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coca cola craving/coca cola zero and lchf

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Drfarxan

Well-Known Member
Messages
149
Last summer was the first time i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. In late august i started my lchf diet with great result,my recent Hb1Ac recently is 5.4%(35.5mmol). But summer is back and with this hot humid air you can't help but think about the cold drinks you enjoyed every summer like a coke. Not only coke i also crave juice like cold orange juice. Although i noticed its just craving for a cold drink and after a nice icy water the craving goes away. But it always comes back always there lingering

How did you guys who have been doing this for years and maybe had the same problem with soft drinks deal with this craving? no sugar ice tea???

Also i tried searching but i couldn't find anything on the topic, what is the opinion of members here on coca cola zero? is it safe?
 
Drfarxan said:
Also i tried searching but i couldn't find anything on the topic, what is the opinion of members here on coca cola zero? is it safe?
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Depends what you mean by safe. I drink it, probably too much of it given the ‘gunk’ in it. However it does not raise my blood sugars or give me cravings for other sweet things, so I view it as acceptable.

This paper is a meta-analysis of studies on the topic of artificial sweeteners. You might find it helpful: https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/112/4/1002/5872362 it’s only a summary as the full paper is not freely available, but it has quite a clear conclusion.
 

I used to drink way too many cokes. I now drink Coke Zero or Diet DP. Has no effect on my blood sugar. Other negative effects it may or may not have from aspartame are debatable.
 
Not a fan of artificial sweeteners... I drowned myself in diet coke and had 5 little sweetener tablets in my tea when I started out, and it basically was committing mass murder on my gut bacteria. Not something you want to go through, so don't over-do it. Some might spike off of it, some don't. Test and you'll find out what works for you, and whether having some, scratches the itch enough.

I just drink carbonated mineral water, sometimes I put a splash of lemon juice in there. Other than that it's just mint tea for me these days, but I used to guzzle other teas, tisanes and chais until they turned out to be migraine triggers. *shrug* As that's not a problem though, I'm assuming anyway, you could have tea, coffee, iced tea/coffee, and whatever low carb/sugar free drinks you can find. Vodka, rum...
 
I used to drink lots of diet Coke. I believe this was a major factor in me developing fatty liver, insulin resistance and T2. Others will argue against this view. It was never about BGs or spikes, more about long term damage to my metabolism. I tried hard to kick the habit in 2008 but found it to be very addictive. I was diagnosed T2 in 2011. I haven't had any colas for 3 years now, but it took me a very long time to get to this point.
 
I make my own iced teas, usually herbal, especially the fruity ones.
I put one or two tea bags in a mug. Fill up to a third with boiling water and leave to brew. When strong brewed, I remove the bags and top up the mug with ice cubes.
I do not need to add any sugar so no carbs but tasty and refreshing.
 
i read somewhere diet coke leads to fatty liver. My bro drank litres of diet coke isn't particularly over weight but developed fatty liver. Ill research it more
@Goonergal what do you think about diet coke or zero coke and fatty liver
 
I was diagnosed about 6 weeks ago hba1c was 119, which is very high apparently. I drank at least 12 cans of Diet Coke per day maybe up to 20 cans up until t2 diagnosis. I was diagnosed with non alcoholic fatty liver disease too about 3 months ago. I admit I ate everything and anything but I still led an active lifestyle, I believe the Diet Coke definitely contributed towards t2 and fatty liver.
 
I get the little 8 oz cans of Pepsi Zero Sugar to drink with my meals (except breakfast) and drink water the rest of the time. I HAVE to have my coffee in the AM's.
 
There is a big difference between having a glass of diet coke, which is probably harmless and drinking 20 cans.
 
Drfarxan said:
i read somewhere diet coke leads to fatty liver. My bro drank litres of diet coke isn't particularly over weight but developed fatty liver. Ill research it more
@Goonergal what do you think about diet coke or zero coke and fatty liver
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I should have added that I found Coke Zero preferable to Diet Coke, but am glad to not crave either of them anymore, in fact I often feel ill at the thought of having one now.
 
Drfarxan said:
@Goonergal what do you think about diet coke or zero coke and fatty liver
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Well in my case there’s no evidence of it - my liver function (ALT) tests have all significantly improved over the last few years (from 39 at diagnosis to 15; range 0-33). I was drinking Diet Coke before changing what I eat and continue to drink it. It’d be an incredibly difficult thing to isolate to prove cause and effect (one of the main issues with any studies on nutrition), but by association, having it as a constant as numbers have improved doesn’t indicate a problem for me.

If you turn up any studies I’d be interested to see exactly which ingredients are felt to be an issue with fatty liver.
 
Cmdm said:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2661299/
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The conclusion of that study is: ‘The present study may add important insight into the role of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption as a cause of fatty liver in patients without risk factors. Patients are encouraged to change their long-standing drinking behaviour.’

Not surprising given that fructose (which is present in sugared soft drinks in the USA - less so in the UK) is metabolised in the same way as alcohol by the liver.

It’s always important to look behind the headlines of studies.
 

Did you have any symptoms from the gut bacteria issue? How did you know?
 
zand said:
I should have added that I found Coke Zero preferable to Diet Coke, but am glad to not crave either of them anymore, in fact I often feel ill at the thought of having one now.
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Agreed on that! Coke Zero is much better than Diet Coke. I do wish I could cut back. Time to work on that.
 

I had fatty liver prior to diagnosis when I used to drink regular cokes. It went away when I changed my diet. So far the diet drinks don't seem to be an issue for that. I do think, however, they create hunger cravings.
 
Caprock94 said:
Did you have any symptoms from the gut bacteria issue? How did you know?
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Forgive the tmi that you're about to get: Constipation, watery stool (That was all that could get past the blockage at that point), haemorrhoids, intestinal bleeding, anal fissure (that made life hell!), abdominal swelling/bloating, and a world of pain all throughout my belly. I tried just about every conventional thing to fix what I thought was simply constipation, until I read an article on here about how artificial sweetener is toxic to gut bacteria... And I'd been having a massive load of sweeteners in my coke zero and tea every day. I bought a bacteria/probiotic supplement at Holland & Barrett and started eating fermented foods like sauerkraut to help with the gut flora side of it. That got it all moving again in about 24 hours, but it took well over a year for my insides to become sort of whole again. Damaged guts tend to stay damaged for a while. But now I know the symptoms, and I have the jar of probiotics close at hand at all times. (So when diclofenac trips me up, or when a course of antibiotics does... I can fix it before things get bloody!)
 
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