OK.........So now I'm sad after researching this...................

Sandytoes71 wrote: »

Actually, I'm doubly sad bc this is the third time i've tried to type this lol. Anyway, I have done a little reading on artificial sweeteners, specifically Splenda. There are several bad things it can possibly do to our bodies, but the two I'm upset about is reading that it can spike insulin levels and cause fat storage. I've read that foreign chemicals like sucralose (sp?) can do this. I thought I was doing great by substituting splenda sweetened tea for diet coke. It seems though, that it's all bad. That leaves..............plain ole water And I don't like lemon/lime in my water either, so I can't even flavor it. Basically, the info i've read is stating that our bodies don't know what to do with foreign chemicals so it stores it.

What are your thoughts on splenda? Have y'all read these things too? And what am I gonna do about my no cal spray butter now? Its foreign chemicals should cause fat storage too? When I use the word, foreign, I'm talking about foreign to our bodies. What butter should I use???

Even if the research was 100% conclusive that artificial sweeteners were safe, I still wouldn't use them because I think they taste nasty - all artificially and fake.

Sounds like you are using bottled Splenda-sweetened tea? Try brewing your own, which is a lot cheaper anyway. I've gradually reduced the sugar in my tea to only 1/2 teaspoon per bag of black tea and drink green tea that's bagged with stevia. (I had less success when I try to add stevia on my own, but that was years and years ago and the stevia sold now may be more palatable.)

1/2 teaspoon of sugar is only 8 calories. I use 1 to 1.5 t per day. I can afford that

First of all, your "no cal spray butter" still has calories in it. It's just less than 5 calories for a half second spray. But have you ever sprayed it for half a second? No, I didn't think so.

As far as splenda goes - I lost a ton of weight back in high school consuming mostly artificially sweetened products. (I also had an eating disorder, but I digress...) Your body is not going to put on fat if you're not consuming calories. It can't create fat out of nothing. That being said, I choose not to consume splenda or other artificial sweeteners currently because it triggers migraines for me. I lost 90 pounds without knowingly consuming a single artificial sweetener but I also drink a lot of water and black coffee.

At the end of the day, it comes down to calories in, calories out. If splenda doesn't give you problems, then consume it. If you like the taste of regular pop, consume that, but fit it into yor calories.

@stevencloser and @Wetcoaster glad you guys showed up.
I'm too busy to spend time dispelling derp and woo by myself and this thread is so full of it I didn't know where to start.

And up till know it's basically been left free to misinform.

Ok, here goes:
OP, what you read was a woo article written on a basis of misinformed fear and not on real scientific facts.

Something being a "foreign chemical" doesn't make it bad for you. It doesn't make you store fat.
Only a calorie surplus can make you store fat.

Sure, fat metabolism may be temporarily affected by an insulin spike but it comes out in the wash at the end of the day because your body won't store energy it needs to use and it will have to pull it from fat if you aren't eating more than you burn.

Also, almost everything spikes insulin.
Carbs spike insulin.
Protein spikes insulin (fact!)
Regular coffee spikes insulin.
Even some fats spike insulin.

Every food in the world can be painted to cause fat gain and disease if enough spin is put on it.
Unless, you have a medical condition to consider, just eat what you like and keep to your calorie goal.

I have a similar issue. My solution is firstly to eat less sugar in general - the less sweet stuff you eat, the more sensitive you are to sugar, so the sweeter it tastes when you get some. Then drink either fruit juice or no-sugar squash diluted with sparkling water. It tastes just like Fanta, but I'm in control of how sweet it is and how much sweetener I'm consuming. I can choose which to use, (juice or squash) in which concentration, based on how many calories I've got to work with, when I last had something sweet, and how bad I am craving. I can also slowly reduce the ratio of squash or juice to the point where it's really just 99% water.

Also, I find plain water is inexplicably nicer out of a sports cap bottle. Maybe it's a subconscious childhood thing.

Sandytoes71 wrote: »

Actually, I'm doubly sad bc this is the third time i've tried to type this lol. Anyway, I have done alittle reading on artificial sweeteners, specifically Splenda. There are several bad things it can possibly do to our bodies, but the two I'm upset about is reading that it can spike insulin levels and cause fat storage. I've read that foreign chemicals like sucralose (sp?) can do this. I thought I was doing great by substituting splenda sweetened tea for diet coke. It seems though, that it's all bad. That leaves..............plain ole water And I don't like lemon/lime in my water either, so I can't even flavor it. Basically, the info i've read is stating that our bodies don't know what to do with foreign chemicals so it stores it.

What are your thoughts on splenda? Have y'all read these things too? And what am I gonna do about my no cal spray butter now? Its foreign chemicals should cause fat storage too? When I use the word, foreign, I'm talking about foreign to our bodies. What butter should I use???

I use a small amount of locally sourced, raw honey in my first cup of tea in the morning...after that, I switch to Stevia in the Raw. It doesn't take much. I keep a few packets with me to have handy if I meet someone for coffee/tea. I can easily drink iced tea without sweetening of any sort.

Since you don't like lime/lemon in your water, try a bit of orange or cranberry or just about any fruit/pure fruit juice. I no longer consume soda of any sort. I can't stand the diet ones so I gave it up completely. For my "fizz fix" I get club soda and add a splash of orange juice or other 100% juice.

With transitioning to a mostly paleo diet, I rarely eat potatoes. When I do, it's usually a baked sweet potato. I use butter. Organic is ideal but, if you aren't using butter often, it is not as important. For cooking, I use olive oil or avocado oil. You can buy an oil mister and use your own oil to make the spray for your pans. No mystery ingredients and no chemical propellants! The one I use is by Pampered Chef but there are others out there...just get one that is good quality (voice of experience...don't go cheap!).

I'm going to our local dinner theater Saturday night. I'll relax my eating restrictions to a certain extent. I don't eat the bread and avoid dishes with grains (flour, rice, etc). As of now, I plan on splurging on a small dish of ice cream for dessert. I'm still debating the ice cream...I ate a small piece of dark chocolate last night and it seemed horribly sweet. I usually use fresh fruit for my sweet cravings. Apple slices with organic almond butter make a delightful snack.

Good luck!!

nicolefalcone90 wrote: »

heybales wrote: »

Even if the artificials do spike your insulin - if that's all you had was a diet drink - there is nothing to store as fat.

Also keep in mind that different foods take different amounts of time to digest and move from your stomach through your intestines etc. before completing the process. Nutrients are primarily absorbed in the small intestine so even though you may drink a diet Coke on an 'empty stomach' you food is likely still moving through your intestines. The best way to think about food is to eat things that are only 1 or two steps away from the Earth. If you can't walk outside and find it...or make it at home with ingredients found at the market...you probably shouldn't eat. If it's packaged and has got more than one or 2 steps of processing or more than 1 or 2 ingredients on the label that you can't pronounce....or if the ingredients are not 'whole food' ingredients...I would avoid it where you can.

Which ingredients can't you pronounce? And isn't that a lack of education or knowledge rather than it being harmful to the human body?

I started using my SodaStream to just make seltzer for myself. Sometimes I add a squeeze from an orange wedge or something to flavor it, but I love the fizzy water plain too. Also, I try to use olive oil (or other healthy oils) in my cooking in an oil sprayer in place of cooking spray, and opt to just a bit of real butter or real sugar when needed. If you can limit them, your body will metabolize them correctly.

I've read that the problem with artificial sweeteners is that it tricks your body into not starting your metabolism when you taste sweet things. So when you use artificial sweeteners that have no calories, your brain gets smart and realizes that it shouldn't start your metabolism to prepare to use that sugar because there is none. Then when you consume real sugar and real sweets, your metabolism doesn't start up, so you end up storing it. I don't know whether or not it's true, but that's what I've read. Probably the better trick is to use real sugar, but in moderation. Or use a sugar alternative like honey.

lynn1982 wrote: »

kgirlhart wrote: »

I don't have any health issues, aside from being overweight. I do not use any artificial sweeteners. If I want something sweet, I use sugar. I also don't use margarine only butter and I use olive oil or canola oil. I'm sure I use some foreign things, but I try not to if possible. I like to flavor my water with cucumbers and mint or with berries. I also like lemon or lime, but since you don't you might try other fruits. And I always drink tea unsweetened or with mint.

Out of curiosity, why do you use canola oil but not margarine?

I don't use it often, but sometimes my husband likes to deep fry things. When he does we usually use canola because it isn't as expensive as olive oil. If I am sauteing something I will use butter or olive oil and when it comes to toast or a baked potato I always use real butter, just not a lot of it.

nicolefalcone90 wrote: »

heybales wrote: »

Even if the artificials do spike your insulin - if that's all you had was a diet drink - there is nothing to store as fat.

Also keep in mind that different foods take different amounts of time to digest and move from your stomach through your intestines etc. before completing the process. Nutrients are primarily absorbed in the small intestine so even though you may drink a diet Coke on an 'empty stomach' you food is likely still moving through your intestines. The best way to think about food is to eat things that are only 1 or two steps away from the Earth. If you can't walk outside and find it...or make it at home with ingredients found at the market...you probably shouldn't eat. If it's packaged and has got more than one or 2 steps of processing or more than 1 or 2 ingredients on the label that you can't pronounce....or if the ingredients are not 'whole food' ingredients...I would avoid it where you can.

All my food falls into this category because I am on earth. Right?

So much no in this post. So. Much. No.

stevencloser wrote: »

Sandytoes71 wrote: »

Actually, I'm doubly sad bc this is the third time i've tried to type this lol. Anyway, I have done alittle reading on artificial sweeteners, specifically Splenda. There are several bad things it can possibly do to our bodies, but the two I'm upset about is reading that it can spike insulin levels and cause fat storage. I've read that foreign chemicals like sucralose (sp?) can do this. I thought I was doing great by substituting splenda sweetened tea for diet coke. It seems though, that it's all bad. That leaves..............plain ole water And I don't like lemon/lime in my water either, so I can't even flavor it. Basically, the info i've read is stating that our bodies don't know what to do with foreign chemicals so it stores it.

What are your thoughts on splenda? Have y'all read these things too? And what am I gonna do about my no cal spray butter now? Its foreign chemicals should cause fat storage too? When I use the word, foreign, I'm talking about foreign to our bodies. What butter should I use???

OP, I'd advise you to keep researching, but skip on blogs and websites that try to sell you things and stuff like that. Actual, cold, hard science attests to the safety of artificial sweeteners. The link I linked to above is a good start with many studies listed as sources.

OP here's a couple of other links I encourage you to check out. Try to stick to science based articles if you can. There is so much nutritional misinformation out there. One thing that can help with your searches is to add the word "evidence" when you google topics like this, for example: "Evidence for Safety of Sucralose."

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/artificial-sweeteners/art-20046936?pg=2

http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/diet/artificial-sweeteners-fact-sheet

As with anything, there are pros and cons, of course. Personally, I have weighed the risk/benefit ratio for Splenda/Sucrolose, and have decided that it is safe for me, in moderation. [p.s. I have lost 60 lbs, and drink 1-2 cans of Diet Dr. Pepper, and use 2 packets of Splenda in my morning coffee, per day.]

I use real butter. I couldn't be without it! For cooking I use rapeseed oil, sesame oil or coconut oil. I only use olive oil as a dressing.

I don't use sweetener but if I'm making something like pancakes or cheesecake I'll use stevia or agave which are natural sweeteners.

Having said that I do enjoy a diet drink every now and again...maybe 1 a fortnight.

Youi don't need to be sad. Close to 100 pounds gone here, with artificial sweeteners. They can be great a calorie saver if you don't mind the taste (I don't, and in fact I prefer diet drinks to regular which taste too sweet to me)

The best thing you could do for your peace of mind is to stop reading fear mongering articles, or just take them at face value. There is a common practice among people with agendas: take any factoid, and spin it off to make something sound like a poison or a miracle cure. You hear "spikes insulin" and think, "wow, now the pounds will start piling on", but what about the other crucial information that has been left out? By how much does it spike insulin? Because almost everything spikes insulin to varying degrees. Are you eating at a deficit? Then no, you most certainly will not be storing fat even if your insulin is through the roof.

Here is some fun reading how anything can be made to sound bad if you know how to spin it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax

Just don't worry and have the things you enjoy (or the things that help you fit the things you enjoy into your calorie budget)

I've lost weight in the past drinking plenty of diet soda, however, I have cut out all artificial sweetener and sugar and have found it much easier to control my sweet cravings. It was hard at first but a couple of months in, well worth it as I don't crave sugar or sweet foods anywhere near as much and while using sweetener, I was always wanting more. I'm not saying this method would work for everyone but it might help someone. For those that enjoy diet soda, everything in moderation.