[Closed] Sugar or Sugar free?

Aspartame is one of the most tested foodstuffs on the planet, largely because of any number of Internet scare stories.

I see it in much the same way as proper butter being high in fat.

It's fine in moderation, it's acually an essential food stuff and preferable to synthetic alternatives.

IMO of course.. I can't drink sugar free 'pop' because I don't like the taste of artificial sweetness, but then I also only drink about a can a week if that. I drink a bit more orange or blackcurrant cordial but again, it can't have sweeteners as they taste vile to me, i guess I drink about a litre or two of that a week.

Although I mainly drink water, coffee, milk and beer.

The sugar tax has resulted in manufacturers replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners. For things like cordial,  which aren't 'ready to drink ' it would be much better if they just removed all added sweeteners, and left it to the customer to add sugar,  aspartame or nothing,  as preferred.

artificial sweeteners  make you fat by triggering your insulin response so you end up eating more.  Taste disgusting as well all of them.

Me?

go for the full fat variety in moderation

I have a coke (full fat) when I’ve been surfing, or immersed in water (swimming) or trail running.. so once a week, or three times a month.

I ain’t died of sugar poisoning yet.

Yet..

🤪

Yep sugar tax has just made companies load up on synthetics to get round it .

Just means I avoid those ones.

Guy who sits next to me at work drink 2 or 3 cans of monster a day. Firmly believes he is being healthy as it's sugar free....

Aspartame is one of the most tested foodstuffs on the planet,

 For things like cordial,  which aren’t ‘ready to drink ‘ it would be much better if they just removed all added sweeteners, and left it to the customer to add sugar,  aspartame or nothing,  as preferred.

Because no kid would drink it and no parent would buy it.

I do wonder what a 'grown up' cola would taste like with minimal sugar though. If you could convince grownups to drink it then it would be a bit more aspirational pressure on kids to drink it (like tea, beer, coffee etc which all taste a bit rank at first if not sweet but you grow to like them). Rather than trying to just change kids drinks in isolation.

...gut bacteria. Basically a very small amount wipes it out leaving a part of our immune system exposed and causing minor trauma at that level

That simple eh ?

Maybe you should tell the thousands of scientists that have tested it and disagree. They are going to feel really daft.

I prefer the taste of Coke etc with sweeteners. The sugar-sweetened stuff is awful.

Experts, eh...?

I think it's also the sheer amount of sugar in some fizzy drinks, people get used to it, tango for example has far less sugar than coca cola, it's still a lot but it pales into into insignificance compared to coke.

And commercial fruit ciders.. They are basically glasses full of sugar with a bit of alcahol.

I can’t drink sugar free ‘pop’ because I don’t like the taste of artificial sweetness

I said the same thing for four decades.  When I switched to sugar free drinks because of the volume of sugar I was consuming it took me about a fortnight to get used to it.  Tastes perfectly normal now.

do these extensive tests include their effects on gut bacteria?

See for yourself:

https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=aspartame+gut+bacteria

The first hit concludes, "How aspartame influences gut microbial composition and the implications of these changes on the development of metabolic disease require further investigation."  Though they used a total sample pool of 40 rats in four groups of 10 so I'd concur that "further investigation" is needed, it's far from a rigorous trial.  I've not read through the rest of the results but I'd expect them to be broadly similar.

The same report also states "Animals on aspartame consumed fewer calories, gained less weight and had a more favorable body composition when challenged with HF compared to animals consuming water."  So as ever with these things it's Not That Simple.  You can't just take a soundbite headline in isolation.  Sticking pins in your arm is hazardous (warn doctors), that doesn't automatically imply that it's not preferable to sticking them in your eyes.

"I said the same thing for four decades.  When I switched to sugar free drinks because of the volume of sugar I was consuming it took me about a fortnight to get used to it.  Tastes perfectly normal now."

Thankfully my parents kept me off the fizzy pop as a kid due to its effects which means I've never become addicted to it.

Fizzy pop remains a treat and water is my normal drink of choice. Can't beat a good* pint of water.

*YMMV depending on where you live.

Basically a very small amount wipes it out

Amusingly, the study I just read found the opposite - that it increases gut bacteria.  Is that a good thing?

Choose your Daily Mail headline:

1) Aspartame reduces gut bacteria, avoid it.

2) Aspartame increases gut bacteria, avoid it.

Can’t beat a good* pint of water.

I don't disagree, but it you're drinking it in pints I'd (somewhat ironically) suggest a diabetes test.

"don’t disagree, but it you’re drinking it in pints I’d (somewhat ironically) suggest a diabetes test."

The crystal ball is strong with this one.

Should I walk from my desk and  fill my thimble once an hour and drink it that way ?

“I said the same thing for four decades.  When I switched to sugar free drinks because of the volume of sugar I was consuming it took me about a fortnight to get used to it.  Tastes perfectly normal now.”

Yup took me very little time too, the Coke zero helped too find that very tasty. Best of all I've not noticed me eating more.

avoiding aspartame in your diet with someone who has PKU is a 'kin mare.

Just wean yourself off sweet things.

Just wean yourself off sweet things.

I think this is the best strategy, I find coke far too sickly to drink, I can tolerate a can of tango now and then.

When it comes to artificial sweeteners, I don't like the taste and I'm not particularly inclined to try to like it.

With mixers for alcaholic spirits, it's rum and fruit juice rather than coke.

The only mixer you need for your alcoholic spirit is a tiny dash of water.

Should I walk from my desk and  fill my thimble once an hour and drink it that way ?

You misunderstand.  If you're drinking a couple of pints over the course of the day then it's fine.  If you're drinking a couple of pints in the space of 15 minutes I'd strongly suggest seeing a doctor.

A good test is..

Drink a can of full fat coke when it’s flat and all the bubbles have dissipated, taste it, savour it.. if it still tastes good, carry on.

I doubt you will.

And try it with other fizzy drinks.. including water. Do the taste test and I’d pretty much gtee that you’d give up on full fat anything.

I drink coke, full fat coke, after some forms of excessive exercise. It’s probably not the taste I go for more the fizzy sugar intake.

Hey, Ho.

I’m lucky that I don’t have much of a sweet tooth or a taste for fizzy drinks, but lots of diet drinks contain ‘polyols’ (it’s not just about aspartame) which are sugar alcohols - these can ferment in the gut and trigger bloating etc. I think polyols also indicate the ‘p’ in FODMAP.

So yeah! I’d be going for a smaller amount of the full fat version every time, but that might not be the right thing for someone who likes to drink a lot of low calorie pop.

Nothing, or sugar (full fat). Hate artificial sweeteners

My son's T1, so fizzy drinks are diet... not good.

artificial sweeteners  make you fat by triggering your insulin response so you end up eating more.

Err that's far from proven. Although one very limited study with one type of artificial sweetener showed an insulin response others haven't. And even then an insulin response doesn't automatically lead to increase calorie intake.

Proper sugar and drink less of the stuff. When I were a lad 'fizzy pop' was a treat and not a several times a day drink standard go-to drink. I've still got a mouthful of fillings having said that, but that's more from not brushing my teeth well enough.

I do wonder what a ‘grown up’ cola would taste like with minimal sugar though.

They need to put the coca back into it as well.

Yeah I'm sceptical of the OP's TV show, and also since TJ loves to bang on about actual scientific actual evidence, I'd like him to supply a link re the aspartame and insulin connection.

Of course, it's known that even thinking about food can trigger an insulin response, so I think you'd be doing well to separate all the things that might cause insulin response from the actual effect of aspartame.

If a diet drink triggered a significant insulin response without having any calories, it would cause your blood sugar to drop, which would make you hungry shortly afterwards.  I can say with moderate certainty that this does not happen with me.

Great.  Now I’ve got 5 cans of full fat Coke I don’t really want...

Of course, it’s known that even thinking about food can trigger an insulin response, so I think you’d be doing well to separate all the things that might cause insulin response from the actual effect of aspartame.

From what I’ve read on the artificial sweeteners there’s no conclusive evidence of why or if it’s true. Seems some studies say there is and others that there is none at all. It hinders around the human urge for calories that sugar easily gives. So to me if your on a very low carb diet you may crave food for carbs.

Coke is ideal for re-fuelling after depleting your glycogen stores.  So go on a ride, then enjoy it.  Also don't quite drink enough water as it's even tastier when you're thirsty as well.

Full sugar for me and drinking more now I have discovered Soda Folk.  Their root beer and their cream soda are excellent.

Diabetec here too.

And having spent hours reading all the labels of food, its not just the fizzy pop industry that keeps us supplied  in an unhealthy amount of sugar intake.

Bread, etc, etc..

As much as I can be bothered searching for molgrips - some links to the original studies
The one I saw ws a large rat srudy that showed rats fed spleda )gained weigh due to insulin response.  From a quck scan around it seems some artificial sweeteners have this effect more than others
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/310909.php

Full sugar all the way. I can't abide the taste of artificial sweeteners

The sugar tax has utterly ruined full-fat Irn-Bru by having them substitute half the sugar for sweeteners.

They claim it tastes exactly the same. It really doesn't.

Now, I can't drink any kind of Bru. My cultural heritage has been stolen from me.

This makes me very sad indeed.

Not a bad article TJ, but it suggests something more complex than the sweeteners directly causing insulin response.  But still food for thought.

For me, I know too much diet drinks affect my heart.

EDIT don't particularly like that website though I must admit...

Sugar every time.  Which is probably once a fortnight.  I much prefer a pint of milk to a fizzy drink.

I have noticed that the "new improved" San Pellegrino limonata has not improved by removing a load of sugar from it.  That was my one guilty pop pleasure and it's been taken away from me.

Sucralose enhances GLP-1 release and lowers blood glucose in the presence of carbohydrate in healthy subjects but not in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25271009

So whats healthier for the average joe that might have a Coke every now and again

Ditch the canned flavoured fizzy water.

Stopped drinking Coke and such stuff some time ago. I'd long since cut out added sugar in things. I was drinking "sugar free" drinks and did find sugar version of Coke etc was way too sweet. But then I was finding it's all just junk and gassy, leaving me bloated, and really of zero nutritional value (yeah, water but I think the other crap in it cancels out the benefits of water).

Mostly drink water, tea or coffee now (no sugar). Aside from beer and wine 😉

Still apple/orange juice etc maybe occasionally, but they're really high in sugar even the no added sugar ones.

Only struggle is going out "for a drink" and not drinking as I'm driving. I used to drink Coke all night but really would feel horrible after that. Though solution so far is to make sure I'm not driving so I can have a beer.

I had a quick read of the wiki page on GLP-1 and it's pretty technical so there's much I don't follow, but it does say this:

GLP-1 has shown to promote satiety and thereby reduce food and water intake.<sup id="cite_ref-seino_15-1" class="reference"></sup>

And this:

In the stomach, GLP-1 inhibits gastric emptying, acid secretion and motility collectively decreasing appetite.

Now, I've found ad-hoc that a diet fizzy drink decreases hunger levels for me.  But it would be interesting to be able to monitor my own blood glucose.  Next time I go downstairs I'll check the ingredients of my diet drinks for sucralose.