Is it dangerous?
My son likes that flavored water, though I hate the aftertaste.
Is it somewhat dangerous?
I certainly don’t trust the FDA.
Good old aspartame.
There continues to be alot of controversy that surrounds its approval by the FDA.
Based on the amount of it consumed to date, it doesn’t appear to have an adverse effect on most people. There are many that have complained of adverse side effects and there are many groups that believe it should be banned.
One possible danger is when aspartame is heated or stored for a long period of time. It will break down into metabolites. One of these breakdown products is Diketopiperazine, a toxic metabolite that’s not commonly found in our foods. The effects of these different metabolites are not known.
For an anti aspertame viewpoint see this writeup http://members.tripod.com/~purpleurple/aspartame/aspar.htm
For the Companies response see www.nutrasweet.com/sitemap/index.asp
Thank you barker.
snopes deals with some of the email crap going around about aspartame.
Is it dangerous to drink soda sweetened with sugar? I’d say it is. It corrodes your teeth and can lead to obesity, which causes very serious proven health problems.
Also, it should be noted that products containing aspartame are required to warn phenylketonurics of the aspartame, of which one of the metabolites is phenylalanine.
Unless your son is phenylketonuric, however, I wouldn’t worry much.
SmackFu: 
Good point.
LL
There are many health risks that are reported to be involved with aspertame. There is another website, but I can’t find the link at the moment.
In any case, my rule of thumb is: “who needs the damn chemicals?” (Yes, I know, everything is in fact chemical, but you know what I mean.) But, really, why feed yourself a potential poison when it really isn’t at all necessary. And why is processed sugar the only other option? Fructose is better, and cutting down on sweets is always the best option. (No not cutting out all sweets, that’s not realistic, at least for me.)
So whats a good drink for my son that doesn’t have bad chemicals or sugar? (I don’t mean water)
Milk.
No diff. b/w refined sugar and fructose in the end. It’s still the same calories. For someone who is concerned about their caloric/carb/sugar intake, fruit juice is just as bad as non-diet soda.
Re: Milk yuck.
We do not drink milk. But it was a good chocie, given my qualifications for the drink. I really don’t think there is a “good” one thats also enjoyable.
Beer, no bad chemical or sugar
Actually, I believe that fructose is inherently somewhat sweeter (it certainly seems so to me). That would mean that you can get the same sweetening effect with slightly less sugar, hence slightly fewer calories. Not really a big difference.
IIRC, fructose is also metabolized more gradually, which reduces the problem some people have with a sucrose-induced sugar rush followed by a significantly lowered blood sugar level. That’s right, that candy bar you’re munching to fight the blahs will only make it worse later. Try an apple or some bread, instead. (Note: I have no right to say that, as it’s advice I should follow more often.)
I wasn’t even thinking about the calories, but rather the health factor, as you also mentioned above. Sucrose in processed sugars is definitely not beneficial for your health. Fructose (the natural sugar in all fruit) is healthy, even if it contains calories, but is just fine in moderation, of course.
What should you drink that is healthy? The best to quench thirst is of course water. Otherwise, fruit juices are nice. I can definitely recommend (mineral) water mixed with apple juice. It is relatively low in calories, and refreshing, too! 
That may well be true for German and Czech beers that are brewed in accordance with the Beer Purity Law, but unfortunately many other beers (esp. some very popular mass-marketed ones that will go tasteless, uh I mean nameless) do sometimes include some pretty bad stuff.
And in moderation, beer may very well be good for you, too.
Cheers!
I’d suggest pure fruit juice or fruit juice blends. There are endless variations, so you should be able to find at least two or three he likes (and it’s fun to try different ones). They work out far cheaper than fizzy sugar crap, yet taste better (especially when chilled). They are all benefit, no drawback.
I’m guessing you already make sure he does drink enough pure water each day - it’s a good and important habit to get him into.
That’ll be 0.02.
TheThill wrote:
No, I’m not sure what you mean. Everything is indeed a chemical. TheThill then wrote:
So what’s so bad about sucrose? I can’t think of anything bad to say about sucrose that doesn’t also apply to fructose.
I have found that my daughter doesn’t really notice when I under-portion the sugar in a pitcher of Kool-aid. I can go as low as 1/3 of the amount of sugar before the ickyface pops up.
If your son doesn’t like milk, try passing keifer off as “a strawberry milkshake”.
Lactose is a sugar too. Milk also has a fair amount of fat.
How are tea and iced tea? Too much caffeine?
Our family like what is called ‘soda water’ here - it is carbonated water. Maybe your ‘seltzer water’? We have a machine (Soda Stream™) to make it at home cheaply and without added sodium. (Read the ingredients!)
Add a third of a strong fruit juice like pineapple or cranberry, or a squeeze of lemon to the soda water. Or when lemons are plentiful juice them and freeze them, then add lemon juice ice cubes to the soda water for a summer drink.
The only commercial lolly water our daughter gets is a lemonade when we go to a restaurant.