Hacker News Reader

Comment by znpy | Hacker News Reader

Tangentially related: a while ago i used to drink aspartame-sweetened drinks (sugarfree coke) but I did quit that as well after reading thst the sweet taste is still going go stimulate insulin production.

Speaking with a relative eho is a medical doctor they told me that yes, that’s a thing.

I’m not sure to what degree this might fit into the discussion, but just wanted to write this down.

Nowadays i just drink water.

I still have the occasional beer or the occasional glass of proper wine if i’m out with friends.

View on HN

When I researched it in the past I thought that multiple studies corroborated that while blood sugar doesn't increase from drinking artificially sweetened drinks that people who drink them still tend to gain weight. I'm not sure how those studies adjusted for things like people that already have metabolic syndrome who simply choose artificial sweetener for health reasons though?

It seems the most I would be comfortable concluding from recent reviews of studies is that there are some worrying findings, enough to warrant caution. If you can simply reduce your consumption of sugary foods and beverages I suspect it will reduce your craving better than a replacement stimuli. You can review some studies here:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=obesity+artificial+swe...

It's a fallacy to draw conclusions from the number of studies/reviews supporting a given hypothesis, but the majority conclude that artificial sweeteners are associated with negative health effects and not a helpful tool for adiposity-related diseases.

I've known multiple with glucose monitors and all of them told me they saw no increase after drink a diet soda. I think the "aspartame causes sugar spikes" is an urban legend. I never get the sugar rush from them like I do if I drink a sugary soda.

Wouldn't the insulin w/o sugar cause a drop, instead?

>> Wouldn't the insulin w/o sugar cause a drop, instead?

In the short term, but as I understand, the constant insulin response would also cause insulin resistance over time.

Yeah, long term.

But I understood parent as doing immediate measurements and expecting blood sugar increase despite insulin produced with no carb intake.

Yeah absolutely taking artificial sweetener can't cause a glucose spike itself (no glucose or minimal amount to be derived), but maybe it could contribute to spikier glucose in general (due to sweetness contributing to hormonal dis-regulation/lack of satiety and overeating)

>> I've known multiple with glucose monitors and all of them told me they saw no increase after drink a diet soda. I think the "aspartame causes sugar spikes" is an urban legend. I never get the sugar rush from them like I do if I drink a sugary soda.

IANAD, but my reading of Dr. Jason Fung's book "The Obesity Code" suggests that while artificial sweeteners do not spike glucose immediately, they elicit an insulin response, which over time causes insulin resistance, which over time increases glucose.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com