Artificial Sweeteners - Revisited
krwallis
Posts: 21 Member
I saw a former post on this subject but its over a year old and I know the demographics of users on MFP have changed a lot in that time so I wanted to discuss it again.
I have posted on several occasions that my weight loss basically slowed to a crawl/stop back in January after having much success from September to December. The major thing I can recall that is very different in my diet isn't the addition or subtraction in calorie intake and burned calories with exercise but the inclusion of Sweet N Low on a daily basis. If I'm being truly, brutally honest I have, on average, 13 to 15 packets every single day. I didn't used to have any. My husband and I started out using Stevia sparingly but found it to be bitter so we went back to Sweet N Low since we both agreed it had the best flavor for our needs.
After this light bulb moment of realization, I decided to do some research on the zero calorie sweetners and have found many studies that conclude that weight loss is halted when these products are included in diets. In a study conducted by Appetite Magazine in 2012, "Researchers showed that saccharin and aspartame both cause greater weight gain than sugar, even when the total caloric intake remains similar." In light of this alone I have decided to stop them altogether and then check my progress after a week.
What is the consensus of artificial sweetners use in the MFP community and what successes or failures did you have when using or stopping usage?
I have posted on several occasions that my weight loss basically slowed to a crawl/stop back in January after having much success from September to December. The major thing I can recall that is very different in my diet isn't the addition or subtraction in calorie intake and burned calories with exercise but the inclusion of Sweet N Low on a daily basis. If I'm being truly, brutally honest I have, on average, 13 to 15 packets every single day. I didn't used to have any. My husband and I started out using Stevia sparingly but found it to be bitter so we went back to Sweet N Low since we both agreed it had the best flavor for our needs.
After this light bulb moment of realization, I decided to do some research on the zero calorie sweetners and have found many studies that conclude that weight loss is halted when these products are included in diets. In a study conducted by Appetite Magazine in 2012, "Researchers showed that saccharin and aspartame both cause greater weight gain than sugar, even when the total caloric intake remains similar." In light of this alone I have decided to stop them altogether and then check my progress after a week.
What is the consensus of artificial sweetners use in the MFP community and what successes or failures did you have when using or stopping usage?
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I find the concept of artificial sweeteners impacting weight loss independent of calories eaten/burned (rather than the concept frequently thrown around that using them increases cravings and appetite and drives more calorie intake - that's easily controlled through logging) interesting. I've often tossed around the idea of quitting Diet Coke (I drink quite a bit, on average maybe 32-60 ounces per day, a bit more if I happen to stop for a fountain soda at some point in the day), but, frankly, I enjoy it too much to give it up without some indication that there's a scientific basis for it. I'd be very interested in any actual peer reviewed studies (rather than just something in "Appetite Magazine") that showed similar results, or some description of the chemical mechanism that would drive this impact.0
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I lost over 130 lbs and consumed an insane amount of pink packets every day.
If ever my weight loss stalled, I'd think it silly to think my Sweet n Low consumption was the likely culprit. Considering such strikes me as a stalling tactic if not a distraction from what is the likely culprit: overeating.0 -
Link the study. I'd like to read it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary/p1
As a former T2 diabetic in remission, I have an ongoing love affair with all artificial sweeteners. I never hit 13 to 15 packets a day however. I've lost over 85 pounds so far with no noticeable ill effect.
Interesting that you picked Sweet-n-Low as your sweetener of choice; it is one of the oldest and most tested; saccharin. I remember the first saccharin scare that resulted in this noble sweetener being pulled from the shelves. It was a rat study, and the study concluded that there was a slightly elevated risk of cancer. The results were never duplicated however, so the scare was a non-starter. But the damage was done. Saccharin never recovered and aspartame became the new favourite. (History of Saccharin)
Just goes to show what a bad rumor can do to one's reputation.
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"A study conducted by Appetite Magazine..." The very source of this information is dubious, at best. I'd like to see the actual paper on the study, including the methods they used, the research and control group, the length of time they utilized for the study, and what kind of results led them to their conclusion.
And honestly, if they say the study was done on anything other than humans, I'm going to discount it right away. The study jgnatca was referencing pumped the rats completely full of artificial sweeteners - as in a greater proportion for body weight than a human could ever realistically consume. That's enough to make me very skeptical of artificial sweetener study results.0 -
Link the study. I'd like to read it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/12/23/artificial-sweeteners-confuse-body.aspx
Its just something I read and I GUARANTEE you I am not overeating. I'm just trying to try different things to figure out why I stalled.
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Mercola is not a credible source. He is an AIDS denier and believes sunscreen causes skin cancer.0
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I'd say that's okay to have a sweetener packet here and there, but not 13 to 15. That's crazy. Learn to eat things naturally without sweetener. I would say the biggest bad thing is the health problem. Artificial sugar is not good for you if consumed in large quantities. If you want good advice then just use regular sugar in moderation.0
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Link the study. I'd like to read it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/12/23/artificial-sweeteners-confuse-body.aspx
Its just something I read and I GUARANTEE you I am not overeating. I'm just trying to try different things to figure out why I stalled.
This is not a peer-reviewed scientific study.
Also, this is the argument that artificial sweeteners cause people to over-eat, with a conclusion that artificial sweeteners cause weight gain. That's false. As we can see, over-eating causes weight gain... this isn't news to most of us. It isn't what you are telling us is happening to you either.Artificial sweeteners basically trick your body into thinking that it's going to receive sugar (calories), but when the sugar doesn't come, your body continues to signal that it needs more, which results in carb cravings.
I drank diet soda for decades and still do. I gained while drinking diet soda and I lost while drinking diet soda. The artificial sweeteners never had an effect on my weight.
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raineholmes wrote: »I'd say that's okay to have a sweetener packet here and there, but not 13 to 15. That's crazy. Learn to eat things naturally without sweetener. I would say the biggest bad thing is the health problem. Artificial sugar is not good for you if consumed in large quantities. If you want good advice then just use regular sugar in moderation.
I firmly disagree, as a former T2 diabetic now in remission. Regular sugar soda is loaded with calories and will drag a person off track of their weight loss goals faster than anything. Except perhaps chocolate or nuts. My future daughter in law has lost over thirty pounds in the past few months simply by switching from sugar sodas to diet.0 -
I've been trying to lose weight for years. Since the birth of my 2nd son I haven't been able to lose weight. I did start using splenda instead of sugar in my coffee. And on the occasions I do drink soda...I drink a diet soda. I've not noticed any differences in weight, body fat, or how I feel or anything before or after using artificial no calorie sweeteners. For my daily coffee...I have 3-6 cups a day and use 3 packets of splenda per coffee...so 9 to 15 a day.0
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The best thing you can do is ignore anything and everything Mercola says. He's about as reliable a source as Dr. Oz. He's been widely exposed as a crackpot and his "science" is pseudoscience.
Jgnatca linked to a thread above which contains actual real science, with links to the peer-reviewed studies. It's a good read if you want the true scoop rather than MercoLOLa's junk science and fearmongering.0 -
I saw a former post on this subject but its over a year old and I know the demographics of users on MFP have changed a lot in that time so I wanted to discuss it again.
I have posted on several occasions that my weight loss basically slowed to a crawl/stop back in January after having much success from September to December. The major thing I can recall that is very different in my diet isn't the addition or subtraction in calorie intake and burned calories with exercise but the inclusion of Sweet N Low on a daily basis. If I'm being truly, brutally honest I have, on average, 13 to 15 packets every single day. I didn't used to have any. My husband and I started out using Stevia sparingly but found it to be bitter so we went back to Sweet N Low since we both agreed it had the best flavor for our needs.
After this light bulb moment of realization, I decided to do some research on the zero calorie sweetners and have found many studies that conclude that weight loss is halted when these products are included in diets. In a study conducted by Appetite Magazine in 2012, "Researchers showed that saccharin and aspartame both cause greater weight gain than sugar, even when the total caloric intake remains similar." In light of this alone I have decided to stop them altogether and then check my progress after a week.
What is the consensus of artificial sweetners use in the MFP community and what successes or failures did you have when using or stopping usage?
I have used sweet and low in coffee for as long as I have been drinking it, and also Diet Coke since it was created. Neither has ever had anything but a positive impact on my weight loss, (in that I would consume more calories without having an artificial sweetener available).0 -
raineholmes wrote: »I'd say that's okay to have a sweetener packet here and there, but not 13 to 15. That's crazy. Learn to eat things naturally without sweetener. I would say the biggest bad thing is the health problem. Artificial sugar is not good for you if consumed in large quantities. If you want good advice then just use regular sugar in moderation.
I firmly disagree, as a former T2 diabetic now in remission. Regular sugar soda is loaded with calories and will drag a person off track of their weight loss goals faster than anything. Except perhaps chocolate or nuts. My future daughter in law has lost over thirty pounds in the past few months simply by switching from sugar sodas to diet.
So, she reduced her overall caloric intake; that's how she lost weight. However, there is nothing magical about soda that will "will drag a person off track of their weight loss goals faster than anything". If a soda fits into a person's calories for the day, there's nothing wrong with having it.0 -
The best thing you can do is ignore anything and everything Mercola says. He's about as reliable a source as Dr. Oz. He's been widely exposed as a crackpot and his "science" is pseudoscience.
Jgnatca linked to a thread above which contains actual real science, with links to the peer-reviewed studies. It's a good read if you want the true scoop rather than MercoLOLa's junk science and fearmongering.
He's actually worse than Dr. Oz.0 -
To OP in regards to the claims:
This would only be even physically possible if somehow, the artificial sweetenerts put your digestive system into overdrive to be able to extract everything there is in the foods for little to no extra work or it somehow made your metabolism crash and burn. Both of which would be easy to notice and test for in any person taking them.
They don't do that.0 -
ClosetBayesian wrote: »raineholmes wrote: »I'd say that's okay to have a sweetener packet here and there, but not 13 to 15. That's crazy. Learn to eat things naturally without sweetener. I would say the biggest bad thing is the health problem. Artificial sugar is not good for you if consumed in large quantities. If you want good advice then just use regular sugar in moderation.
I firmly disagree, as a former T2 diabetic now in remission. Regular sugar soda is loaded with calories and will drag a person off track of their weight loss goals faster than anything. Except perhaps chocolate or nuts. My future daughter in law has lost over thirty pounds in the past few months simply by switching from sugar sodas to diet.
So, she reduced her overall caloric intake; that's how she lost weight. However, there is nothing magical about soda that will "will drag a person off track of their weight loss goals faster than anything". If a soda fits into a person's calories for the day, there's nothing wrong with having it.
I know. Switching to diet soda was an easy change to her diet that gave immediate and dramatic results. I prefer to eat my calories than to take a cup of sugar sweetened beverage at 100 to 150 calories per shot. It adds up quickly. You will see that I spread the accusation to chocolate and nuts, other foods it are easy to overindulge. I eat chocolate and nuts.0 -
ClosetBayesian wrote: »So, she reduced her overall caloric intake; that's how she lost weight. However, there is nothing magical about soda that will "will drag a person off track of their weight loss goals faster than anything". If a soda fits into a person's calories for the day, there's nothing wrong with having it.
Diet soda always fits. That's the point.0 -
I don't hate sugar free foods as when it comes to soda or sweets, the empty calories and carbs are unnecessary and if you have to have soda it's better to get diet. I just think sugar alcohols are terrible. Not because they're bad for you or whatever, it just sucks being around someone who just consumed many grams sugar alcohols. Sugar free gummies and road trips don't mix0
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There are different types of Stevia sweeteners that are SOOOO good! Try them out. It's from a plant - way better for you!
I use SweetLeaf Organics0 -
Yeah, I can't eat any amount of sugar alcohols without side effects but aspartame is fine.0
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So, how much had you lost, and have you adjusted your calories down to compensate? If you're getting close to your goal weight, errors in logging have more of an effect because you have less leeway. Have you tried tightening that up yet?
Personally, I have no similar experience with artificial sweeteners. Granted, I don't use anywhere close to the number you do. I'm more on the lines of 5 max per day.
I think you'd have better luck following the weight loss flow chart that gets posted all of the time rather than cutting out the sweetener. Unless doing that causes you to cut cals as well.0 -
chelsea7162 wrote: »I don't hate sugar free foods as when it comes to soda or sweets, the empty calories and carbs are unnecessary and if you have to have soda it's better to get diet. I just think sugar alcohols are terrible. Not because they're bad for you or whatever, it just sucks being around someone who just consumed many grams sugar alcohols. Sugar free gummies and road trips don't mix
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So, how much had you lost, and have you adjusted your calories down to compensate? If you're getting close to your goal weight, errors in logging have more of an effect because you have less leeway. Have you tried tightening that up yet?
Personally, I have no similar experience with artificial sweeteners. Granted, I don't use anywhere close to the number you do. I'm more on the lines of 5 max per day.
I think you'd have better luck following the weight loss flow chart that gets posted all of the time rather than cutting out the sweetener. Unless doing that causes you to cut cals as well.
When everything came to a halt I had reached my halfway point. I'm 5'6", 45 yrs old, started at 202 and am sitting at 175. My goal is 145. Just last week I adjusted from 1200 calories a day to 1100 and I'm trying to stay as close to that as possible without going over. I track 95% of everything I eat, good or bad because accuracy is what counts in the long run. I was eating some of my exercise calories back and have decided to only do that on rare occasion and only half of them at the most. I was also eye-balling stuff and went back to straight measuring but I also wanted to make sure I was covering all bases so I did the artificial sweetener research and found lots of differing opinions on it. That's why I started the thread so I could see what others had to say on it. I meal prep every day and know exactly what I'm eating and at what time and of what and that hasn't changed since September unless we have an occasional night out, birthday or holiday. I mean we have to have a life while on this journey since its marathon and not a sprint, right? ;-) I have not been measuring regularly when it came to my liquids so I've started that back so that I can maybe see results there instead. I'm happy with how I'm starting to look and extremely ecstatic about how I feel so those are successes in and of themselves :-)
Just yesterday I went to the dr and after she took my pulse and blood pressure she commented, "Wow, you're going to live forever!" and smiled. THAT made all of my work worth it at that moment
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Sucralose (Splenda) also comes from a plant (sugar)... does that make it "good" for me?
It doesn't. It isn't bad for me either, though. It just tastes good and then passes right through without anything "good" or "bad" being digested from it (sugar molecule is modified to make it undigested).0 -
Aspartame is the only artificial sweetener that doesn't make me sick. Agave has been the worst (severe gastric distress).0
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