Diet soda?

[ExChocoholic]

I really had a fancy for a diet 7 up since I've had nasty kidney infection and wanted nice cold drink - other than my normal water. BS sugars shot up, so I guess that was a bad idea. This may sound daft, but why does this happen?

 

[ExChocoholic]

Azure have been chatting to Noblehead regarding the above - I had 7up Free last night. Fasting BS was raised by 4 today. Noblehead adviced me to ask you to move my misplaced thread under T2 to somewhere more appropriate 'Diet Soda' posted earlier today.

With thanks

 

[azure]

Azure have been chatting to Noblehead regarding the above - I had 7up Free last night. Fasting BS was raised by 4 today. Noblehead adviced me to ask you to move my misplaced thread under T2 to somewhere more appropriate 'Diet Soda' posted earlier today.

With thanks

I've moved it to Ask A Question for you @ExChocoholic and merged the two threads.

 

[Ren1971]

When I was first diagnosed with T2 and asked about diet or zero versions of soft drinks, I was told by the practice nurse that the pancreas cannot tell the difference between sugar and the sugar substitutes used in diet and zero sugar drinks and as such reacts as if you were drinking a sugary drink.

 

[Resurgam]

When I was first diagnosed with T2 and asked about diet or zero versions of soft drinks, I was told by the practice nurse that the pancreas cannot tell the difference between sugar and the sugar substitutes used in diet and zero sugar drinks and as such reacts as if you were drinking a sugary drink.

That doesn't make sense - if your pancreas 'thought' you were drinking a sugary drink it would release insulin - which would not increase your blood glucose levels.
It is the liver which releases glucose into the blood from its store of glycogen.

 

[Trundlore]

there is a blog post on WebMD titled "Could Artificial Sweeteners Raise Your Blood Sugar?" which notes a study where sweeteners were found to raise BG levels:
"Blame it on the bugs in your gut, scientists say. They found that saccharin (a.k.a. Sweet‘N Low), sucralose (a.k.a. Splenda) and aspartame (a.k.a. NutraSweet and Equal) raised blood sugar levels"

I cant link to it as I just signed up to post this, but google should find it based off the above

As an IBS sufferer (directly caused by messed up gut bacteria for me) i'm aware of how much the little bug(ger)s can mess up all manner of things, from mood/thought processes to BG, body temperature and other biological functions.

good BG control is a minefield, and with so many different sugar alternatives now its getting harder to spot when a 'diet' or 'zero sugar' option is actually beneficial, either for BG or for general digestive health.

there certainly needs to be more awareness around the effects of these things on BG control, the available information from health services is, as per usual, shockingly lacking

 

[Blossom73]

I have read some articles about the use of saccharin and many of them say that one side effect can be that you then crave for carbohydrates. Think back to when you drank it, did you then want more to eat or want something different to what you planned? Now if I feel like a soft drink which may once every 1 to 2 weeks, I drink the "real" thing and manage the consequences. Everyone remember this (and I'm sure you have all heard it before!), you can eat anything you want as long as it is in moderation - if you want some chocolate, have one piece instead of the whole bar and only if your blood sugars at an appropriate level.

 

[Fleegle]

Interesting thread.
I do not suffer from raised BG from drinking any of the diet soda drinks though you have to be careful - diet Fanta as an example has some natural sugar from the oranges I think.
I did read that there is a theory - thought disputed by both sides - that diet soda's raised insulin levels in the back ground - as can protein in fact.

It just goes to show, once again, we are all different and the meter tells you the truth about BG at least.