Diet soda contributing to my sugar addiction?

iKapuniai
iKapuniai Posts: 594 Member
edited December 18 in Food and Nutrition
Okay, so... over the last couple months I have good reason to believe that I may have diabetes, and I'm almost sure that my sugar addiction -literally, addiction- has a lot to do with it (amongst other things). So starting ASAP, I'm going to try to tremendously cut down my sugar/carb intake and keep a close eye on my blood sugar... and, of course, officially get tested and obtain whatever info/medication/help I need to control it. In the meantime, I'd like to do something like a "sugar detox" to hopefully get my body used to going without so much sugar, that way I won't depend on it so much, or crave it so often (every... minute...).

My question is this... is my diet soda dependency contributing to my sugar addiction? Or maybe vice versa? I've read a lot of articles and heard a lot of talk about diet soda being "bad" because it causes weight gain and possible addiction to sugars, blah blah, but I never wanted to believe it because with one article stating one thing about ANTYHING, there's another article stating the contrary, both of which have valid points and scientific testing to back it up. I always believed that diet soda was actually helping me throughout my dietting by having something sweet to drink without adding calories or reaching for something REALLY unhealthy for me, such as an entire pint of ice cream. Now I'm wondering if maybe it's doing more harm than good.

So... if I were to do a "sugar detox" or whatever, should my diet soda be omitted from my diet as well?

Any thoughts? Experiences? Advice?

Thank you in advance.

Love and Alohas to you all,
-Ihilani Kapuniai

Replies

  • misterYummy
    misterYummy Posts: 21 Member
    Here's What i know, Red: any soda, zero calorie, Fun & Frothy, celery soda...whatevs, are complex carbohydrates + when they enter the body slow down the digestive process (Bad for us, we need all the burn-off we can get) Point 2: when i'm eating out, i know the caloric intake will also bump me out of an appetizer or dessert so i opt for water(also because i'm a cheapskate; WHAT?!) i have no nutritional background and (though i coaxed some home from clubs by saying so) am not a doctor but i hold tight to this tidbit that i heard somewhere, sometime ago, or perhaps dreamed. any help?

    *bonus info: just found out eating a baked potato is like ingesting Satan with sour cream,especially if they;re loaded (Outback); you'll come out a lot better if you order a second steak, or, get it To-Go to destroy the calorie count of a perfectly good tomorrow. Learn from my mis-Steak!
  • Before I was diagnosed with Type 1 almost a year ago, I went through the same sugar addiction you described. My body literally craved sugar all the time. For about three months leading to my hospitalisation, I had to have at least a can of Coke every day besides other things like white bread and pastries and candies. It was pretty gross now that I think back. I had to pee every fifteen minutes. The worst part was I had no idea what was going on because I don't have a family member who has diabetes. I just thought I had a sweet tooth.

    It's good that you recognise the signs early, though, but the only advice I can give is to talk to your doctor and maybe see a dietitian. And like misterYummy, I'm a cheapskate, too, so it's water for me as well. :)

    All the best.
  • iKapuniai
    iKapuniai Posts: 594 Member
    Thank you both for your replies. <3<3 I'm gonna try my best to cut sugars out of my life as much as possible, but those diet sodas will be the hardest I think. :(
  • spngebobmyhero
    spngebobmyhero Posts: 823 Member
    there are people who say that diet soda may cause an insulin response in your body, but it doesn't look like there is definitive evidence. The only way to truly know is to test your blood sugar.

    I believe the thought behind why this may happen is that your body preps itself for sugar reception when you ingest something sweet and can't immediately tell if it is non-nutritive or not.

    an article on it:http://www.marksdailyapple.com/artificial-sweeteners-insulin/#axzz1twFCB7ui

    also, if you are interested in a true sugar detox, check out: http://the21daysugardetox.com/
    I really like all of balanced bites other work
  • carld256
    carld256 Posts: 855 Member
    I don't know of any solid evidence that artificial sweeteners raise your blood sugar.
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