Artificial Sweeteners - What do you all drink?
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jonesybgonsy13 wrote: »I’ve heard because it doesn’t know how to properly process and digest it it gets stored as body fat, is this true?
Not picking on you, OP, as I've heard this statement before. But it just baffles me. If your body doesn't "know what to do" with something, it doesn't default to digesting it and storing it as fat! If I eat something that my body truly can't process, like a piece of teflon, it just...doesn't get digested, and passes through more or less unchanged.
This is the weak link in so many "alternative health" scare tactics. If your body doesn't know what to do with something, or is physically incapable of doing something with it, it just shoots it out of you. If it thinks it is truly poisonous, it might reject it out and up one way, otherwise it sends it through intact the other way. In order for something to be "stored in fat cells" it has to be digested down to its smallest components. Why would your body waste time digesting an unknown thing and storing it (risking the possibility that it is harmful and really shouldn't be shooting around your whole system), when it can just expel it along with all your other waste?16 -
sheloves89 wrote: »With absolutely no scientific data to back my claim, I prefer drinking things sweetened with natural sweeteners (when I drink them), because I tend to think that our gut microbiome is better equipped to handle things like that (it's what they've evolved to process!).
Every time we eat and drink, we're feeding our gut bacteria, and it is becoming increasingly apparently that gut microflora play a critical role in our mental and physical health. Bacterial cells outnumber human cells in any individual, and I am very much of the camp that their role in our health cannot be overstated. =]
BUT that is just me, and I am very likely overthinking things! There is virtually no convincing evidence in the literature to suggest aspartame is detrimental to human beings, which means it probably isn't screwing up our microbiome too much, either.
In fairness, if vegetable soup or chicken parmesan aren't hurting your gut microbiome, neither is aspartame, as they contain far more of the same components.11 -
interesting reading through these comments. I have a horrid sweet tooth, but I try to stick with fruit to satisfy that anyways, but im not opposed to artificial sweeteners. Love my diet mt dew!
I use the Equal tablets in my coffee... I do agree with most, it can be extremely sweet, but then you just cut back on it. 5 -
jonesybgonsy13 wrote: »I’ve heard because it doesn’t know how to properly process and digest it it gets stored as body fat, is this true?
Not picking on you, OP, as I've heard this statement before. But it just baffles me. If your body doesn't "know what to do" with something, it doesn't default to digesting it and storing it as fat! If I eat something that my body truly can't process, like a piece of teflon, it just...doesn't get digested, and passes through more or less unchanged.
Correct. Anything your body "doesn't know what to do with" ends up in the toilet, unprocessed.4 -
jonesybgonsy13 wrote: »I’ve heard because it doesn’t know how to properly process and digest it it gets stored as body fat, is this true?
Not picking on you, OP, as I've heard this statement before. But it just baffles me. If your body doesn't "know what to do" with something, it doesn't default to digesting it and storing it as fat! If I eat something that my body truly can't process, like a piece of teflon, it just...doesn't get digested, and passes through more or less unchanged.
Yes, exactly what I was thinking. Not OP's fault, but there are so many weird weight loss myths.
OP, you've asked a number of questions about different foods/macros causing fat to form in a calorie deficit. If you think about it, your maintenance calories are the amount you need to maintain your weight with a particular amount of activity. Any movement above that (or calories consumed below that) require MORE energy, which can only come from your body (i.e., mostly fat). Given that, how is it possible that you could be adding net fat in a calorie deficit, or without eating more calories than you are burning? Energy=calories=what you will be burning or adding as fat. You can't just turn stuff into fat because your body doesn't know what it is.6 -
As for storing the aspartame as fat because your body doesn't know what to do with it, I will just say that I drink a diet dr pepper almost every single day and I've never had trouble managing my weight. I always lose, maintain or gain pretty much according to what I should based on the calories I'm eating/burning. If my body was taking my diet soda and storing it as fat, that wouldn't be the case.6
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As for storing the aspartame as fat because your body doesn't know what to do with it, I will just say that I drink a diet dr pepper almost every single day and I've never had trouble managing my weight. I always lose, maintain or gain pretty much according to what I should based on the calories I'm eating/burning. If my body was taking my diet soda and storing it as fat, that wouldn't be the case.
Fortunately, @Carlos_421 broke it down on the first page how our bodies DO know what to do with most artificial sweeteners. Most of them are amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein, so the digestive system just breaks them down into their component parts and uses them for that purpose. The thing that gets a lot of people is that it is such a tiny portion that it's basically zero calories, but in reality, it's just a tiny, tiny amount of amino acids involved in protein creation. They'll think it's some sort of magic material like it belongs in its own spot on the periodic table along with Thorium or something, but it's not.6 -
Carlos_421 wrote: »jonesybgonsy13 wrote: »I’ve heard because it doesn’t know how to properly process and digest it it gets stored as body fat, is this true?
Not picking on you, OP, as I've heard this statement before. But it just baffles me. If your body doesn't "know what to do" with something, it doesn't default to digesting it and storing it as fat! If I eat something that my body truly can't process, like a piece of teflon, it just...doesn't get digested, and passes through more or less unchanged.
Correct. Anything your body "doesn't know what to do with" ends up in the toilet, unprocessed.
Heavy metals being an exception. Same with collodial silver.1 -
MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »jonesybgonsy13 wrote: »I’ve heard because it doesn’t know how to properly process and digest it it gets stored as body fat, is this true?
Not picking on you, OP, as I've heard this statement before. But it just baffles me. If your body doesn't "know what to do" with something, it doesn't default to digesting it and storing it as fat! If I eat something that my body truly can't process, like a piece of teflon, it just...doesn't get digested, and passes through more or less unchanged.
Correct. Anything your body "doesn't know what to do with" ends up in the toilet, unprocessed.
Heavy metals being an exception. Same with collodial silver.
Yeah, didn't want to go in that direction. Your digestive system doesn't really "know" anything, and just applies a set of chemical and physical processes to whatever is introduced to it.3 -
Fresca.
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MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »jonesybgonsy13 wrote: »I’ve heard because it doesn’t know how to properly process and digest it it gets stored as body fat, is this true?
Not picking on you, OP, as I've heard this statement before. But it just baffles me. If your body doesn't "know what to do" with something, it doesn't default to digesting it and storing it as fat! If I eat something that my body truly can't process, like a piece of teflon, it just...doesn't get digested, and passes through more or less unchanged.
Correct. Anything your body "doesn't know what to do with" ends up in the toilet, unprocessed.
Heavy metals being an exception. Same with collodial silver.
Yeah, didn't want to go in that direction. Your digestive system doesn't really "know" anything, and just applies a set of chemical and physical processes to whatever is introduced to it.
I think poisons are a whole different matter anyway. Even if the stomach could decide what to digest, I'm not sure it'd stand a chance against a poison like that anyway. It's like, letting a useless tourist pass through the gates vs. an invading army. I don't think the stomach has much of a choice. Heck, you can breathe in heavy metal particles and damage your lungs.4 -
I should add to my own post that stevia is a natural sweetener. (The OP asked about artificial sweeteners)
Stevia is the name of the plant it comes from.
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RelCanonical wrote: »
Well I suppose the point I was making was that to me, diet coke (and other diet drinks) dont taste sweet, they taste quite bitter, sort of metallically and chemically ish.5 -
RelCanonical wrote: »
Well I suppose the point I was making was that to me, diet coke (and other diet drinks) dont taste sweet, they taste quite bitter, sort of metallically and chemically ish.
Nah, I get ya, I'm just heavy on the sass today. Blueberries taste metallic to me. Never got how they could be sweet.3 -
RelCanonical wrote: »RelCanonical wrote: »
Well I suppose the point I was making was that to me, diet coke (and other diet drinks) dont taste sweet, they taste quite bitter, sort of metallically and chemically ish.
Nah, I get ya, I'm just heavy on the sass today. Blueberries taste metallic to me. Never got how they could be sweet.
Blueberries got quite popular in the UK around 10years ago, I absolutely hate them, no sweetness at all, actually barely any flavour at all, I dont get why they are so popular.2 -
brittanystebbins95 wrote: »I don't drink them simply because I can't stand the taste. Even stevia, which I used to find okay, I can hardly stomach the flavor. I don't really drink much other than water, though, and occasionally iced coffee. In which case I'll just suck it up and use real sugar. I'm lucky though and have never had any problems with bloodsugar, and I don't eat a lot of sugar in a day as it is
Ya, I can't stand the taste of artificial sweeteners and can only tolerate tiny amounts of stevia.
I have zero guilt about the 1/2 teaspoon sugar I put in my tea.1 -
I can't start the morning without an ice cold Diet Mountain Dew. I don't drink coffee so I need something to get me going. I really enjoy the taste and I don't think a couple small bottles a day is anything to worry about. It hasn't made me crave sweets or affected my blood sugar, so I consider it safe.3
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I've mostly given up artificial sweeteners except for the occasional erythritol or malitol, but even those are rare. Believe it or not, I will do a shot of Coca Cola once or twice a year. Small hit of sugar (usually before a long-distance ride) and my soda craving is satisfied.0
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RelCanonical wrote: »RelCanonical wrote: »
Well I suppose the point I was making was that to me, diet coke (and other diet drinks) dont taste sweet, they taste quite bitter, sort of metallically and chemically ish.
Nah, I get ya, I'm just heavy on the sass today. Blueberries taste metallic to me. Never got how they could be sweet.
Blueberries got quite popular in the UK around 10years ago, I absolutely hate them, no sweetness at all, actually barely any flavour at all, I dont get why they are so popular.
Are you eating in-season blueberries sourced locally? Makes a big difference in taste.
I buy frozen wild blueberries when out of season.3
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