Artifical Sweeteners
 

I think I may have found a reason for that long slow weight loss period. I was talking to my coach about being frustrated etc and having cravings that I didnt have for the first 6 months and how my weight loss went from 3 pounds a week to 3 pounds in one month. We went thru my food journals and the only thing I did different was I started using Mio. It is a flavoring you add to your water.

I thought it was okay to use as it was zero calories, zero carbs. But it seems that any artifical sweetner (this has splenda) actually creates twice the amount of insulin in your body as regular sugar and consequently your body will store fat because of the glucose it has to produce to offset the insulin. It will also create carb cravings and that need to eat, even though you aren't hungry. Which is exactly what I have been dealing with for about 6 weeks.

So, I stopped using it as of yesterday and I will see if the weight starts to come off again.

Think twice before using "diet" products like soda and water flavorings. Perhaps that is the reason so many of us stall out after awhile. We start looking for variety and think these things are okay to use, when in reality they are making us fatter.

That may be the case for you but it's not for me. That study in particular irkes me a great deal and have found a few other studies/articles saying the opposite is true. For me, real sugar causes insulin spikes and makes me crave more. Sucralose and aspartame have been great tools in my own personal weightloss journey.

I have (gulp) anywhere from 4-6 Sweet & Low a day and maybe a Diet Coke or Coke Zero every other day. I have lost all of my weight doing this and I can't imagine I could have lost even more without these (my overall average is about 4lbs a week, medically supervised).

I never used the S&L or diet soda prior to starting my diet, it was all full calorie or straight up sugar!

Splenda makes me dizzy when I have it in my coffee, not sure what's in it that effects me but it's downright scary.

I hope you find out what's holding you up, it's so frustrating!!

Since I quit using Equal in my coffee every morning, I don't have cravings for sweets/junk food like I used to, and I think it affected my insulin resistance more than I realized.

Sucralose (which is sugar with a chlorine molecule replaced so our bodies don't absorb it), Maltodextrin (a corn or wheat derivitive that is in a great deal of common foods [ie. beer]), and dextrose which is another word for glucose.

It's probably the sucralose. It affects people differently. I know that aspartame contains phenylaline which caused headaches in some due to an allergic reaction. Sucralose could be something similar.

Don't feel bad about using artificial sweeteners. That's the only way some of us chicks with killer sweet tooths can lose the weight!

Interesting how it effects folks differently. Perhaps it effects those who are already having a difficult time processing glucose. I was prediabetic when I started my program, so perhaps I have a greater sensitivity to the sweetners. I am going to do more reearch to learn more.

I just went back to herbal tea. Of course it isnt quite as good as dark cherry drink mix LOL but it will do I guess.

Thank you, Skellig! I thought I was drunk or passing out or something when I had it and I won't try it again!

Sometimes I feel bad having the artificial sweeteners as I know they aren't the best for me but I figure with all the bad stuff I have cut out, a couple of those pink packets of happiness are ok!! :)

I'm recently into coke zero, it is the only thing I can stand artificial sweeteners in. Excluding that I think they leave the worst taste in my mouth. They haven't caused any issues for me as of yet and I hope they don't I was thrilled to find a no calorie soda I actually liked. Soda was my biggest vice I still miss Dr. Pepper so it was a very good thing to find Coke Zero.

I use a lot of sweet n low everyday and have for over 2 years. Personally, I couldn't have lost the weight without it...I have to have some sweet tasting stuff. Don't like plain water and use mio all the time.

My opinon is that it's better to avoid the chemicals if you can - there's a lot of concern about what we don't know about aspartame etc.

I've used crystal lite in the past but I feel better with just plain water. It's sometimes hard to drink when you're not used to it, but practice makes perfect! :)

I use 4-6 packets of splenda each day with my iced tea and lemonade. I still crave real sugar things though.

I remember consuming artificial sweetners and afterwards fighting hard my sugar cravings. It stimulated my desire for real sugar. It was awful! I would chew sugarless gum and would then want a cake! I no longer consume any artificial sweetener in any form.

This seems to be me as well. I was drinking those 10 calorie sodas and I finally realized this last month that it was the soda causing my insatiable cravings for sugar! Diet sodas however do not have the same effect on me.

I agree it effects people differently. I consume a crap ton (technical term there) of artificial sweetener - sucralose and aspartame. I've not found it to have any negative effects on me thus far, certainly not on my weight loss. BUT I won't try and argue that people will experience different things.

Ideally I'd like to cut it all out completely, but I'm not there yet.

I've reduced my use of artificial sweeteners on the general principal that the chemicals can't be wonderful for you. But they don't trigger me at all, so I enjoy them in moderation and doubt I'll ever get too worried about cutting them out completely.

I have cut back quite a lot on diet soda, because there does seem to be increasing evidence that it's not very good for you. But even then, my goal isn't to give it up completely, it's to enjoy it as a treat from time to time rather than a daily habit. (and for me, Diet Coke is a treat - I don't like the taste of non-diet soda, so it's not a calorie thing)