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Artificial Sweeteners May Change Our Gut Bacteria in Dangerous Ways

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Artificial Sweeteners May Change Our Gut Bacteria in Dangerous Ways

#101

Post by gojomo »

trekky1700 wrote: post #90
beat wrote: post #70

I'm currently trying to kick a Diet Coke habit (my equivalent of smoking), which I think is contributing to several health problems, not the least of which is carrying about 40 pounds more than I should around. Part of it, which isn't covered by these studies, is how a reliance on diet soda affects your diet overall. It serves as a lubricant, for lack of a better word, for dense starchy carbs and salt. I can wolf dow…

I also have a bad Diet Coke habit. Drink cans and cans a day. I hear Elon Musk and Bill Gates also drink copious amounts. I wonder what it is about Diet Coke that's so addictive.

Caffeine and phenylalanine, in addition to the sweetness-without-actual-energy that is likely backfiring to create further sweet-cravings.

(I wouldn't be surprised if research eventually concludes regular Coke is safer than Diet Coke, even given the problems with HFCS. So, if trying to quite Diet Coke, you might 1st want to try substituting regular Coke... which you might find more satiating and thus consume less of, by volume.)

Re: Artificial Sweeteners May Change Our Gut Bacteria in Dangerous Ways

#102

Post by hncomment »

devy wrote: post #72
beat wrote: post #70

I'm currently trying to kick a Diet Coke habit (my equivalent of smoking), which I think is contributing to several health problems, not the least of which is carrying about 40 pounds more than I should around. Part of it, which isn't covered by these studies, is how a reliance on diet soda affects your diet overall. It serves as a lubricant, for lack of a better word, for dense starchy carbs and salt. I can wolf dow…

Sorry to ask this personal question, do you know if there is a name for the autoimmune problem that causes scores?

Some such sores, if occasional, may just be canker sores:

http://www.healthline.com/health/canker-sores

I've noted a correlation with: stress or lack of sleep; candy binges; eating scratchy foods like say popcorn.

Re: Artificial Sweeteners May Change Our Gut Bacteria in Dangerous Ways

#103

Post by jleyank »

nathanvanfleet wrote: post #99
darcyparker wrote: post #8

Aspartame (Nutrasweet) is pretty controversial in how it got approved by the FDA. See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robbie-gennet/donald-rumsfeld-... When I was 8 years old, I started having grand mal seizures and my parents noted a strong correlation between drinking a Diet Coke and having a seizure. When they eliminated it from my diet, my seizures declined. Fortunately I stopped having seizures around 12 years of…

I got a job at a company that had free soda. I was happy with that. I started drinking 1 diet coke in the afternoon every day. until after a few weeks I realized I was also getting a headache in the afternoon everyday. Fixed by switching to Perrier over the Diet Coke.

Granted, one person is an anecdote not data but switching from coke to diet coke lost me 20 lbs in a year. 500-1000 calories less each day.

Re: Artificial Sweeteners May Change Our Gut Bacteria in Dangerous Ways

#104

Post by Riseed »

amputect wrote: post #52
mrfusion wrote: post #9

Does anyone have any thoughts how Xylitol or Erythritol might fare under a study like this? They're currently my go to sweeteners. I'm not sure why they're not more popular.

Sugar alcohols can have some unpleasant side effects, which make them unpopular for general use. They can cause bloating, flatulence, and diarrhea if you consume too much of them. The pop-culture example of this is the review section on http://www.amazon.com/Haribo-Sugar-Free-Gummy-Bears/dp/B008J... , or in a less ridiculous form at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol#Safety and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythritol#Side…

I actually used knowledge of their unpleasant side effects to help overcome my unhealthy diet.

While I was still addicted to sugar and craving the taste of sweets, I switched to the "sugar free" sugar alcohol versions of treats. The knowledge that anything more than a reasonable portion would lead to discomfort (at best) was wonderful motivation to keep my portions in check. I used the same method to wean myself off of potato chips and other greasy, salty snacks. I'd heard plenty of horror stories about Olean when I was a child, so I never dared eat more than 4 Fat Free Pringles at a time. The necessarily smaller portions made it easier to focus on enjoying the treats (and thus be satisfied with less), instead of getting lost in a binge.

I don't even bother to walk down the sweets or snacks isles at the grocery anymore. I highly recommend the method for anyone whose willpower needs just a wee bit of bolstering.

Re: Artificial Sweeteners May Change Our Gut Bacteria in Dangerous Ways

#105

Post by encoderer »

I can't remember the source, but somebody was speaking recently on the US healthcare system.

He made the point that the proof our healthcare in this country is broken is that when you go to the doctor to complain about illness nobody has ever been asked "How have you been eating?". Unless you have specific medical restrictions, there is little time spent on how your diet affects your health. My dream of quantified-self is a disrupted healthcare system focused on gestalt care.

Re: Artificial Sweeteners May Change Our Gut Bacteria in Dangerous Ways

#106

Post by refurb »

devy wrote: post #72
beat wrote: post #70

I'm currently trying to kick a Diet Coke habit (my equivalent of smoking), which I think is contributing to several health problems, not the least of which is carrying about 40 pounds more than I should around. Part of it, which isn't covered by these studies, is how a reliance on diet soda affects your diet overall. It serves as a lubricant, for lack of a better word, for dense starchy carbs and salt. I can wolf dow…

Sorry to ask this personal question, do you know if there is a name for the autoimmune problem that causes scores?

Sjogren's syndrome?

Re: Artificial Sweeteners May Change Our Gut Bacteria in Dangerous Ways

#107

Post by jheriko »

beat wrote: post #70

I'm currently trying to kick a Diet Coke habit (my equivalent of smoking), which I think is contributing to several health problems, not the least of which is carrying about 40 pounds more than I should around. Part of it, which isn't covered by these studies, is how a reliance on diet soda affects your diet overall. It serves as a lubricant, for lack of a better word, for dense starchy carbs and salt. I can wolf dow…

Well done for cutting something out and losing weight to try and improve your health, this is an admirable goal.

However, from your tone I would hazard a guess that the problem is not your diet coke so much as your desire to consume so much that you are choosing diet coke as an optimal lubricant to enable that.

You can't compare a habit like this to smoking imo, which is chemically addictive with a reasonably well understood chemical pathway and requires considerable willpower to stop due to physiological withdrawal symptoms as well as the psychological aspects of addiction.

Maybe you have some underlying problem which is causing your behaviour, because most people do not require very much willpower to not eat when it is uncomfortable to do so without 'lubricating it' optimally with some specific drink. Or maybe I am just misunderstanding and overreacting based on how shocking I find your comment...

Re: Artificial Sweeteners May Change Our Gut Bacteria in Dangerous Ways

#108

Post by greggman »

beat wrote: post #70

I'm currently trying to kick a Diet Coke habit (my equivalent of smoking), which I think is contributing to several health problems, not the least of which is carrying about 40 pounds more than I should around. Part of it, which isn't covered by these studies, is how a reliance on diet soda affects your diet overall. It serves as a lubricant, for lack of a better word, for dense starchy carbs and salt. I can wolf dow…

I lost 30lbs switching from coke to diet coke and it's stayed off for 22 years so far. I changed nothing else about my diet or behavior. Just cut out sugary drinks of which coke was the 90% of.

Re: Artificial Sweeteners May Change Our Gut Bacteria in Dangerous Ways

#109

Post by jheriko »

gojomo wrote: post #101
trekky1700 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also have a bad Diet Coke habit. Drink cans and cans a day. I hear Elon Musk and Bill Gates also drink copious amounts. I wonder what it is about Diet Coke that's so addictive.

Caffeine and phenylalanine, in addition to the sweetness-without-actual-energy that is likely backfiring to create further sweet-cravings. (I wouldn't be surprised if research eventually concludes regular Coke is safer than Diet Coke, even given the problems with HFCS. So, if trying to quite Diet Coke, you might 1st want to try substituting regular Coke... which you might find more satiating and thus consume less of,…

I'm not sure you can describe an essential amino acid as an addictive substance... sure there is a strong desire to consume it, but its closer to things like oxygen, water or any vital thing that keeps you alive.

Caffeine on the other hand has a well understood and documented mechanism of physical dependence, but its considered extremely mild compared to substances traditionally considered addictive (nicotine, alcohol)...

Re: Artificial Sweeteners May Change Our Gut Bacteria in Dangerous Ways

#110

Post by rodly »

encoderer wrote: post #105

I can't remember the source, but somebody was speaking recently on the US healthcare system. He made the point that the proof our healthcare in this country is broken is that when you go to the doctor to complain about illness nobody has ever been asked "How have you been eating?". Unless you have specific medical restrictions, there is little time spent on how your diet affects your health. My dream of quantified-se…

I think part of the reason for this is that generally speaking, people who eat poorly know they're eating poorly and would rather have their cake and eat it too. They know soda is bad for them and that apples are good for them. That sitting all day long doesn't expend a lot of energy and running the back hills for a half hour does.

So when someone asks an ill person who eats poorly "How have you been eating?" they know they're about to receive a long story about how they've tried and failed, or that lately they've been "cheating" or that they've been super busy at work and kids and life is hard and they have no time for such things. What's the doctor supposed to say after this? Nothing. Because people are only going to change themselves when they truly want to and not when someone tells them they should.

So instead they look for more efficient routes at attempting care. Drugs are pretty good at this for a while. Got high blood pressure? Here's some beta blockers. You got an aching back? Here's some pain medication for that. They make more money this way, their patients can reliably take the 3 seconds to swallow a pill everyday, and everyone seems to be pretty happy until they have a heart attack or need a wheelchair. It's a good thing that those things come with old age so their poor health condition can be blamed on yet again something other than their continued poor diet and lack of exercise.

It's funny how simple being healthy is. Sleep, diet and exercise.

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