Diet Drinks and Artificial Sweeteners

Skelders88

Hey MFP!

Quick question for you folks: Artificial Sweeteners, yes or no?

Diet drinks have a lot of taboo floating around them--mostly of the "aspartame will kill you" variety. I realize aspartame will not kill you even if you pound it into your system pretty much every day, but something interesting happened while I was drinking diet soda. I found that I was craving all kinds of food way more often. No more than a half hour after drinking a diet Mtn Dew, I was super hungry even after eating something hearty like a bowl of oatmeal with peanut butter mixed in.

Something was wrong, so I cut back on diet soda, and after a day or two, those cravings finally went away. I tried diet soda again, and the same thing happened. I maybe tried diet Mtn Dew and 7up for a month straight like that, only to find it was sabotaging me.

Has anyone else had this kind of experience with diet sodas or artificial sweeteners? Or am I just weird?

GottaBurnEmAll

That hasn't been my experience. I love diet soda and drink it all the time without experiencing cravings.

RunsWithBees

Diet soda causes my bf to crave sweets but it doesn’t affect me that way at all. It’s probably just different for everyone.

Chef_Barbell

This post is great for this:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary

I drink it daily and it doesn't negatively affect my goals.

juggalett86

I drink it daily also and no cravings.

Dilvish

Diet sodas can be worse than regular sodas. You have access to the internet...look up dangers of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners.

Consider the fact that the FDA and other health organizations look at product's "consumption safety" based on a single serving. They have little or no data regarding long term use or more than a single serving per day.

An example of this "grey area" is FD&C food dyes (coloring). There are studies that prove these dyes cause cell mutation in lab animals yet it is added to a crap load of products because a "single serving" isn't considered dangerous. Some smarter countries have completely banned the substance in both food and personal care items (shampoo, body wash etc.) because they just don't want their citizens consuming "questionable" products.

Another example are hot dogs and processed meats (deli style). The W.H.O. has now rated them as carcinogenic because they contain chemicals like sulphates, nitrates and nitrites which are very unhealthy. These products that we have been eating all this time are now considered as dangerous for your health as smoking!

Best advice is this...if it is made in a (manufacturing) plant, don't consume it. If it IS a plant...consume it.

L1zardQueen

Maybe it was the oatmeal? and not the soda. Try it again.

Diet soda is great for me when I need something sweet. I have never found that it made hungry for more food.

paperpudding

I drink diet soda and it does not give me cravings.

Whether it gives you cravings seems a very individual effect - if it does so to you and you prefer not to drink them; don't. That's fine.
You can have your own subjective reactions.

Devilish, what you can't have are your own facts.
Fact: processed meats have been associated with small increase in bowel cancer risk.
Not fact: WHO says it is as dangerous as smoking.

ccrdragon

Dilvish wrote: »

Diet sodas can be worse than regular sodas. You have access to the internet...look up dangers of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners.

Consider the fact that the FDA and other health organizations look at product's "consumption safety" based on a single serving. They have little or no data regarding long term use or more than a single serving per day.

An example of this "grey area" is FD&C food dyes (coloring). There are studies that prove these dyes cause cell mutation in lab animals yet it is added to a crap load of products because a "single serving" isn't considered dangerous. Some smarter countries have completely banned the substance in both food and personal care items (shampoo, body wash etc.) because they just don't want their citizens consuming "questionable" products.

Another example are hot dogs and processed meats (deli style). The W.H.O. has now rated them as carcinogenic because they contain chemicals like sulphates, nitrates and nitrites which are very unhealthy. These products that we have been eating all this time are now considered as dangerous for your health as smoking!

Best advice is this...if it is made in a (manufacturing) plant, don't consume it. If it IS a plant...consume it.

Seriously???

Aspartame has been studied and used as a food additive for 50 years now - if there was something wrong with it and it was dangerous we would have discovered it by now.

Cell mutations?? Yes, if you add enough of anything to lab animals they will develop problems... the issue with the studies is that it is physically impossible to get the concentration that caused the mutations from consuming over-the-counter products.

Processed meats and cancer - yes, if you consume processed meats every day of your life (maybe even multiple times per day), your chance of developing bowel cancer rises from 5.2% to just over 6% (hint, you are still more likely to be run over by a bus than to develop this issue).

Oh, did you know that celery, salad greens, spinach, cabbage, turnips and even fresh (uncured) meats contain nitrates?

zeejane03

I switched from regular soda to diet soda back when I started my active weight loss phase. Fast forward 7ish years now and I use artificial sweetener every day with no issues. It's one of the tools that I use to help me with my weight management goals. I've also talked to my doctor about artificial sweeteners (his background is in sports medicine and nutrition), and he's fine with me using them as well.

I've never had increased hunger with using them.

quiksylver296

Too much aspartame personally gives me headaches. I have to limit items with aspartame to one per day. But I don't believe it's poison, or bad for you, or the devil. Diet sodas have helped numerous people reach their goals.

missysippy930

Diet pop actually satisfies sweet cravings for me.
I’m 67 years old, have been drinking diet pop since I was a teenager, and I’m still here.
There are people that will have adverse affects from many different foods and drinks.
If it truly affects you, don’t eat it or drink it.

lin_be

I’ve had no issues with them and they help me reach my goals.

NovusDies

If you believe you are happier without it and you don't miss it that is fine. However, it is not a good idea to base a conclusion on so little information going forward. There were many variables in the day that you felt "super hungry" shortly after drinking the soda and you picked the nearest one. That could have been the cause or it could have been something else entirely.

I don't care if you drink diet soda or not but it is important to nail down what causes hunger that seems out of turn. Hopefully this was a one off thing or maybe the soda is to blame and you are fine. If not, you may need to do some more experimenting.

kshama2001

Studies have shown that artificial sweeteners do indeed increase appetite in some people. Since you seem to be one of them, one strategy for you is indeed to avoid them.

kimny72

Dilvish wrote: »

Diet sodas can be worse than regular sodas. You have access to the internet...look up dangers of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners.

You have access to the internet... look up evidence that the earth is flat.

*
*

OP, it seems that in some people, artificial sweeteners cause cravings. I don't experience that myself (in fact they tend to satisfy sweet cravings for me) and haven't met anyone IRL, but I have seen a handful of people on here say that.

If you think you would enjoy diet soda otherwise, check out which sweetener is used in Diet Mtn Dew and 7-Up, maybe it's the same one in both? Each artificial sweetener is a different chemical compound, so it stands to reason that different sweeteners may affect you differently. Maybe there's one out there that won't give you problems. If you're looking for suggestions, my faves are Coke Zero (Vanilla when I can find it) and Diet Dr. Pepper. :drinker:

solidLiLi

I love me some Coke Zero but have found that it leaves me feeling hungry all day long, so it's best to just give it up. We've been sticking to flavored seltzers lately and coffee (with monkfruit for sweetness) for caffeine. On the weekends, we splurge on a low carb Monster. Whatever that sweetener is doesn't have the same effect as aspartame.

cwolfman13

ccrdragon wrote: »

Dilvish wrote: »

Diet sodas can be worse than regular sodas. You have access to the internet...look up dangers of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners.

Consider the fact that the FDA and other health organizations look at product's "consumption safety" based on a single serving. They have little or no data regarding long term use or more than a single serving per day.

An example of this "grey area" is FD&C food dyes (coloring). There are studies that prove these dyes cause cell mutation in lab animals yet it is added to a crap load of products because a "single serving" isn't considered dangerous. Some smarter countries have completely banned the substance in both food and personal care items (shampoo, body wash etc.) because they just don't want their citizens consuming "questionable" products.

Another example are hot dogs and processed meats (deli style). The W.H.O. has now rated them as carcinogenic because they contain chemicals like sulphates, nitrates and nitrites which are very unhealthy. These products that we have been eating all this time are now considered as dangerous for your health as smoking!

Best advice is this...if it is made in a (manufacturing) plant, don't consume it. If it IS a plant...consume it.

Seriously???

Aspartame has been studied and used as a food additive for 50 years now - if there was something wrong with it and it was dangerous we would have discovered it by now.

Cell mutations?? Yes, if you add enough of anything to lab animals they will develop problems... the issue with the studies is that it is physically impossible to get the concentration that caused the mutations from consuming over-the-counter products.

Processed meats and cancer - yes, if you consume processed meats every day of your life (maybe even multiple times per day), your chance of developing bowel cancer rises from 5.2% to just over 6% (hint, you are still more likely to be run over by a bus than to develop this issue).

Oh, did you know that celery, salad greens, spinach, cabbage, turnips and even fresh (uncured) meats contain nitrates?

You saved me a lot of typing...

As to the OP...I drink diet sodas and other beverages on occasion and I've never had the craving issue.

Mouse_Potato

I don't have this experience with diet sodas, but I DO have it with oatmeal! I'll have a big yummy bowl and an hour later I'm looking for something else to eat. It's all very individual.

diannethegeek

Aspartame does seem to increase cravings in some people, but it's not a universal effect. My mother has that problem, I don't. If you feel better without the diet sodas, then that's the important thing. Play around with different things and see what works best for you.

whatalazyidiot

For me personally, I have found the opposite to be true. A diet soda in the afternoon keeps me from all those afternoon sugar cravings.

ccrdragon

solidLiLi wrote: »

I love me some Coke Zero but have found that it leaves me feeling hungry all day long, so it's best to just give it up. We've been sticking to flavored seltzers lately and coffee (with monkfruit for sweetness) for caffeine. On the weekends, we splurge on a low carb Monster. Whatever that sweetener is doesn't have the same effect as aspartame.

Monster uses sucralose and ace-k in it's low calorie versions, so no aspartame.

cheryldumais

Maybe things are different in Canada but alot of diet sodas here use Sucralose not aspertame but I have had no trouble with either one. I use Diet soda and koolaid water drops daily.