"Fake" sugar: Why is it not good for you?

It makes me feel like crap, so I don't eat it. I know there are others who are fine using it though, so it depends on your personal preference. I use honey or maple syrup in small quantities and I use Erythritol if I don't want the calories, which has very little impact on blood sugar and no real caloric impact in the body.

jmule24 wrote: »

ndj1979 wrote: »

rdberg1957 wrote: »

I think the problem with the artificial sweeteners has been appetite and cravings, which is the same problem with sugars. When I eat sugar, I tend to eat more calories overall. The sweetness registers the same as far as the brain is concerned. If you don't experience that, it may not be a problem for you. My bias is that simple whole foods are generally better (fruits and vegetables, small amounts of fish and chicken, small amounts of whole grains and legumes).

Wait doesn't fruit have sugar in it??

Fruit sugar is "clean" sugar......and well the other stuff is processed different, right? That's what I keep hearing around here........

Fruit: Fructose and glucose
Donut: Fructose and glucose

I'm not sure how to begin this...

Sugars are made from carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The two we use for our major metabolic pathways are glucose and fructose (other sugars are altered in the body to become either of these two). Table sugar, sucrose, is glucose and fructose linked together. There are several other types of sugar, but glc and frct are the two important ones.

Artificial sweeteners are created in a couple different ways. Sucralose is created by chlorinating sucrose. Aspartame is basically a couple amino acids linked together (the building blocks of protein). Regardless of how they are made they are said to be metabolically unimportant because the amount needed to make something sweet is miniscule compared to "normal" sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners are several hundreds to over a thousand times sweeter than sucrose. The number of calories you injest when you eat an artificial sweetener is basically too small to count.

All of that being said, the big push for these sweeteners was also because of the diabetic community. Because these are metabolized in a different way, it was believed for many years that the gut didn't recognize this as a sugar even though it tastes sweet. Now however, we've learned that the taste of sweetness may be causing the pancreas to release insulin in the blood in order to decrease blood glucose.

All of that being said... if a diet coke helps you stick to your diet, or some sweetener in your yogurt makes it easier, and you don't personally feel any side effects, then it's probably safe to use. There is a lot of research going on and the biochemistry world is rapidly changing our view on how our bodies work.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25271009

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3221019/

asflatasapancake wrote: »

I lost 75lbs and kept it off for well over 1 year drinking Coke Zero the whole way. It certainly hurt my weight loss. And, of course, Aspartame puked on my white carpet leaving a very nasty stain. So I will never forgive Aspartame for that.

*giggle*

Commander_Keen wrote: »

Now, I haven't seen any articles that says splenda will cause you cancer or anything like that there are articles that says sugar free items can help with gaining weight. Some articles argue that people will argue that they are having a large diet coke, they can have the Big Mac with out realizing that they are going over their calorie limit.
Another article that I had read, said something that splenda tricks your body into eating because it expecting something sort of food.

Do you have links to any of these "articles"? Are any of them actual scientific studies?

I've heard people say things like this, and I really and truly don't understand that concept. I've been drinking Diet Coke for 20 or so years, not to mention artificial sweeteners in my coffee (although I don't anymore, not because they are bad, I just started using flavored creamers and don't miss the Splenda). I have never once accidentally eaten a Big Mac because my Diet Coke tricked me into thinking that I had to eat since I wasn't full enough. If I eat a Big Mac, it is because I am hungry, or because I just want it (which I don't even like Big Macs, it is just the example provided) not because I ate 2000 calories of other foods and because I drank Diet Coke, my body thought I needed MOAR food...

And I just had a thought. If that were true, that artificial sweeteners trick your body into eating more than it needs, wouldn't that be a great tool for those struggling to put on weight, whether due to illness, eating disorder, or just malnourished?

WinoGelato wrote: »

I have never once accidentally eaten a Big Mac because my Diet Coke tricked me into thinking that I had to eat since I wasn't full enough.

I just snorted coffee. Thanks for that.

pmm3437 wrote: »

The problem with artificial sweeteners is that they trigger the same blood chemistry as regular sugar ...

Nope.

WinoGelato wrote: »

Commander_Keen wrote: »

Now, I haven't seen any articles that says splenda will cause you cancer or anything like that there are articles that says sugar free items can help with gaining weight. Some articles argue that people will argue that they are having a large diet coke, they can have the Big Mac with out realizing that they are going over their calorie limit.
Another article that I had read, said something that splenda tricks your body into eating because it expecting something sort of food.

Do you have links to any of these "articles"? Are any of them actual scientific studies?

I've heard people say things like this, and I really and truly don't understand that concept. I've been drinking Diet Coke for 20 or so years, not to mention artificial sweeteners in my coffee (although I don't anymore, not because they are bad, I just started using flavored creamers and don't miss the Splenda). I have never once accidentally eaten a Big Mac because my Diet Coke tricked me into thinking that I had to eat since I wasn't full enough. If I eat a Big Mac, it is because I am hungry, or because I just want it (which I don't even like Big Macs, it is just the example provided) not because I ate 2000 calories of other foods and because I drank Diet Coke, my body thought I needed MOAR food...

And I just had a thought. If that were true, that artificial sweeteners trick your body into eating more than it needs, wouldn't that be a great tool for those struggling to put on weight, whether due to illness, eating disorder, or just malnourished?

+1

asflatasapancake wrote: »

I lost 75lbs and kept it off for well over 1 year drinking Coke Zero the whole way. It certainly hurt my weight loss. And, of course, Aspartame puked on my white carpet leaving a very nasty stain. So I will never forgive Aspartame for that.

Curse you, aspartame! *shakes fist*