artificial sweeteners

hello my dear weight loss/healthy friends,

just a quick question,.. what is your opinion on such sweeteners (Aspartame, Sucralose/Splenda, etc)

there have been some contraversial studies linking such sweeteners to actual weight GAIN, rather than weightloss - and that, despite the ongoing 'zero-calorie / sugar-free" boom.

i recently purchased some sweeteners/flavourings for my protein shakes. however, i am literally considering binning them, trying to rid my diet completely from all these sweeteners.

thanks for your reply

I think you're gonna find several different answers to this.

Mine is: I use artificial sweeteners. I am pretty certain that the "damage" they cause, compared to the damage we cause ourselves from being overweight is absolutely minimal.

Some people experience sugar cravings AFTER having consumed artificial sweeteners in sodas or other products. They drink a diet coke and then they get the cravings. If this is the case, obviously don't go with artificial sweeteners.

Personally, I have no such issue. If I crave sugars or sweet things, a diet soda can many times fix it for me.

I would be very interested in actual peer reviewed studies that show this.

There are a lot of sites which claim there have been such studies, none of which actually detail what studies they are.

There are studies which indicate that the brain reacts differently to sweeteners than to actual sugars... Which is the basis for the hypothesis that your body may crave more calories to make up for the ones it didn't get with the sweetened food. If you find a "study" as opposed to a lot of anecdotal "evidence" please post it here I would be very interested to read it.

Personally I am with Kingkeld, if I'm craving something sweet then a diet soda almost always satisfies it for me. And it's rare enough that I'm not going to worry too much about it.

Recent studies have shown that drinking one diet soft drink a day increases your stroke risk
By 43%!

If it's artificial don't eat it, I think you would be better off with sugar

y can't you go for natural sugar substitutes.Few suggestions from my side that may help you..substitutes like honey,maple sugar,molasses,coconut sugar.

Try these...

Jemimah

thank you, yes i will probably get rid off all the sucralose based flavourings i have purchased. i just felt the urge of spicing my shakes up a little bit, and then went for some chocolate nad vanilla flavours. my bad - i will go back to the good old cinnamon

Hmmm its one of those varying opinion posts. I only have sweetner in my coffee. Do i think it contributes to me gaining weight...no but i don't have much. I often hear people say that in sodas they drink more. Is it bad for you? Maybe long term and in large quantities but no more than excessive salt would be. Its another tool but as with all tools read the instructions and use wisely. I don't think we will really know any adverse health issues for a few decades more. Weren't cigarettes a healthy choice once?

That study found only a correlation. Your wording implies causation.
There is no research showing that diet soda or artificial sweetener consumption causes increased risk of stroke.

The much more likely explanation is simply that diet sodas are consumed in greater amounts by people who are at greater risk of stroke for other reasons, such as obesity.

Have to agree with you nimm. Some people are more susceptible to things than other. It is like smoking, yes i know its u healthy before any one starts, some people will die from it where as others don't. There will always be exceptions to the rule

I'm not hanging about waiting for the definitive proof which hasn't been actually proved for lots
Of illnesses.

Read the label I don't want to put all those chemicals in my body

I don't think diet sodas are drunk by people especially at risk either. Most obese people seem to drink the full fat stuff

Diet soda seems to be the choice of drink for those watching their weight and trying to manage it

i agree, what seems to me is that all these low fat, low sugar, low anything foods actually cause the opposite effect.
this is obviously slightely off topic, and talking in a much grander scale, but i thoroughly believe one should not opt for low fat, for example. of course, fat is not fat. but generally speaking, i always go for fish that is rich in omegas. anyways...

have you guys ever heared of WALDEN FARMS? and their free/zero everything sauces, spreads and dips/syrups?

another, very controvesial thing, i believe. on the one hand, no calories, yay. but on the other just a quick glance at the ingredients makes you shudder. the guilt of over-eating in calories turns into a guilt of screwing your body with chemicals

Here's another little fun fact you may not be aware of. According to US labelling laws if something has less than 5 calories you can state it has Zero calories on the package. I believe that Splenda has 0.9 carbs and roughly 4 calories (per tiny package) so they get to claim it has Zero. When I used to drink coffee at work I consumed a lot of Splenda.

Personally caffeine and artificial sweeteners have little negative impact on me.

yes, but another thing i have heared (at least that is what these companies claim), is that if the recommendend serving,(( and only what they label as recommendend and henceforth 'zero',)) is consumed, then your body actually uses more energy than it has taken in.

but who does that? noone. as you says, most people tend to overdo on 'zero'.

I did replace sugary drinks at one point with artificially sweetened cordial because I was simply drinking too much sugar. And yes, while I should have gone to water, I decided to weigh the risks/benefits and to meet myself where I was...rather than where I hoped to be. Personally, I can still lose weight, maintain ketosis and drink diet cordial. But each to their own.



Actually yes, and worse I made the mistake of tasting some . I read a US citizen talking about these great zero cal, carb, fat sauces. Then I found out that here they are marketed as low cal, carb, and fat. I also tried them...not even sure what that was suppose to be, but I won't make that mistake again . And yes Fredmugs, as you pointed out there are labeling issues. The couple that I bought have 1.7gm of net carbs per serve, which surprised me given the zero everything hype I'd read.

Does not most protein drinks already have artificial sugars added to them.
Check the label

I avoid these because energy value wise (calories) and chemically they are nearly identical to plain sucrose. Just because something isn't refined doesn't make it a "better" alternative.

I use equal and splenda and drink a ton of diet soda. I'm with King and Rio, it helps me keep myself at a caloric deficit so that my body can burn fat. The tiny chance of side or after effects is negligible to my overall health.