
The bottle is still sitting on the desk beside me. It looks barely touched, because the only thing I ingested was that one gulp. And that's the only thing I'm going to ingest.
Seriously people, this shit is shit. Yick.
Addendum It's now poured down the sink. Much like Tom Cruise and Scientology, the boycott is on.
Yes I now many important and wonderful people in my life are hooked on aspartame. And even the wikipedia website calls it all "urban legends" and internet rumors. Seriously, something that tastes like evil on my tongue is not just an urban legend. Believe what you want to, but here is my list of "boogeyman" links telling you why it's bad.
http://smallbites.andybellatti.com/?p=8050
http://urbangardenmagazine.com/2010/04/aspartame-the-politics-of-food/
http://www.naturalnews.com/011804_aspartame_NutraSweet.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/028151_aspartame_sweeteners.html
http://nutrition-now.com/2009/09/dangers-of-aspertame-what-you-need-to-know-to-protect-your-health/
http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/11/15/aspartame-becomes-natural-aminosweet/
http://healthfreedoms.org/2010/02/15/aspartame-has-been-renamed-and-is-now-being-marketed-as-a-natural-sweetener/
Yes, some of the links are pretty flaky and hippie dippy. But the historical facts about the FDA approval process of aspartame are hard for me to ignore. And, there are licensed, caring dietians that feel the same way I do. For more, check out this nutrition blog and follow andybellatti on Twitter. He's awesome.