Zero-Cal Sweeteners: None Of The Calories Of Sugar; A Good Bit Of The Price
Gautam Naik has a piece in the WSJ about research showing that zero-cal sweeteners can raise blood sugar.
The research shows that zero-calorie sweeteners such as saccharin, sucralose and aspartame can alter the population of gut bacteria and trigger unwanted changes such as higher blood glucose levels--a risk factor for diabetes. The provocative findings are likely to stoke the simmering controversy over whether artificial sweeteners help or hinder people's ability to lose weight and lower the risk of diabetes and obesity."The scope of our discovery is cause for a public reassessment of the massive and unsupervised use of artificial sweeteners," said Eran Elinav, a physician and immunologist at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science and lead author of the study, which appeared Wednesday in the journal Nature.
Though many people consume products containing zero-calorie artificial sweeteners instead of sugar to control their weight, the scientific evidence is mixed. Some studies have indicated that sweeteners can help lead to weight loss, while others suggest they contribute to weight gain.
One reason is that it has been hard to separate cause and effect. For example, it isn't clear whether people who consume products with artificial sweeteners are overweight because of what they eat--or whether overweight people are the ones who typically gravitate to such products.
The sweeteners caused changes in gut bacteria as well.
The results appears to demonstrate that for some people, artificial sweeteners can alter the composition of gut bacteria in such a way that it may contribute to--rather than reduce--certain metabolic conditions related to obesity, such as glucose intolerance.
A well-written piece that also lays out limitations of the research.
During assorted lab work, I discovered that my blood sugar level rises when fasting, and it does so more then eight hours after the last meal.
Apparently, I can manufacture glucose from water.
Radwaste at September 17, 2014 10:41 PM
I have that issue too Rad. It is actually produced by your liver. Your body determines your glucose levels have gotten below a certain point and then dumps a bunch of glucose to raise it. It's most common in the early morning hours when you've been sleeping (but can happen at any time with fasting) and is called the dawn phenomena.
I can attest to rising blood sugar levels from artificial sweetners, especially Splenda. I can ingest aspartame with no issues whatsoever though.
BunnyGirl at September 17, 2014 11:25 PM
I have that issue too, at least now with my gestational diabetes. I asked my endicronologist about treats, and he said better to have a small amount of real chocolate than the fake sweetened stuff. So that's what I do.
NicoleK at September 18, 2014 12:23 AM
I seldom drink soft drinks nowadays, and when I do, it's not the diet stuff. My doctor says the regular stuff is actually better -- with soft drinks, that would be less bad -- than diet.
mpetrie98 at September 18, 2014 11:03 AM
Rad, BunnyGirl, how do you determine that?
Do you need a diabetic kit? My understanding is that blood glucose strips are relatively pricey.
I love liquid splenda (ez sweetz at amazon.) Two - three drops per coffee or iced tea, each drop equivalent to a teaspoon of sugar.
I'd love (and hate) to test out my reaction.
jerry at September 18, 2014 11:04 AM
I'd love (and hate) to test out my reaction.
Posted by: jerry at September 18, 2014 11:04 AM
I can usually tell by how I feel. My taste buds must be sensitive or something because I think both artificial sweeteners, and high fructose corn syrup taste bad except when used to sweeten substances that have a strong flavor that overrides it. Chocolate is strong enough, and the slight bitterness of iced black tea is strong enough. Green tea, which I drink exclusively is not.
Artificial sweeteners also give me headaches.
Candy and ice cream tend to be fine in small quantities, but bread gives me indigestion. And makes me sleepy. I try and avoid it.
Not diabetic, and I don't want to become so.
Isab at September 18, 2014 12:57 PM
I can taste it too, including HFCS. It hurts my throat when it's going down.
I'm very sensitive to sugar in general due to the long term effects of atypical antipsychotics. Fake sugar, real sugar, none of that matters my body is very sensitive to all of it.
Ppen at September 18, 2014 1:25 PM
Yeah, my palate is pretty unschooled that way.
I do hate most aspartame soft-drinks. But splenda is my buddy, or so I think.
jerry at September 18, 2014 2:13 PM
You can get some pretty cheap strips at Walmart. Get the glucometer for about $20. These 50-count strips are $9. I think it'd work for your experimenting.
Cheap strips.
gooseegg at September 18, 2014 3:11 PM
stupid link.
gooseegg at September 18, 2014 3:17 PM
Wow, those are cheap strips! If my insurance didn't pay for my test strips they'd run me about $130 a month.
To test out the blood sugar rising with fasting you do need a meter and strips. Since it's most common overnight test your level right when you go to bed, then set an alarm to test around 3 am (or 4 hours later), then again when you wake up (roughly another 4 hours later) around 7-8 am. It's most common to have the sugar dumping from your liver around 5-6 am regardless of sleep schedule, but it does vary person to person. Without NPH insulin at bedtime I'd be at 80-85 in the middle of the night and wake up at 110-120. Normal fasting levels should be below 95 and ideal is 85. Below 70 is considered hypoglycemia.
BunnyGirl at September 18, 2014 5:46 PM
In my case all the artificial sweeteners so far cause me to get nauseous. I haven't tried stevia yet but I will probably have the same reaction.
I've pretty much gave up all sugar and HCFS. My drinks are water, unsweetened iced tea, or coffee with cream and just two or three teaspoons of sugar in about 32 oz. or more.
Jim P. at September 18, 2014 9:46 PM
I've pretty much gave up all sugar and HCFS. My drinks are water, unsweetened iced tea, or coffee with cream and just two or three teaspoons of sugar in about 32 oz. or more.
Posted by: Jim P. at September 18, 2014 9:46 PM
Me too Jim. I think the worst way to consume sugar is in a sweet drink. Two or three swallows dumps as much sugar into your system as a piece of hard candy that will last five minutes if you don't crunch.
In drinks you don't even get a lot of taste out of it because there is no chewing.
I drink Japanese green tea with soy milk or carbonated water... Nothing else.
Isab at September 18, 2014 9:54 PM
Here's a conversion table for those of you who live in Europe or other places that don't use the American emasurement.
http://www.joslin.org/info/conversion_table_for_blood_glucose_monitoring.html
NicoleK at September 19, 2014 2:01 AM
I drink water, milk or tea now. Depending what my levels look like, I might add a tiny bit of honey to my tea. (I'm having a hard time finding the right balance between curbing the carbs and curbing them too much so occasionally I dip below where my doc wants me)
NicoleK at September 19, 2014 2:03 AM
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