Artificial sweeteners... opinions?

[TheWraith]

I've got somebody who's telling me he heard about a study saying that artificial sweeteners cause weight gain. The idea is that they fool the brain into thinking that it's got sugar incoming, and so the body starts storing fat. He also says the study found that a person who otherwise has a great diet, and drinks one diet soda a day, will gain weight.

Anyone here have opinions on how valid this is?

[Heddi]

1. I learned this in nursing school

all of my books and journals are packed away, but I have heard this numerous time from otherwise reliable sources, but don't know the exact studies.

I do know that sodas, in general, will cause you to gain weight like a muh'fuh and I have successfully dropped weight since I stopped drinking coke (reg, not diet) because they're just empty calories that are pretty much nothing but sugar.

The thing with Sodas is that a 20oz coke is techincally 2 servings, so people who drink 'one" soda a day are sometimes drinking two.

I worked with a dude who would come to work with THREE FUCKING BIG GULPS for an 8 hour shift. In his mind, that was just 3 sodas. He drank 3 sodas a day. Of course, each "soda" was the equivalent of a 3 liter coke....

I have also heard the part about sweetners "tricking" your brain into eating more, therefore causing more weight gain.

[lizerdbits]

2. It's probably easy to correlate diet sodas with being overweight

Why would a thin person drink diet soda? If most people who drink diet sodas do it to cut out sugar to try and lose weight since they are already overweight (which may not be the case), then the correlation is there but it's not causation. I'm just guessing, though I've heard the 'diet soda makes you fat' stuff before.

Ask your friend for the study and make sure it's a peer reviewed journal and not a magazine article. Sometimes news reports on science are inaccurate at best or complete bullshit.

[semillama]

17. I stay away from most regular sodas for one reason:

They make my teeth feel weird, like there's a coating on them. Diet sodas don't do that.

I'm not sure what it is, but it might actually be the HCFS, since I don't seem to have that problem with sodas sweetened with cane sugar.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

3. I don't have a medical opinion

But when I cut out all soda, including the diet variety, I almost immediately dropped 10 pounds without doing anything else. That was several years ago, and I rarely if ever drink soda now because it's so sweet.

[onager]

4. Been drinking diet soda heavily for years.

No obvious weight gain.

:shrug:

FWIW, my favorites are Coke Zero and Sprite Zero.

The older I get, the less impressed I am with "studies." This week coffee is good for you, next week it will kill you. Rinse and repeat. At least I want to know who did the study, how it was conducted, and what particular ax, if any, somebody was grinding.

Bonus Irrlevant and Useless Personal Anecdote: several years ago, I was back in South Carolina for Xmas and heard this story about one of my uncles.

He was tucking into his usual everyday breakfast of several fried eggs, ham AND bacon, heavily buttered grits AND homemade biscuits, all washed down with several pots of coffee.

One of his daughters said: "Daddy, all that cholesterol is not good for you."

My uncle glared at her and growled: "More has died from wantin' it than has died of eating it." In a world where so many people die of hunger every day, I think he made a good point.

All that unhealthy food finally did kill him a few years later. He was 93.

If my posts suddenly cease, tonight's dinner may have killed me: green salad, wheat bread, a potato with butter, green beans cooked in bacon, and a 23-ounce T-bone steak. Lubricated with a pre-prandial martini, 2 glasses of really good Cabernet, and dessert of two double Grand Marniers and coffee.

Well, it was worth it...

:rofl:

[bluedawg12]

5. Dead man walking!

But that was one hell of a last meal, onager . :evilgrin:

I only ate a modest 7 oz. filet, medium rare, seared on the outside, baked potato with sour cream and butter worked into the tender spud, a side of fresh asparagus, a glass of Merlot, a nice bread pudding with creme sauces around the three pieces, one raspberry, one white chocolate and the last one a dark chocolate sauce.

Then I went to play the slots.

Dang, vice is nice.

:rofl:

[onager]

6. You just helped shorten my life!

The word "chocolate" forced me to have a York peppermint patty. Then I was so overcome by nutritional guilt I ate an apple, so maybe that will help.

Maybe I should clarify that I am definitely gaining some weight now, but that's because I'm back in the USA, not the diet soda. After Egypt, I'm still overcome by all the variety of food we can buy here. Hell, I almost broke down in tears the first day I was back and went into a regular ol' Los Angeles grocery store.

I lost a lot of weight in Egypt for the probably stupid reason that I just got bored with the food.

That reminds me of a funny thing. My fellow Americans were always warning me I was going to kill myself by eating the local food in Egypt. Stuff like falafel fried in a community pot, and roast chickens cooked on the sidewalk. I could get a whole roast chicken, vegetables and several loaves of flatbread for about $3 US.

None of that ever bothered me. But I got deathly sick in...of all places...Venice, Italy. Where I was eating those great 3-course Italian meals of antipasto/pasta/entree. That really pissed me off, since I spent a whole vacation day in my hotel room. Except for a visit to the local pharmacy, where I took advantage of their cheap socialized medical system. Stupid Italian Commies!

Maybe it was my favorite appetizer of a dozen oysters before dinner. I dunno. Saw a doctor when I got back to Egypt. He said I had just rearranged the flora in my stomach while in Italy, and gave me some prescriptions. Stupid pharma shill, not a single magnet, incantation or qi-massage...

[bluedawg12]

7. Those damned bivalved, bottom filter feeder mollusks

almost bumped me off years ago, too.

[uppityperson]

8. I do not see how stimulating sweet taste buds would make your body store fat

If there is more carbs in your blood than is needed, it will get stored or excreted in your urine (diabetes=sweet urine). I don't think simply stimulating your taste buds would override that.

However, I do good not eating sugar until I have some, then I want more, rather like "betcha can't eat just one" potato chip add. But that is me wanting more stimulation of my sweet taste buds. I bet someone eating non-caloric sweets could have the same thing. I'd call it "wanting more" syndrome, not related to non-caloric sweets but to any sweet.

[bluedawg12]

9. Here we go talking about food again!

:P

Now, I want a nice cinnebun! :rofl:

[onager]

15. I make sure to eat a variety of foods

Right now, I'm trying to decide between Hostess Cupcakes or Hostess Sno-Balls...

:toast:

[lizerdbits]

10. I was wondering about that

'Making your body think sugar is coming in and storing fat.' My only knowledge of metabolism is college biochem. The point of artificial sweeteners is that they aren't metabolized like sugar, so I didn't see how that would work. Your explanation sounds more plausible.

[Codeine]

18. "Sweet Urine."

Without going into any more detail, I once helped a friend discover she was diabetic due to this phenomenon. :evilgrin:

[trotsky]

11. One reason artificial sweeteners can cause weight gain is rather simple.

Psychological, even. The "halo effect." People will believe that they're doing a good thing by having a diet soda or sugar-free dessert, so they'll overcompensate by eating more - having a cheeseburger instead of a plain hamburger, or going with a large order of onion rings instead of a side salad.

[bluedawg12]

12. Man I could swear we discussed this recently.

I can't find the thread, but, as I recall now, there was some study, or studies, about the metabolism of fructose being different than glucose in breakdown and if I recall someone even mentioned that a published article from a peer reviewed journal had been sort of misunderstood to say that the brain metabolized fructose.

I know I found the article, I recall discussing with uppity last...then...a bright light, an Orbe appeared, I was briefly shunted to a different galaxy, I'm back and I cannot for the life of me find that post.

argh.

Have I lost my last marble? :P

[cosmik debris]

13. Is this the thread you are looking for? n/t

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=247&topic_id=23980&mesg_id=23980

[bluedawg12]

14. No, drat! But thank you for trying. :)

The one I had in mind might answer this OP, because it was a published study that I posted and it did cause confusion about fructose. Now, I also cannot remember if fructose was part of artificial sweetner issues or not. :eyes:

Thank you for looking! ;hi:

[JitterbugPerfume]

16. I quit drinking soda pop a couple of years ago

I didn't lose any weight but I sure do feel better.

I made other lifestyle changes so who knows what helped or hinders?

Do whatever works!

[progressoid]

19. I heard about a study that says we crave more carbs when consuming artificially sweetened drinks.

Of course this is all third hand so I don't have access to this supposed study.

FWIW, I always drank diet soda but I rarely drink soda anymore because of intestinal issues. I feel better, but have actually gained weight. However, that is unrelated to the soda reduction.

[Codeine]

20. They taste like shit.

Drink water. Or drink sugar/corn syrup (the same damn thing) sodas and exercise more. Either way you'll enjoy it a whole lot more. :)

Diet soda tastes like bug spray. :puke:

[Chowlie]

21. I was just recently researching this due to dietary changes.

American Diabetes Association is ok with them, but they list a few cons as well as pros:

http://www.diabetes.org/nutrition-and-recipes/nutrition/sweeteners.jsp