Diet Sodas

LolaDeeDaisy23

Found this study online and thought it was interesting!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4744961/

It's basically stating that artificially sweetened beverages are superior to short term weight loss and long term weight maintenance vs plain water.

Violet_Flux

Interesting. I wouldn't have expected that.

I don't drink soda (diet or otherwise) but I do drink a lot of water + Mio, which I guess counts as an NNS as per the study.

LolaDeeDaisy23

If I'm reading correctly, they took subjects who already consume diet drinks and had them either:
a) continue drinking diet drinks
or
b) stop drinking artificially sweetened beverages and start drinking plain water
I feel like the group who stopped the diet sodas were craving something sweet and it was more difficult for them to stick to their weight loss efforts.

What I would like to see is taking a group of people who only drink water (no diet beverages) vs people who drink diet sodas. I wonder if it would yield similar results? Would both groups have the same weight loss?

Sunny_Bunny_

Somewhere there is a study that shows weight gain when drinking diet sodas. I think the theory was gut microbiome

bametels

Studies like this raise questions for me. It is fully funded by an outside group with a vested interest in the outcome of the study (The American Beverage Association), the lead investigators received funding by the Coca Cola company (for work outside this study), and it's published in an open access journal for which the researchers or a funder on their behalf have to pay to have the article published. The research teams are from great schools and they discuss steps taken to assess the rigor of the work by an outside group. Yet, history has shown us that there have been numerous situations where the food industry has driven supposedly neutral scientific research. I'm not saying it's bad research, this is not my academic field so I am not qualified to critique it. I'm just suggesting caution because it's one small study and there are vested interests involved.

AlexandraCarlyle

Bleah. Sticking to my Spring water/ACV/Bicarb of Soda, thanks!

LolaDeeDaisy23

@bametels I noticed that too regarding who funded the study...Makes you hesitant on what to believe or who to trust. But I guess everyone from each side has some type of vested interest. You just have to read everything from both sides and make a balanced decision.
I will look for more studies regarding artificial sweeteners. I love my Truvia and I enjoy my weekly diet soda

Aquawave

I don't think you can go wrong by sticking to water. I avoid the sweeteners since they increase insulin levels.

nokanjaijo

LolaDeeDaisy23 wrote: »

If I'm reading correctly, they took subjects who already consume diet drinks and had them either:
a) continue drinking diet drinks
or
b) stop drinking artificially sweetened beverages and start drinking plain water
I feel like the group who stopped the diet sodas were craving something sweet and it was more difficult for them to stick to their weight loss efforts.

What I would like to see is taking a group of people who only drink water (no diet beverages) vs people who drink diet sodas. I wonder if it would yield similar results? Would both groups have the same weight loss?

You read it correctly and that is definitely a terrible design. They explain the choice by saying that people who don't drink artificially sweetened beverages may not like the taste and therefore not drink them as requested to. Okay? But the people who love it can be trusted to not drink it?

Something tells me this is the second time they did this "experiment" and the first time they didn't select for only drinkers of artificially sweetened beverages. And I'd wager that experiment fell victim to the old file drawer.

Working2BLean

I have drank diet drinks on and off, drank coffee with stevia or Splenda, water as main drink for a while, drank sugar jacked Gatorade as a sports drink during long exercise sessions

None of it seemed to matter.

Eating sweet tasting things when inactive seemed to make me hungry.

So my take on artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols is they stimulate my appetite if I am inactive. So.... I use them when up and doing stuff during the day or as a sports drink.

I have been doing this for a few years now and it is how my body reacts to it.

Your mileage may vary

bametels

Another concern is that while it does not appear that the study subjects were paid cash, they were 'paid' in a different manner - free drinks for a year. For some people, this could be a major incentive but it does not guarantee that they actually followed the protocol and/or logged their beverage consumption accurately. Furthermore, they had a high attrition rate - 28% of participants dropped out over the course of the study. Just more reasons, in my opinion, to take these results with a grain of salt and to look at other research to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the issue.

AlexandraCarlyle

If I take them with a grain of salt, does that mean I'm seasoning the BS...?

LolaDeeDaisy23

Working2BLean wrote: »

I have drank diet drinks on and off, drank coffee with stevia or Splenda, water as main drink for a while, drank sugar jacked Gatorade as a sports drink during long exercise sessions

None of it seemed to matter.

Eating sweet tasting things when inactive seemed to make me hungry.

So my take on artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols is they stimulate my appetite if I am inactive. So.... I use them when up and doing stuff during the day or as a sports drink.

I have been doing this for a few years now and it is how my body reacts to it.

Your mileage may vary

I'm the same way with anything sweet tasting. I like to end my night with some greek yogurt, natural peanut butter, and a packet of Truvia stirred in. Truvia is a mix of stevia and erythritol. And it really does spark my appetite. I can eat three servings of this concoction and not be satisfied. Yet, if I eat some chicken breast, spinach and coconut oil -- I'm all good.

That's another reason why I drink black coffee in the morning. When I have bulletproof (coconut oil, butter, and stevia) or coffee with heavy cream and stevia, I get hungry within two hours.

Working2BLean

LolaDeeDaisy23 wrote: »

Working2BLean wrote: »

I have drank diet drinks on and off, drank coffee with stevia or Splenda, water as main drink for a while, drank sugar jacked Gatorade as a sports drink during long exercise sessions

None of it seemed to matter.

Eating sweet tasting things when inactive seemed to make me hungry.

So my take on artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols is they stimulate my appetite if I am inactive. So.... I use them when up and doing stuff during the day or as a sports drink.

I have been doing this for a few years now and it is how my body reacts to it.

Your mileage may vary

I'm the same way with anything sweet tasting. I like to end my night with some greek yogurt, natural peanut butter, and a packet of Truvia stirred in. Truvia is a mix of stevia and erythritol. And it really does spark my appetite. I can eat three servings of this concoction and not be satisfied. Yet, if I eat some chicken breast, spinach and coconut oil -- I'm all good.

That's another reason why I drink black coffee in the morning. When I have bulletproof (coconut oil, butter, and stevia) or coffee with heavy cream and stevia, I get hungry within two hours.

I have gotten into those zero calorie noodles, shiritake root. Some grilled chicken and stir fry veggies, a moderately lower calorie ginger sauce added, a little teriyaki, and it tastes good and is really just chicken and the little bit of ginger sauce calories. A bit of salt and filing.

Seems to work.

Coffee is always good.

Coconut oil is magical stuff

Good for skin and tastes good as a bonus.