According to Dr. Ralph Walton, there may be a correlation to depression and bipolar disorder to aspartame - the sweetener used in Diet Coke.
A survey of aspartame studies by Ralph Walton MD of Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine found: "Of the 166 studies felt to have relevance for questions of human safety, 74 had NutraSweet industry related funding and 92 were independently funded. One hundred percent of the industry funded research attested to aspartame's safety, whereas 92 percent of the independently funded research identified a problem."
One in 15,000 people may not properly metabolize phenylalanine, an essential amino acid found in aspartame. The substance is a precursor to tyrosine, a building block of norepinephrine and dopamine, but, in the words of the FDA: "High levels of this amino acid in body fluids can cause brain damage." Accordingly, the FDA duly requires a warning that all products containing the sweetener be labeled for the substance. Newborns are routinely screened for phenylalanine metabolism (the PKU test), which rules out the likelihood of an unsuspecting consumer gulping down hemlock.
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