Crystal light or diet soda?

2

Replies

  • chrismellor01
    chrismellor01 Posts: 77 Member
    bagge72 wrote: »
    Jhenryesq88310 wrote: »
    Neither. Both trick your body's insulin response and you end up storing weight. Yes diet drinks make you gain weight. Drink water. Add lemon or cucumber if you don't like the taste.

    Tricks it into doing what? I never got the whole "artificial sweetener makes your body release insulin" thing. I mean the major sweeteners that people talk about are 0 on the GI scale, and there would probably be a lot of dead diabetics if it did what people claim it does.

    There is evidence that sweeteners do affect insulin. This is caused by certain parts of the structure mimicking intermediate metabolites (I'm not a biochemist and it's along time since I've done any). But - there are also some papers that refute this.

    So - you reads your information, you makes your informed choice.
  • chrismellor01
    chrismellor01 Posts: 77 Member
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    I'm just going to leave this here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary/p1

    Aspartame is just one sweetener. And to be fair, there is so much information and interpretation going on - there is no one definitive answer. Unfortunately.

    There are many other issue going on, besides the biochemical. Psychology plays a big part, sweet things make you want more sweet things etc. There is also what effect foodstuffs have on your digestive system (flora/fauna) - this is now being show to be very important.

    At end of day there are as many right and wrongs as there are individuals.

    Moderation in all things and make your choices on informed reading.

    Be aware of sources that also try to sell you things and also sources that offer to have "the answer". Also when sources are funded by the very people that the article is about.
  • chrismellor01
    chrismellor01 Posts: 77 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »

    Even if certain sweeteners do affect insulin as you've stated, why do individuals with no issues with insulin sensitivity or insulin resistance, need to be concerned about this?

    Why would be concerned about anything?

    We always thought that lots of sunlight was great for you until we realized that too much gives you cancer. Now, we know enough to put sun screen on or cover up.

    IF there is something that may affect my health, I think I need to be concerned to the point where I read about it and make my own choice.

    One of the things about having excess weight is that often insulin resistance is not diagnosed. Tiredness and all that is seen as a symptom of being too "fat". Maybe the tiredness is really the insulin resistance? I don't know.

  • chrismellor01
    chrismellor01 Posts: 77 Member
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Which other sweeteners are you worried about in Crystal Light or diet sodas? You mentioned sugar alcohols before. I've never come across them in diet drinks. Which are they in? Why does craving sweeter things (which has never been a problem for me with diet sodas - if anything they help curb my cravings) matter to someone counting calories and staying in a deficit? Why do you think I don't know how to vet a source or that the link I posted is trying to sell something or funded by Big Aspartame? Of the two of you, I think I'll trust the biochemist who wrote the link I posted.

    If you've never come across the term - then read the source that it comes from. It's quite interesting and fairly new research. It goes some ways to explain the issue.

    You trust who you like. I have no problems with that in either way.

    Informed discussion and the ability to agree to disagree is something I hope we can at least agree upon?

  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    edited February 2017
    Jhenryesq88310 wrote: »
    Neither. Both trick your body's insulin response and you end up storing weight. Yes diet drinks make you gain weight. Drink water. Add lemon or cucumber if you don't like the taste.

    No they don't. I lost 50lbs while drinking several servings of diet soda every day. I'm now several years of successfully maintaining a bmi of around 21, while still drinking diet soda every day. All of my health markers and blood work panels are consistently good as well, including having a former prediabetic glucose number now normalized into the 80s and 90s.

    Op, either is fine :)
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    chrismellor01 wrote: »
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Which other sweeteners are you worried about in Crystal Light or diet sodas? You mentioned sugar alcohols before. I've never come across them in diet drinks. Which are they in? Why does craving sweeter things (which has never been a problem for me with diet sodas - if anything they help curb my cravings) matter to someone counting calories and staying in a deficit? Why do you think I don't know how to vet a source or that the link I posted is trying to sell something or funded by Big Aspartame? Of the two of you, I think I'll trust the biochemist who wrote the link I posted.

    If you've never come across the term - then read the source that it comes from. It's quite interesting and fairly new research. It goes some ways to explain the issue.

    You trust who you like. I have no problems with that in either way.

    Informed discussion and the ability to agree to disagree is something I hope we can at least agree upon?

    Sugar alcohols? I've come across the term many times. I've never come across them as an ingredient in diet drinks - the topic of the discussion here. I'm trying to learn why you brought them up here. But you seem more interested in assuming I'm stupid than in having an informed debate.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    chrismellor01 wrote: »
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Which other sweeteners are you worried about in Crystal Light or diet sodas? You mentioned sugar alcohols before. I've never come across them in diet drinks. Which are they in? Why does craving sweeter things (which has never been a problem for me with diet sodas - if anything they help curb my cravings) matter to someone counting calories and staying in a deficit? Why do you think I don't know how to vet a source or that the link I posted is trying to sell something or funded by Big Aspartame? Of the two of you, I think I'll trust the biochemist who wrote the link I posted.

    If you've never come across the term - then read the source that it comes from. It's quite interesting and fairly new research. It goes some ways to explain the issue.

    You trust who you like. I have no problems with that in either way.

    Informed discussion and the ability to agree to disagree is something I hope we can at least agree upon?

    Sugar alcohols? I've come across the term many times. I've never come across them as an ingredient in diet drinks - the topic of the discussion here. I'm trying to learn why you brought them up here. But you seem more interested in assuming I'm stupid than in having an informed debate.

    Sugar alcohols in diet drinks would be a sister unless they are listed as laxatives ;)
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
    chrismellor01 wrote: »
    bagge72 wrote: »
    Jhenryesq88310 wrote: »
    Neither. Both trick your body's insulin response and you end up storing weight. Yes diet drinks make you gain weight. Drink water. Add lemon or cucumber if you don't like the taste.

    Tricks it into doing what? I never got the whole "artificial sweetener makes your body release insulin" thing. I mean the major sweeteners that people talk about are 0 on the GI scale, and there would probably be a lot of dead diabetics if it did what people claim it does.

    There is evidence that sweeteners do affect insulin. This is caused by certain parts of the structure mimicking intermediate metabolites (I'm not a biochemist and it's along time since I've done any). But - there are also some papers that refute this.

    So - you reads your information, you makes your informed choice.

    I'm not sure I understand what this means...

    again, what does it trick your body into doing? Also I think I have read evidence, that artificial sweeteners when had with certain proteins might cause an insulin spike, but they aren't sure what actually causes it. So is there definite proof that certain artificial sweeteners that people are always talking about on here are doing this. I mean there are different artificial sweeteners, and the are all different on the GI scale, but they are all less than sugar.
  • UltimateTrashBae
    UltimateTrashBae Posts: 175 Member
    I drink Diet Coke. Almost exclusively. I have since I was a young teen. Even now, as I'm losing weight, I still drink it. The only time I drink water is when I am actively running on the treadmill. I've had no problems so far and will likely drink Diet Coke until I either die or it gets discontinued.
  • MissBecca145
    MissBecca145 Posts: 149 Member
    edited February 2017
    Sugar alcohols = xylitol and erithrytol from memory. They are 'tooth friendly' - my ex was a dentist and would sing about them at every opportunity. They are found in a good many boutique/healthy sodas on the market (here in Australia at least).

    And I'll put my hand up as one of those who lost weight drinking diet soda, gained weight drinking diet soda, lost weight and so on and so forth. Diet soda doesn't impact the whole cals in cals out business.

    The caffeine dependancy on the other hand was another story. I knew I didn't want to cut it out completely (because I enjoy it and genuinely have always preferred it to full sugar sodas), so have worked this year at cutting back to 1 can a day. Drinking sparkling water has helped.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    MissBecca145 wrote: »
    Diet soda doesn't impact the whole cals in cals out business.

    I'm being a pedant here to divert attention from the pointless debate going on above; but even Diet soda has calories :P
  • astrology681
    astrology681 Posts: 4 Member
    edited February 2017
    I agree that you can lose weight on diet soda. It gives you a full or bloated feeling and decreases your appetite for food. I did it on coffee and could go up to mid afternoon on one or two cups. Bottom line is it is not supporting a healthy clean diet. Many of these artificial sweetners have long term effects and some believe can even cause cancer. When looking at long term weight loss it would be best to adhere to a healthy lifestyle of exercise and balance diet with fresh fruits and vegetables. I think there is much better alternatives. Stay away from man made junk that has no nutritional value. Its a chemical that your body does not need. It can run on its own with the proper fuel.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    edited February 2017
    chrismellor01 wrote: »
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    I lived on diet coke when I was anorexic. I guess I'm odd since I lost a lot of weight and became dangerously underweight.

    I do not know the mechanism of your anorexia and I'm very sorry that you had to suffer that horrible disease. I have seen close up what it can do. How are you now?

    There are no calories in diet drinks (or very little) and so they will no on their own make you gain weight. But the sweeteners in them (according to evidence) affect insulin levels. It's the insulin level that has an affect in weight gain.

    Yes - many of those papers are about diabetics (both Type 1 & 2). That is where most of the research has been done.

    How does insulin affect weight gain in a caloric deficit? Also, you posted a rat study. Rats react differently than humans to some things. The study done on humans was pitifully small.
  • MarieCoreaa1
    MarieCoreaa1 Posts: 68 Member
    Neither are good for you. Try infused water. Add some cucumbers/Peppermint to your water-Actually your favorite fruit will do
  • MissBecca145
    MissBecca145 Posts: 149 Member
    trigden1991 wrote: »
    MissBecca145 wrote: »
    Diet soda doesn't impact the whole cals in cals out business.

    I'm being a pedant here to divert attention from the pointless debate going on above; but even Diet soda has calories :P

    YES! Forgive me. The 2 cals in my Pepsi Max can go f*** themselves. :wink:
  • cheermomblessed
    cheermomblessed Posts: 149 Member
    I'm sure someone already said this but I'm not reading all the responses. Both are crap lol. Try flavoring your water with lemons or oranges. Something natural. I struggled with this myself for years. Diet soda was the reason I packed on so much weight bc it actually makes you crave more sweet things .. if you have to flavor your water with something by some organic juice made with real sugar and try to just add a little for flavor. I personally hated water but you'll get use to it. :) Best of luck love but stay away from those artificial sweeteners.. they are crap
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    We were told by an orthopedist that soda is bad for bones, so I'd go with Crystal Light.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    To address the OP, please ignore the fear mongering.

    Read this post by a man with an advanced degree in biochemistry who knows what he's talking about. Aspartame is two amino acids. That's all. It has been extensively studied and is quite safe. it is not crap. Drink what you like, either diet soda or Crystal Lite.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary/p1

    There is a small subset of people for whom artificial sweeteners trigger a craving for more sweets. If you're not one of them, don't worry about it.

    This.

    *End thread
  • johnwelk
    johnwelk Posts: 396 Member
    edited February 2017
    chrismellor01 wrote: »
    Where there is confusion is that artificial sweeteners affect insulin levels.
    Nope, no confusion here. Artificial sweeteners MAY affect insulin levels in rodents. But, alas, we as humans, are not rodents.
    There is a mechanism that insulin resistance (type 2) is negatively affected by sweeteners and that puts weight on.
    There may be a proposed mechanism by you, but what you linked to in no way supports your conclusion.
    There is also evidence that the flora and fauna of your mice gut has a large may have a roll to play in metabolism. There is evidence that sweeteners affect the flora/fauna in your the gut of mice.
    Fixed it for you.
    This could have a direct reflection on weight gain etc.
    Or not:
    http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v40/n3/full/ijo2015177a.html
  • desireeshaffer16
    desireeshaffer16 Posts: 15 Member
    I like Powerade zero. It uses Sucralose which doesn't spike insulin. I usually dilute it with water and it helps the water go down much easier while also providing electrolytes.
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