Diet drinks y/n???

[Heretic1]

I'm sure this has been visited many times before, and hope you don't mind the post?

I am still very much struggling with everything nutritionally regarding my new found situation, but one of the only areas I'm currently comfortable with is drinks. Many years ago I gave up 'full fat' fizzy drinks in favour of diet / zero / Max varieties of drink - fully aware the sugar content was waaaaay to high for good health etc (laughable where I now find myself I know). In fact on occasion previously having no alternative but the 'full fat' versions I find them toooo sickly and prefer to go without. However since I can no longer partake of my love of Stella (which I am finding the hardest part of all in all this) I don't know why, but have re-acquainted myself with drinks I soooo loved in my childhood, Dandelion & Burdock and Cream Soda. I have found all the major supermarkets stock 'no added sugar' varieties of these, which are allllll green and seem to have no sugars, etc, etc, which I do like and now 'treat' myself to in an evening.

The question I ask is are these OK to drink? Or are there hidden 'risks' for me with these. I have heard the odd comment that they are not good. Is this yet what I thought was another acceptable part of my former life I will have to deny myself??

Thanks

 

[Brunneria]

I don't touch them with a barge pole. Most artificial sweeteners make me feel jittery and cause me insomnia, and if they do that to me, i suspect they do things to other people too, even if it isn't as immediately obvious.

However, we all make up our own minds.

 

[hankjam]

Sweeteners I don't have them that often as really not too keen on the taste, nor the idea. I'm trying to ween myself off sugars and taste the real thing...

though that does not stop me covering veg in salt...

 

[noblehead]

The question I ask is are these OK to drink? Or are there hidden 'risks' for me with these. I have heard the odd comment that they are not good. Is this yet what I thought was another acceptable part of my former life I will have to deny myself??

Personal preference, but I quite enjoy the odd can of Diet Coke, so the answer is Yes (in moderation).

 

[donnellysdogs]

Dsfinitely no from me.

As a T1 told diet drinks and sugar free gum ok..

Not told in 2003 my rheumatologist thought my chronic pains were down to aspartame and sweetener intolerance.

Ended up crippled with muscle pains in hips and upper legs to knees. Horrendous amounts of tests carried out before 2015 when I asked to see my medical notes. They are allowed to review them first before showing the patient. They got back to 200: and found this out and it wasn't noted on my records and I wasn't informed.

Nothing can undo the damage caused. I can only try to avoid it since..

I was never even moderate. A 2lt bottle of diet coke xmas and august with my bottle of drambuiee and some sugar free gum on occasions...

 

[Winnie53]

I too have heard numerous reasons to not to use artificial sweeteners. Why not make something healthier? Ream a lemon or lime into a glass, add water or sparkling water, a few drops of Stevita liquid extract, and ice.

 

[KevinPotts]

I'm sure this has been visited many times before, and hope you don't mind the post?

I am still very much struggling with everything nutritionally regarding my new found situation, but one of the only areas I'm currently comfortable with is drinks. Many years ago I gave up 'full fat' fizzy drinks in favour of diet / zero / Max varieties of drink - fully aware the sugar content was waaaaay to high for good health etc (laughable where I now find myself I know). In fact on occasion previously having no alternative but the 'full fat' versions I find them toooo sickly and prefer to go without. However since I can no longer partake of my love of Stella (which I am finding the hardest part of all in all this) I don't know why, but have re-acquainted myself with drinks I soooo loved in my childhood, Dandelion & Burdock and Cream Soda. I have found all the major supermarkets stock 'no added sugar' varieties of these, which are allllll green and seem to have no sugars, etc, etc, which I do like and now 'treat' myself to in an evening.

The question I ask is are these OK to drink? Or are there hidden 'risks' for me with these. I have heard the odd comment that they are not good. Is this yet what I thought was another acceptable part of my former life I will have to deny myself??

Thanks

Based on reading reasonably widely they:

1. Maintain addiction trigger in the brain

2. Can cause stomach upset

3. Trigger hormones in the gut/ micro biome that mess with your BG

So personally, I don't touch them, but when I bake LC I do use granulated xylitol in preference to stevia for the taste


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[Heretic1]

And there was me actually thinking just once I'd found something that was a nice tolerable alternative .... I should have perhaps guessed! ;(

Sorry folks - just a bad day!

 

[Winnie53]

Oh, how many times have I found myself there myself @Heretic1... It is disappointing initially. With a little creativity, you'll find a work around.

 

[Winnie53]

This is funny. Today, BulletProof uploaded an answer to a question similar to yours...

beginning at minute 4:07, finishing at 12:24. Basically their suggestion was to avoid sugar and fructose, use sparkling mineral water sold in glass bottles, and add flavoring of your choice. There also was some discussion about acidity and alkalinity, also the benefits of water with sulfur content.

 

[DaveThompson]

Yet I have been told they are OK in moderation. Pepsi max is on my list of things I can have.

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[KevinPotts]

Defo no for me.

Gut micro biome still affected by ingredients that can destabilise you BG and still triggers your addiction centre in the brain


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[Winnie53]

Dave, it's such an individual decision. I sometimes do things that I probably shouldn't do in moderation too. I like what Jenny Ruhl says, don't make a food "forbidden". Instead eat it occasionally to see how it affects you. In the case of artificially sweetened beverages, you may not know how it affects you.

Not sure but I think they may cause a release of insulin - (which is not what we want) - and I think the research has shown that people who drink artificially sweetened beverages gain more weight than those who don't, perhaps because you eat more after drinking an artificially sweetened beverage, can't remember for sure.

When I did a quick search on "problems with artificial sweeteners", this Mercola article was one of the first results... http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...12/23/artificial-sweeteners-confuse-body.aspx There were other results too.

All that said, I think your approach of using artificially sweetened beverages in "moderation" is a good one. The decision to use or not use these types of sweeteners ongoing. There are diabetics on both sides of the fence on this one.

 

[Heretic1]

Thank you people,
I can't see any genuine clinical reason why I shouldn't here it seems more personal preference and experience I have drunk these for many years as a more healthy option (ha!) with no adverse effects - and clearly they are significantly better than sugary drinks. I now have to deny myself so much already for genuine clinical reasons - I'm keeping this part of what I can consume - it is currently right for ME!

 

[bulkbiker]

try them and test afterwards.. That will be my answer to everything.. you won't know for sure until you do that. Personally I avoid if you want my two'pennorth

 

[davej1950]

I would just like to add a warning, a popular drink in the hot weather (especially for my wife) is Gin and Slimline tonic, refreshing and no carbs. However we were at pub quiz the other night and she had 3 over the course of the evening. I went to the bar and ordered them, they came long, over lots of ice and the contents tipped in the glass. Only on the third occasion did I get the bottle.
"Fevertree" was the brand "naturally light" turns out there is 7 grams of carb in each bottle even though it was given to me as slimline, over 20 grams of carb that if I hadn't been given the last bottle would have been unaccounted for. So beware, it seems to be becoming a more and more popular brand rather than Schweppes or Britvic which really are zero carb.

 

[himtoo]

thank goodness for choice these days

there was no choice in 1972 ( year of diagnosis for me )
it was water or black coffee / tea


i do most everything in moderation and see no harm for me in a can of pepsi max or any other "diet" soft drink
from time to time

 

[TomGreen101]

I drink diet coke every day and have since day one!
Artificial sweeteners don't worry me one bit.
I drink caffeine free at home. I have diet coke at every meal

 

[pjohal1983]

I do, a thing to be careful of is being given (at restaurants, bars etc) full sugar coke when you've asked for diet. Has happened to me a few times. You can smell the difference surprisingly.

 

[RAPS_od]

I drink lots of diet soda, but only those that read "sugar free." Here in the states, "no sugar added" means something very different from "sugar free." In those cases, they could sweeten the drink with honey or high fructose corn syrup, which are death for T1s. (This also applies to food. I found "no sugar added" Fudgesicles, which were sweetened with honey. Grr.)