Diet Coke is poison?

So I have a slight concern as of late. A good friend of mine, a smart friend of mine who just recently graduated from Geneso, revealed some shocking information that I can't just turn my head on. I consider her smarter than myself, and for her to be telling me this information which she says she learned at Geneseo, a good school, it's hard for me not to think about it a little bit.

She advised me not to drink Diet Coke. Why? Because it contains aspartame.

For those of you who do not know anything about aspartame, like me, it is the additive that makes the product diet. But, when the ingredient is left at room temperature, as Coke products are when they are shipped to various selling points, the aspartame breaks down into formaldehyde, methyl alcohol, formic acid, diketopiperazine and other toxins. So basically, in a nutshell, when you drink Diet Coke, you are drinking poisons.

She said to me, Did you ever drink a cup of Diet Coke at a picnic where the bottle had been sitting in the sun all day and it tasted a little fuzzy? That's formaldehyde. You can taste it in warm Coke. Once the Coke turns luke warm, the poison is in there. It can't be reversed.

Now, I heard this and I wasn't really convinced. I still ordered a Diet Coke the next time I went to a restaurant. I think my problem is that people aren't dying from this. This isn't being linked to any known diseases (well, yet anyway) so the threat isn't so severe. I mean, what's the worst that can happen?

I hate when people get too uptight about eating and drinking foods that are spoiled or poisonous. I'm really not that uptight. I eat brown bananas and food that fell on the floor (hell, I ate a sandwich that landed on the gravel the other day. That's pretty gross but I won't die from it. I'm hungry). I think America sometimes overexaggerates or freaks out a bit too much--sometimes it's good to ingest a little bacteria or problems because then your body creates a tolerance or isn't as weak because they've been exposed to negative things. Now, I don't try that on purpose. It just comes naturally. But I've never consciously made the decision before, i.e. not drinking Diet Coke because it's "poison."

I rarely drink soda anyway. I know it's bad for you. I drink it spraringly, as I was taught in Health class. (Top of the food pyramid). Soda dehydrates you and sucks the calcium out of your bones. It's a good treat though on occasion. I mean come on, we're Americans here. Coca Cola is America.

But, when you go to drink soda, Diet is so much healthier (less sugar and carbs). Regular soda is so thick and heavy, too sweet. I have trained myself away from it. So what do I do now knowing that Diet Coke is formaldehyde? I still reach for it. I can't go for regular. It's sickeningly sweet and fatty. I'm torn.



This website has an argument against Diet Coke. Check it out if you want more info.

So what do you think? I'm torn. I mean, is it really that bad for you? Regular or diet? What is one to do?