More on how artificial sweeteners help CAUSE obesity

[Yollam]

There have already been a number of stories how these addictive "excitotoxins" fool the brain into expecting a sugar rush that never comes, prompting a rush of insulin into the blood that makes people crave more carbs.

Now there is evidence that they cause the stomach to empty sooner, which presumably could lead to more cravings for between-meal snacks.

I quit drinking diet soda last December and have lost 75 lbs. It's the best thing I've done since quitting smoking. I put real sugar in my coffee, but I eat in moderation and am not going crazy from craving sweets like before.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060523/hl_nm/artificial_sweeteners_dc


Artificial sweeteners speed alcohol into blood
By Martha Kerr Tue May 23, 12:31 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters Health) - Alcoholic drinks made with artificial sweeteners lead to a high rate of alcohol absorption, resulting in a greater blood alcohol peak and concentration than from drinks made with sugar-based mixers.

The reason, Australian investigators told attendees here at Digestive Disease Week 2006, is the accelerated emptying of the stomach caused by artificial sweetening agents.

Dr. Chris Rayner and colleagues at Royal Adelaide Hospital studied eight healthy male volunteers. On one day, the subjects consumed an orange-flavored vodka drink made from alcohol and a mixer sweetened with sugar containing 478 calories. On the second day, the men drank the same amount of alcohol with a diet mixer containing 225 calories.

The researchers measured the rate of stomach emptying using ultrasound technology. Blood samples were also taken at 30-minute intervals for three hours.

[lindisfarne]

1. Thanks for this! I saw the research that showed people who drank

diet drinks actually gained weight but this additional research adds support, as well as an explanation why.

[niallmac]

2. Wow. I never heard this before and it sort of makes sense.

I am trading my diet cola habit for ice tea but I think it is time to nix the artificial sweeteners.

[Yollam]

5. I gained almost all that weight AFTER starting on the diet soda.

6 years ago, I was 200 lbs, and when I moved back to the states, I was alarmed when I started gaining weight, so I switched to diet sodas, and then I kept gaining more and more weight, and I couldn't figure out why I craved sweets so much more than I had before. I was also disturbed that I was drinking more and more of the stuff - some days I realized that the only liquid I had consumed all day was diet soda! A 2 liter bottle a day! Reading a few articles on Aspartame prompted me to try quitting it in conjunction with a reduced calorie diet. The diet was a bit of a challenge, especially at first, but I do believe switching to coffee and tea made it easier. I still occasionally pig out a bit on ice cream or whatever, but it's not ALL THE TIME, like with the diet drinks, and my weight is stable. I wouldn't touch that crap with a 10 foot pole now.


But that's just me. I suppose the diet drinks might work for some people...

[aquart]

18. Try a fruity herbal tea bag in a glass of selzer or club soda.

Fizzy flavor without sugar.

[niallmac]

25. Actually I also am now paranoid about the carbonation.

Sodas are not the best thing for bones from what I read. I am getting used to tea and don't miss the
fizz.

[demobabe]

3. Artificial sweeteners are bad all the way around

The news just gets worse on them all the time. Thanks for this article.

What surprised me was the levels of Benzene (converted from Sodium Benzoate) that is present in regular as well as diet drinks (although it tends to be worse with diet drinks and drinks containing citric acid).

[Neoma]

4. I don't like that stuff anyways.

I like salt, sweet ain't sweet to me.

[upi402]

6. The hippies were right. Good book- "Diet for a Small Planet"

"Sugar Blues" -another

Both from the fountain of awareness that was the sixties (and seventies in retrospect).

[Rosemary2205]

7. I don't know this would transfer to food

diet drinks with a meal may not have the same effect as this study done with alcoholic drinks since food doesn't leave the stomach as fast as liquid does.

As for the insulin rush. From what I understand the scientific community is still battling that one out. From my personal experience, a rare 8-12oz glass of artificially sweetened something with a meal has not caused me to eat more, crave anything. I've also found that people who drink ALOT of sweetened liquids (artificial or otherwise especially between meals) have dietary issues beyond what could be attributed to artificial sweeteners.

All this said, I'll repeat that IMHO sweetened drinks - artificial or otherwise, is RARE at my house and we normally use the least amount of sugar to make the drink pleasant and these are NEVER given to the children at our house. Even juices here are 1/4 juice and 3/4 water as I refuse to contribute to this American compulsion to have every liquid sticky sweet.

[pitohui]

8. yeah i used to believe this sugar industry supported crap

i nearly killed my husband, turned out he had metabolic syndrome

no more sugar in this house, he has lost 30 pounds, now has normal sugar readings and normal blood pressure readings

splenda is a god send and since he does sometimes work in sugar plants, i am happy to report that splenda is also manufactured from sugar cane, just like "real" sugar, so you can still support louisiana industry and use splenda

sugar is something that just doesn't occur in nature w/out processing, it just as artificial as splenda, hello, that's why it takes a big ole refinery to manufacture the stuff!

if you are SURE you do not have metabolic syndrome, a little bit of sugar is fine, if you are not sure -- and a big waistline can be the first sign, a DX from your doctor should prob. be the next sign -- go w. the splenda or even good old-fashioned cyclamates (if in europe) or saccharin, you'll live longer

by the way small nectar using birds are designed to use pure sugars such as nectars, always put REAL SUGAR in your hummingbird feeder, but unless you are a hummingbird be cautious abt using the stuff yourself, maybe i shouldn't have to say this but i've heard some people ask if they should use artificial sweeteners when cooking hummingbird syrup! nooooooo, they metabolize differently than we do, when your crap is crystal clear, you too can feel free to ingest unlimited amts of sugar

[Yollam]

9. Personally I'd rather do without any fake sweeteners.

I know that the FDA calls Splenda "safe", but it says the same thing about Aspartame. Splenda subject to a lot of controversy regarding its safety too.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/health/article/0,2777,DRMN_23956_4718553,00.html


I agree with the other poster. It's probably not good to train our palates to constantly be taking in sweet drinks. Unsweetened tea can be a great pleasure if one's taste buds aren't deadened by constant stimulation.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Yollam]

12. There is NOTHING self-righteous

in saying that chemicals are less healthful than real foods. You want to tell people that the wood alcohol Nutrasweet degrades into is better for them than the tea people have been drinking for thousands of years, fine. It's your body and your husband's to do with as you please, but please don't act as though without swilling fake chemical sweeteners, your husband would be dead.

I am not here selling sugar. Ideally, no diet should contain any added sugar, but I do believe a teaspoon in one's coffee now and then is less harmful to most people than the chemicals.


And if the sugar industry is funding stories unfavorable to artificial sweeteners, the chemical companies are also spending a lot of many trying to convince people that their frankensweeteners are safe.

[hlthe2b]

26. Anecdotally, when I am essentially sugar (& artificial) sweetner

FREE, I do lose weight. And I certainly have experienced sweet cravings when I was consuming a lot of aspartame-sweetened soft drinks. I haven't used any sweetners in tea or coffee in 15 years, so I don't have a problem with that--it is, unfortunately, the convenience factor. One has to search for bottled teas with no sweetner and you certainly don't find them in vending machines. For me, it doesn't take much to kill a weeks worth of good habits--run out of the good stuff I bring from home to work one afternoon--and that diet coke starts calling.

I have a feeling that further research will show a physiological craving that develops among aspartame users (and probably sucralose as well)that the industry is well aware of...:shrug:

[Yollam]

27. Bottled tea drinks...

They definitely have a LOT more sugar in them than most people would put in if they did it themselves.

Another way to look at it - I usually put 2 tsp. of sugar in my large mug of coffee. A can of Coca-Cola has like 10 teaspoons of sugar - a major difference, and the sugar in Coke is the aforemnetioned HFCS, which wreaks more havoc on the body than regular cane sugar.

I sometimes skip the sugar and drink it black, I'm just not an absolutist about it.

[conflictgirl]

13. I have metabolic syndrome as well

I choose not to drink sweetened beverages, period. There is no nutritional requirement for sweetened beverages.

BTW, real sugar in small amounts isn't the real evil - it's high fructose corn syrup that's the cause of most of the obesity. Yes, real sugar is refined and so are artificial sweeteners, but HFCS and artificial sweeteners are many more steps removed from the original product, being chemically altered in addition to highly refined.

[Yollam]

14. Yeah, I've read a lot of that too.

And HFCS is hidden in all kinds of places you'd never suspect. Granola bars and other "healthy" foods can be chock full of it.

[conflictgirl]

15. I write about food and nutrition issues, and you don't know the half of it

HFCS is in absolutely everything. My husband and I went on a campaign to get rid of it in our house because I have metabolic syndrome and we have a history of diabetes in both of our families and wanted to try to protect our kids as much as possible. HFCS was even in the salad dressing and bread! We have had to start reading labels extremely carefully.

I am convinced that HFCS and artificial sweeteners are the biggest reason for the obesity epidemic. I don't think our bodies were meant to metabolize these extremely altered substances. Things weren't such a problem when people consumed regular sugar in moderation - as in an 8-ounce Coke made with real sugar once a week (instead of 32 oz a day of Coke made with HFCS) and a homemade dessert after dinner.

[Rosemary2205]

16. IMHO we can't avoid the chemicals anymore

we take it easy on sweetened everything at my house but as far as the chemicals go, life is just too short to live on twigs and berries and even "organic" is no guarantee. Besides that, my shampoo and makeup and deoderant and blah blah blah add so many chemicals to my life anyway.

If a little sugar in the coffee (processed with chemicals) makes the morning great why not? If someone else goes for the nutrasweet then IMHO whoopdidoo. Everybody has their own body, own family medical history to combat. One size don't fit all.

If the high fructose corn syrup don't kill ya something else will. No one gets out alive. :)

[Yollam]

17. Yes, but I'd rather have a 170 lb. corpse with good mobility til the end..

...than the 275 lb. nightmare of aches, pains and acid reflux I was living in before. Severe overweight is not fun to live with, and there are a lot of people out there who believe that if they just swill the diet drinks that the pounds will peel off. My experience was the exact opposite. There's nothing "diet" about them.

[Rosemary2205]

19. I very humbly would like to point out

your experience, while most definately valid for you, is not necessary valid for everyone.

[Hekate]

21. What is metabolic syndrome?

I'm curious.

Hekate

[TexasProgresive]

23. Metabolic Syndrome

What is the metabolic syndrome?

The metabolic syndrome is characterized by a group of metabolic risk factors in one person. They include:

* Abdominal obesity (excessive fat tissue in and around the abdomen)
* Atherogenic dyslipidemia (blood fat disorders — high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol — that foster plaque buildups in artery walls)
* Elevated blood pressure
* Insulin resistance or glucose intolerance (the body can’t properly use insulin or blood sugar)
* Prothrombotic state (e.g., high fibrinogen or plasminogen activator inhibitor–1 in the blood)
* Proinflammatory state (e.g., elevated C-reactive protein in the blood)
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4756

[FlaGranny]

31. I've been doing a lot of research

into this lately. I also spoke to my doctor about it a couple of weeks ago. Interestingly, major university research is pointing more and more to almost all acquired noninfectious, nonhereditary diseases being caused by just one thing - systemic inflammatory responses. That includes cancer, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer disease, multiple sclerosis, and many others. Excess abdominal fat accelerates the inflammatory response because of the chemicals (sorry I forget what they are) it produces. It's looking more and more like someday there may be a a single cure for all of these diseases, once they find out what triggers the inflammatory reactions in the first place.

[Hekate]

32. TY to FlaGranny and TexasProgressive for your info.

I think I need to know this

Hekate

[FlaGranny]

34. I think many, many people have

these problems and I wonder what they will find as the main cause. I have a feeling that it may be either an allergic reaction or maybe a widespread, oommon virus. The immune system is definitely involved. Here are a couple of articles in case you are interested:

http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/articles/emerging_treatments/athero_7/
http://www.mycancom.com/index.php/site/comments/mit_research_links_cancer_inflammation_disease/

Edit: Here's another site with links to lots of articles.
http://www.crphealth.com/conf/hcp/c-reactive.online.talks.html

[lies and propaganda]

11. Thank Rummy!

He basically singlehandedly brought aspartame to us.

[Hekate]

20. Thank you Yollam, for sharing this. I learned from this thread.

:wow:
I did not know that artificial sweeteners actually set off carb cravings in the way described.

Congrats on the weight loss -- it takes discipline even after the cravings have gone.

And thanks to the poster who referenced HFCS and how hard it is to get out of one's house.

As for some of the rest of you -- unless you have experienced a genuine loss-of-control craving, please don't judge those that have. It's not an excuse and it's not a lack of character -- it's something in the chemistry of body and brain, and this article is just one more piece of evidence that a person's biochemistry can be manipulated by food and food-like products.

Just :wow:

Hekate

[rucky]

22. I just tried Stevia. It's a natural sweetner that tastes just like...

artificial sweetener.

eh, for the taste - but zero calories and it consists of the ground up root of a plant.

[Yollam]

28. I have read that stevia is much safer than the others...

...I guess that's why the FDA refuses to approve it. They are more partial to the sweeteners that turn into harmful wood alcohol at temps. over 80 degrees (think body temperature...)

[hang a left]

29. I bought some of that from a health food store once.

I didn't find anything sweet about it. It was the most bitter stuff I have ever had. I don't know what the heck I bought.

[Hekate]

33. Trader Joe's carries it -- I have some, but have only tried it on cereal

I like to cook, and am always leery of sugar substitutes for certain things. It's all about chemistry -- in a lot of cases it's better to simply delete or cut way back than substitute.

Stevia doesn't taste bitter to me, but almost cloying. Very small amounts of this powder go a long way.

Hekate

[sendero]

24. The thing about people's bodies..

... is that they are all different. That's why I get glassy eyed when people talk about "medical science". It isn't. It's giving a sampling of folks something and asking them what happened.

I have not been able to eat sugar since 1978. At that time, I had a health "crisis" where I started having panic attacks, fatigue and allergic responses to all kinds of things. What brought this on I'll never know, before that I'd been as healthy as a horse.

Even though I had the worst doctor I've ever known at the time, he did hit some paydirt. He told me that I was "pre-diabetic" and that I had "low blood sugar". He was 50% right, the diabetes never developed.

It took me years to accept that I could not eat sugar, but by the early 80s I had sworn it off completely. I use nutrasweet, it seems to have no side effect (on me). I cannot use Splenda (sucrolose) as it makes me itch all over - a fact that took me a couple months to figure out and a fact that annoyed me as this is not at all uncommon but nobody talks about it. Sadly, many/most of the sugar-free prepared products on the market are switching from nutrasweet to sucralose (probably cheaper cuz it damn sure doesn't taste better).

My point - well if these artificial sweeteners are so horrible, why am I not fat? I'm in my early 50s, 6'1" at 175 lbs. I hope I don't sound boastful to say that many 30 year olds would trade for my body, much less 50 year olds.

I don't doubt that these product are not for everyone. What I do doubt is that they have the effects cited in everyone. If artificial sweeteners make you crave sugar, dump them. Fact is, SUGAR makes many people crave sugar, since the body was never really designed to deal with a lot of it, when most people eat any appreciable amount, they get a temporary dip in their blood sugar levels which will translate to a craving for sugar or at least hunger.

Everyone could certainly stand to pay a lot more attention to what they put in their bodies!

[donco6]

30. I have to agree with you.

I've quit the artificial sweeteners and I've already noticed a drop in the amount of food I need. I used to drink at least 6 cans a day. Now I have a little OJ with Perrier, or iced tea. I have real raw sugar in my coffee. It's good and I feel better about it.

[UTUSN]

35. What about dextrose/fructose?

Am going to post in in the Lounge, specifically asking (title). Just two months ago I started drinking 8 or more glasses of water, and then found the occasional diet soda unsatisfying. I was also drinking decaffinated instant tea that carried aspartame. O.K., so after this thread, I ditched this tea and got UNSWEETENED decaf. So what about the dextrose/fructose items? Or just go back to sugar?

[Yollam]

36. I think other posters would be more knowledgeable about this...

From what I've read, it's best to keep all sugar intake to a minimum, but we all know how difficult that is. My doctor tells me a sugar is a sugar is a sugar, so if it ends in "ose" don't use too much of it, but if it naturally occurs in the food, why sweat it too much?

I do try to avoid the HFCS items when I can - a lot of things that use it are overprocessed junk food anyway.

Since I dumped the diet sodas, I've grown very fond of coffee. So much that now, I'm thinking I should buy some decaf for the evenings. I never used to drink decaf anything, but I find if I have coffee too late it does keep me up.

As far as I know, the only thing wrong with sugars is just that the body utilizes it so quickly that it can easily turn to fat. I try to limit my intake of sweeter foods like fruit juice to the morning and maybe noon. I try to make my dinners heavier on veggies with less carbs.

In my OP I mentioned that I have lost weight while using sugar in my coffee. That is not to say that wanton sugar use is a good thing. I probably use a total of 5 or 6 tsp. a day, and I'm a big guy.


Switching from the diet sodas to drinking an equal amount of the sugary sodas is not a good idea, IMO. One might be better off drinking the diet. In my case, I could never drink sugary sodas in the same volume as the diet because it would have given me sugar fits, but I know there are people who can drink whole Super Big Gulps of Coke - now that is mind-blowing.

[UTUSN]

37. A coupleof years ago I gave myself a case of racing heart w/caffeine

The doctor was sending me to the heart clinic. Upon thinking it out, I realized I had drunk some extra-caffeine soda, plus 2 cups of coffee. So I've been decaf (and tortoise-heart) ever since. That said, this (your) thread had put me off diet sodas. I posted this topic in the Lounge and somebody said stevia is the only sweetener that won't do the diet-sweetener thing. Since I'm trading in the diet soda for decaffinated, unsweetened instant tea, I still need a sweetener of some kind. Google says that stevia has some unresolved problems, but only with massive use. I'm talking a couple of packets in 2 quarts of tea and only drinking 1 or 2 glasses per day (besides the 8-10 glasses of water).