Is Zero Coke ok for Diabetics?

[NoCrbs4Me]

I've drunk Pepsi Max, Fanta Zero, Sprite Zero and other 'diet drinks' for years - long before I was diagnosed as T2 diabetic. I drink, on average, 3 a week and seemed to have survived!

The old "that which does not kill you makes you stronger" point of view?

 

[4ratbags]

Hi @4ratbags - I don't know if it's bad for you or otherwise - there were some rumblings about carbonated drinks supposedly preventing calcium absorption and thus increasing the risk of osteoporosis. I think this came about because one bit of research, on one occasion, found a connection between carbonated cola drinks and low bone mineral density. No idea how far that went.

I once had a coke - it was in 1967 in a Wimpy bar in Soho - all new and really flash

Personally I don't know if it is bad for me or not. I usually drink Pepsi Max because it is cheaper but I did try and give it up but alas it didn't work but I'm not too worried about it, all I know is it doesn't raise my BS at all so that is just fine with me. I like the thought of not ingesting anything artificial but in reality I like the odd fizzy drink so oh well. I think on this subject it is definately "to each their own".

 

[4ratbags]

I can't speak for the general health dangers that may or may not exist with carbonated drinks. What I can speak for is the effect on blood sugars. Coke Zero and Diet coke are the same drink. Neither of them should raise your blood sugars. In the same way, Diet Pepsi and Pepsi max are the same drink, and neither should raise blood sugars. Basically Coca cola and Pepsi are trying to make their drinks seem more 'manly' and widen their target audience. (Apparently men prefer to go for Pepsi max than diet Pepsi. Personally I just grab whichever happens to be nearest to me on the shelf ). I have been drinking diet coke and diet Pepsi for over 20 years without issues. The only thing is, be careful when ordering a diet drink at a bar or restaurant. Sometimes it's best to almost scream 'I'm diabetic, it MUST be diet!'. I have lost count of the amount of times I have taken a sip and tasted the sugar of normal coke.

The one thing I have found is that you can actually smell the sugar in the normal soft drinks.

 

[donnellysdogs]

It appears that I have had an allergy to aspartame etc which I should have been informed of in 2003. Reflecting back.... My fibromyalgia symptoms, the restless legs, bouts of depression etc have all been around times of being given say a bottle of drambuie with diet cokes, "sugar free gum" etc.
hubby and I could not figure out why I was clear of pain etc for almost a year. Now that my GP Practice has found this missing information from 2003... I can now move totally forward and avoid anything that is hidden false sugar...

I so wish I had been informed of this 12 years ago, for sure my life would have been better...my health would have been better for sure.

I will never have anything artificial again (knowingly) that can have such devastating impact on my life. I did not even have a drink every week etc.. Just odd longer occasions.. Say Christmas to New Year, going out with friends to a meal, Cooling down on a few hot days in summer. Never again...

 

[PatsyB]

I drink diet pepsi ....hope that is sugar free as drink quite a lot in summer

 

[phoenix]

Thank you Catherine and Noblehead - midnight here so I will research the link so kindly provided and the ingredient Phenylalanine tomorrow. Have been using Zero for a number of years here and, because it is a very good substitute, am wondering what the 'catch' is.

Don't worry about the phenylalanine; that warning is irrelevant to you.
Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid (ie your body absolutely requires some of it for growth and repair of muscle). There are high quantiites of it in breast milk, meat, fish, cheese and varying amounts in veg. Normally your body uses some Phe, and breaks the rest down to another amino acid (tyrosine) which the body also uses . If there is more tyrosine than the body requires at that time it excretes it.
Some people have a genetic condition called Phenylketonuria (PKU) that means the enzyme that does the 'breaking up' of the Phe is dysfunctional. Babies with the condition are born healthy because the mothers system gets rid of the excess . After birth though, the phenylalanine, instead of converting to tyrosine, converts to another very toxic molecule, this builds up in the blood and brain causing damage. (untreated it can lead to severe brain damage)
You stop this happening by a very restrictive diet (see link for just how restrictive) http://depts.washington.edu/pku/about/diet.html
All babies in countries with developed health care systems are tested for PKU .

I find all the diet drinks far too sweet, I can just about manage half a glass of normal diet coke (coca light here) on a very hot day but took one mouthful of coke zero and that was enough. It was horrible.
If you like it; fine but I do think that at the least it must perpetuate a liking for sweet things. The jury is out on the longterm healthiness (or not) of them http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/artificial-sweeteners/

 

[BaliRob]

Don't worry about the phenylalanine; that warning is irrelevant to you.
Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid (ie your body absolutely requires some of it for growth and repair of muscle). There are high quantiites of it in breast milk, meat, fish, cheese and varying amounts in veg. Normally your body uses some Phe, and breaks the rest down to another amino acid (tyrosine) which the body also uses . If there is more tyrosine than the body requires at that time it excretes it.
Some people have a genetic condition called Phenylketonuria (PKU) that means the enzyme that does the 'breaking up' of the Phe is dysfunctional. Babies with the condition are born healthy because the mothers system gets rid of the excess . After birth though, the phenylalanine, instead of converting to tyrosine, converts to another very toxic molecule, this builds up in the blood and brain causing damage. (untreated it can lead to severe brain damage)
You stop this happening by a very restrictive diet (see link for just how restrictive) http://depts.washington.edu/pku/about/diet.html
All babies in countries with developed health care systems are tested for PKU .

I find all the diet drinks far too sweet, I can just about manage half a glass of normal diet coke (coca light here) on a very hot day but took one mouthful of coke zero and that was enough. It was horrible.
If you like it; fine but I do think that at the least it must perpetuate a liking for sweet things. The jury is out on the longterm healthiness (or not) of them http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/artificial-sweeteners/

@phoenix - thank you for saving my time with the research. I tend to agree with you that Zero Coke is too sweet and find that I only take it when my sugar is moving downwards, i.e., a sugar craving.

 

[Violetluis]

What about Diet Tonic Water??? I am hooked on it and I don't know if it's ok to drink all the time. I know it's sugar free, I'm just concerned it might be unhealthy in other ways

 

[Lehcar2991]

Try coca cola life it doesn't semi to effect me as much as the others

 

[catherinecherub]

Try coca cola life it doesn't semi to effect me as much as the others

Don't be fooled by Coca Cola Life.
It may have stevia added but it still has sugar in it. It has a third less than regular coke and the stevia is added to account for the missing sugar.
http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/brands/category/coca-cola-life.html

You can't go wrong with water.

 

[4ratbags]

Coca cola life has jyst hut the shelves in NZ and I thought great it has stevia in it and then I kept reading the label and saw the sugar in it. Its interesting the subtle ways they try and trick you into buying theur product.

 

[Lehcar2991]

Yea I see what you mean I'm only pre diabetic so I suppose sugar doesn't effect me as bad

 

[BaliRob]

What about Diet Tonic Water??? I am hooked on it and I don't know if it's ok to drink all the time. I know it's sugar free, I'm just concerned it might be unhealthy in other ways

Beware it may contain Quinine Sulphate (the ordinary one does) so, if you are 'hooked', you may be taking too much - remember the FDA ordered its removal from the shelves QS having been directly connected with over 90 deaths. Still, you may not be overdoing it but at least you will not suffer from nocturnal leg cramps ha ha ha.

 

[donnellysdogs]

I can definitely say 100% for sure that anything "diet" or "sugar free" has badly affected me..... Intermittent excruciating pain and numbness in upper legs..

Honest I wish so much that I had avoided EVERYTHING that is labelled "sugar free".

Just hope now I have found out that the **** times I've had for15 years are reversible...

 

[phoenix]

When looking up something for another thread, I found this:
'Artificial sweetners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota'
http://www.the-scientist.com/?artic...tutes--Gut-Bacteria--and-Glucose-Intolerance/

Heres the paper
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v514/n7521/full/nature13793.html#author-information

Here is the editor of Nature's summary
" We have been using non-caloric artificial sweeteners for more than a century. Today the food industry is using them in ever-greater quantities in 'diet' foodstuffs and they are recommended for weight loss and for individuals with glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Eran Elinav and colleagues show that consumption of the three most commonly used non-caloric artificial sweeteners — saccharin, sucralose and aspartame — directly induces a propensity for obesity and glucose intolerance in mice. These effects are mediated by changes in the composition and function of the intestinal microbiota; deleterious metabolic effects can be transferred to germ-free mice by faecal transplantation and can be abrogated by antibiotic treatment. The authors demonstrate that artificial sweeteners can induce dysbiosis and glucose intolerance in healthy human subjects, and suggest that it may be necessary to develop new nutritional strategies tailored to the individual and to variations in the gut microbiota "

 

[donnellysdogs]

When looking up something for another thread, I found this:
'Artificial sweetners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota'
http://www.the-scientist.com/?artic...tutes--Gut-Bacteria--and-Glucose-Intolerance/

Heres the paper
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v514/n7521/full/nature13793.html#author-information

Here is the editor of Nature's summary
" We have been using non-caloric artificial sweeteners for more than a century. Today the food industry is using them in ever-greater quantities in 'diet' foodstuffs and they are recommended for weight loss and for individuals with glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Eran Elinav and colleagues show that consumption of the three most commonly used non-caloric artificial sweeteners — saccharin, sucralose and aspartame — directly induces a propensity for obesity and glucose intolerance in mice. These effects are mediated by changes in the composition and function of the intestinal microbiota; deleterious metabolic effects can be transferred to germ-free mice by faecal transplantation and can be abrogated by antibiotic treatment. The authors demonstrate that artificial sweeteners can induce dysbiosis and glucose intolerance in healthy human subjects, and suggest that it may be necessary to develop new nutritional strategies tailored to the individual and to variations in the gut microbiota "

So not worth it!! Avoid, avoid, avoid!!

 

[hankjam]

If it is not naturally sweet and within limits, a couple of strawberries added to yogurt I don't see the point of adding some synthetic... or even something like Stevia, just acclimate to the new low... and suddenly things will seem sweeter than they did before.....

 

[donnellysdogs]

Made a pecan pie bar(s) today.. Totally delicious.. Totally natural.. Used a tablespoon of honey and coconut oil instead of any swetener.. No disaster and added some cranberries in as well. Truly yummy!!
No chewing gum today..feel tip top....hoping my legs and sleep will benefit...

 

[phoenix]

Just want to add to my earlier post about the biome that it's only one study and very preliminary. (lots of mice but only 7 humans tested. It might also make a difference just how much of the stuff you have on a regular basis.

 

[donnellysdogs]

I didn't think 3 chewing gums a day would affect me so badly but they have!!!

Other stuff is intermittent in my case.. Ie my mum like to buy me a bottle of drambuie and diet cokes for xmas, birthdays etc... But even small chewing gum is definitely enough for me...