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Comment by bitL | Hacker News Reader

There go protein bars... Does anyone know if artificial sweeteners hack the body to switch to "fat storage" mode as well? Like metabolism after Coke Zero with no sugar still causing excessive fat storage? Our bodies seem to use some silly heuristics all the time, like the one hacked by drinking plain water but with scent of a fruit in front of a nose, forcing brain thinking we drink juice...

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The control group in this study was drinking an artificially sweetened drink in place of the sugary one. Otherwise, this answer [1] refers to recent studies having shown insulin rising from artificial sweeteners, but says the research on links to actual weight gain is still ongoing (I have no idea if that answer is current).

[1] http://www.health.harvard.edu/diabetes/ask-the-doctor-do-art...

Do you have a subscription to that? I was only able to read the first paragraph but it mentioned resistance to insulin which I thought is different than temporarily causing your insulin levels to rise from consuming a sugary drink or eating a high carb food like rice. I'm really interested to know if drinking something with sugar alcohol,aspartame, or sucralose causes insulin level spikes like sugar does.

In the event GP doesn't respond, I probably have the same unsatisfactory answer that the Q&A from the link does: we don't yet know.

I too, have the same interest regarding insulin spikes from artificial sweeteners and spent considerable time researching. Caveat, this was about five years ago so there could be new findings.

While the research is inconclusive, I personally try to cut down on artificial sweeteners. I suspect they can cause an insulin response. This is based on my understanding of the literature and my n=1 experiments.

Protein bars are heinous for any purpose other than getting in some calories and enjoying the taste. Anyone who thinks they are a good way to get protein for a diet are fooling themselves. Protein bars are candy bars + whey protein powder. Why not skip the candy bar part of the equation and just supplement protein directly if that is what you are after?

Because shakes are a lot less convenient. I wonder what the difficulties are in engineering a zero carbohydrate protein bar (with artificial sweetener if necessary); there are plenty of "low carb" bars on the market which of course still have a ton of sugar.

I'm not sold on the artificial sweeteners, so I try to minimize. For me I just bring 2 scoops of whey pro in a blender bottle and add water after the workout. It's pretty easy. Doesn't taste great but it is manageable.

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