Diet soft drinks could cause Type 2 Diabetes

[igor_kavinski]

Study reveals potentially deadly risk of drinks like Diet Coke

Scientists found aspartame, a common artificial sweetener also found in products like Extra chewing gum, contributed to a worrying rise in diabetes risk.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Good thing I never liked the taste of diet anything.

There was another study where Aspartame caused tumors in the eyes of the lab rats.

 

[pmv]

Study reveals potentially deadly risk of drinks like Diet Coke

Scientists found aspartame, a common artificial sweetener also found in products like Extra chewing gum, contributed to a worrying rise in diabetes risk.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Good thing I never liked the taste of diet anything.

There was another study where Aspartame caused tumors in the eyes of the lab rats.

I could have sworn there was a study, also French, that claimed to find the same thing, that was widely reported decades ago...then it was debunked when it was subsequently found that it hadn't allowed for the fact that many consumers of artificially-sweetened drinks were already overweight and were consuming the stuff precisely _because_ they were already at risk of diabetes. And that this selection-effect biased the results to the point of throwing the conclusion into doubt.

I could also have sworn the same cycle of "a study finds..." followed by a debunking, happened again a few years later. If I am remembering it right, it seems as if this is the third time a study has made this same claim (and they all seem to be French studies, for some reason).

Anyway, I don't drink soft drinks that much, just an awful lot of instant coffee.

 

[igor_kavinski]

just an awful lot of instant coffee.

Coffee has a protective effect, if your body can handle it. I also think that people who drink a lot of coffee tend to eat less as the cups of coffee probably cause their stomachs to send satiety signals to the brain and prevent hunger pangs.

I can only deal with a few grains of coffee per day. Just enough to give the dairy whitener some taste that I can enjoy while sipping. If I take more than that, I get severe thirst, almost double the trips to washroom for urination and my blood sugar also gets raised.

 

[pmv]

Coffee has a protective effect, if your body can handle it. I also think that people who drink a lot of coffee tend to eat less as the cups of coffee probably cause their stomachs to send satiety signals to the brain and prevent hunger pangs.

I can only deal with a few grains of coffee per day. Just enough to give the dairy whitener some taste that I can enjoy while sipping. If I take more than that, I get severe thirst, almost double the trips to washroom for urination and my blood sugar also gets raised.

Yeah, I find myself noticing reports of studies saying things about coffee, but there seems to have been a steady stream of such studies, with findings of positive effects apparently alternating with ones that claim to find bad effects.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Just coming in here after reading the thread about the actress Trachtenberg and her death at 39 due to type-2 diabetes -- apparently undiagnosed.

I've been drinking aspartame sweetened sparkling water and Zero-Sugar soft drinks for a couple years now, and as I said in my post on the other thread, had purchased an 8 oz bag of powdered aspartame (because I want to make lemonade out of my bounteous harvest of Eureka lemons).

Now I'm not so sure. I may try drinking more water and less of the Zero-Sugar.

Being old sucks, and being T2D sucks, too.

My take on coffee is as follows. It's either OK or positively good for your kidneys, but it isn't supposed to be good for your blood pressure. I take blood pressure meds. However, some authorities suggest that there is little impact on blood pressure if you've been drinking coffee habitually for most of your life. I agree, based on my daily blood-pressure results.

I need another cup of java, so excuse me for a moment . . .

 

[WelshBloke]

Study reveals potentially deadly risk of drinks like Diet Coke

Scientists found aspartame, a common artificial sweetener also found in products like Extra chewing gum, contributed to a worrying rise in diabetes risk.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Good thing I never liked the taste of diet anything.

There was another study where Aspartame caused tumors in the eyes of the lab rats.

Im with you on the taste of artificial sweeteners. I don't know if its a genetic thing (like coriander leaf tasting like soap to some unfortunates) but i can instantly taste artificial sweeteners in anything and its not pleasant. Honestly im fine with just making things less sweet, I don't need all my drinks to taste like flavoured syrups.

I have a sort of theory that artificial sweeteners train your body to crave the sweet taste with out giving your body the calorie reward that sugar gives. I'd rather just have my body not craving sweet things all the time.

 

[igor_kavinski]

My take on coffee is as follows. It's either OK or positively good for your kidneys, but it isn't supposed to be good for your blood pressure. I take blood pressure meds. However, some authorities suggest that there is little impact on blood pressure if you've been drinking coffee habitually for most of your life. I agree, based on my daily blood-pressure results.

A recent study suggests that the best medicine for blood pressure is a banana, though I would eat it alone or maybe with coffee only. Less ripe bananas are better for health than the sweeter ripe ones but WILL lead to more gas, the really awful smelling kind.

 

[manly]

Economics is called the dismal science, but that is probably even more apt for nutrition science. (Not knocking the scientists, there's just a lot we don't understand.)

Various studies suggest the popular artificial sweeteners are rubbish. Most of these beverages don't taste right, to me.

Having said that, there are some natural alternatives that could be "healthy." Stevia and monk fruit, although often these are then cut with an artificial sweetener too. Allulose is fairly new, and it will be a long time until we know much about it, but it is naturally occurring and seems promising.

I recently tried Nixie classic cola (organic, 0 sugar), and that was a miss. Won't be buying it again.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I'd rather just have my body not craving sweet things all the time.

Gymnema Sylvestre from Indian Ayurvedic medicine helps to limit the sugar cravings in some people. I tried it. I'm not sure if it helped but then I don't snack anymore. I have set times when I eat and nothing in between.

 

[pmv]

Never drank fizzy/sweetened drinks much, but I used to drink _loads_ of fruit juice. Made worse by the way supermarkets always had them on 3-for-the-price-of-2 kinds of offers. Drank liters of the stuff, but at some point it dawned on me how calorific it was and I gave it up. Might have ended up with diabetes if I'd continued with that habit.

That was, though, the point where I started drinking loads of instant coffee. Water is just too boring, dammit.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well, contributing to the casual chatter -- another thing I enjoy is fresh grapefruit. I was taught to take a spoonful of sugar and sprinkle it on the grapefruit half.

I've lately come to realize that grapefruit without sugar is just as enjoyable.

Addressing Igor's mention of bananas -- also good. If they start to turn brown, then my redworms get them. This year, I harvested maybe 30 gallons of worm poop, and we're going to have a great garden.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Never drank fizzy/sweetened drinks much, but I used to drink _loads_ of fruit juice. Made worse by the way supermarkets always had them on 3-for-the-price-of-2 kinds of offers. Drank liters of the stuff, but at some point it dawned on me how calorific it was and I gave it up. Might have ended up with diabetes if I'd continued with that habit.

That was, though, the point where I started drinking loads of instant coffee. Water is just too boring, dammit.

On the fruit juice, you want to stay away from bottled juice with added sugar. Such was my downfall before my T2D diagnosis -- that and Martinelli's Sparkling Cider.

You might want to elevate your coffee experience with a dark roast or espresso roast and a decent coffee maker or espresso maker. I've lived on instant coffee, but I once had a demitasse of espresso at the Cosmo Club in the Nation's capital: rock-candy sugar on a swizzle stick and an entire spiral lemon rind in the coffee. Spoiled now forever!

 

[igor_kavinski]

I've lately come to realize that grapefruit without sugar is just as enjoyable.

That's great actually. Grapefruits help to lower blood sugar. They also contain a nutrient that prolongs life.

 

[pmv]

Ha, this (old) article just popped up as a "similar article" while reading a different one

Coffee drinkers have much lower risk of bowel cancer recurrence, study finds

Exclusive: Scientists say people with disease who drink two to four cups a day are less likely to see it return

www.theguardian.com

Must say I do like the bit that says

People with the illness who consume that amount are also much less likely to die from any cause, the study shows, which suggests coffee helps those diagnosed with the UK’s second biggest cancer killer.

So drink lots of coffee - never die! Though maybe that's only if you first get bowel cancer, dammit.

 

[lxskllr]

Well, contributing to the casual chatter -- another thing I enjoy is fresh grapefruit. I was taught to take a spoonful of sugar and sprinkle it on the grapefruit half.

I've lately come to realize that grapefruit without sugar is just as enjoyable.

Try peeling it like an orange. It's a huge hassle, especially with the subskin(?) that's beneath the main peel, but that's my favorite way of eating them, and it's zero waste aside from the skin. I don't often get them though cause of the hassle peeling.

 

[balloonshark]

Well, contributing to the casual chatter -- another thing I enjoy is fresh grapefruit. I was taught to take a spoonful of sugar and sprinkle it on the grapefruit half.

I've lately come to realize that grapefruit without sugar is just as enjoyable.

Addressing Igor's mention of bananas -- also good. If they start to turn brown, then my redworms get them. This year, I harvested maybe 30 gallons of worm poop, and we're going to have a great garden.

If you're taking certain medications you shouldn't be eating grapefruit or drinking the juice. I would ask your doctor about it.

Grapefruit and medications

Some medicines don't mix with grapefruit and other citrus fruits. Learn what's safe.

www.mayoclinic.org

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I am so jaded that every time I see a study like this, my first thought is that it is a big sugar sponsored hit piece.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Try peeling it like an orange.

The worst part for me is that my hands get soaked in oil. And sometimes the oil will squirt out onto my clothes!

 

[WelshBloke]

Try peeling it like an orange. It's a huge hassle, especially with the subskin(?) that's beneath the main peel, but that's my favorite way of eating them, and it's zero waste aside from the skin. I don't often get them though cause of the hassle peeling.

That's how my daughter eats them.

the subskin(?)

Pith.

 

[pmv]

On the fruit juice, you want to stay away from bottled juice with added sugar. Such was my downfall before my T2D diagnosis -- that and Martinelli's Sparkling Cider.

Oh, I never drank the stuff with added sugar - but pure fruit juice of course has loads of sugar, by it's very nature. And hence is highly calorific (damn, I used to drink so much of that stuff - and half my extended family have/had diabetes - I think I probably quit just in time).

Given that the naturally-occuring sugar in fruit-juice (and fruit) is fructose, I even wonder if that makes it _worse_ for you than coke-type drinks with added sucrose, given that as I understand it sucrose is like half-fructose half-glucose, and thus less bad for you than pure fructose. I don't really understand what I've heard about different types of sugars, though.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Given that the naturally-occuring sugar in fruit-juice (and fruit) is fructose, I even wonder if that makes it _worse_ for you than coke-type drinks with added sucrose, given that as I understand it sucrose is like half-fructose half-glucose, and thus less bad for you than pure fructose. I don't really understand what I've heard about different types of sugars, though.

Too much fructose can lead to fatty liver and that is often a pre-existing condition in T2D.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Too much fructose can lead to fatty liver and that is often a pre-existing condition in T2D.

Damn. i like bananas, but I also like grapes and strawberries. I thought that fructose was generally better for you than cane sugar or sucrose.

I guess I'll pour myself some aspartame-lemonade right now . . .

 

[igor_kavinski]

The amount of fructose in fruits isn't an issue because the fiber in the fruit acts as a limiting factor and prevents a normal person from consuming too much. But juiced fruit or concentrated fructose (high fructose corn syrup) is very dangerous.

 

[igor_kavinski]

grapes and strawberries.

Strawberries are also supposed to be good for diabetics.

You could limit yourself to a glass of fruit juice per day. Grape juice one day. Strawberry smoothie the next. Banana smoothie on the third day etc.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Strawberries are also supposed to be good for diabetics.

You could limit yourself to a glass of fruit juice per day. Grape juice one day. Strawberry smoothie the next. Banana smoothie on the third day etc.

With the homemade lemons-to-aspartame-lemonade, my taste buds tell me it needs more lemon juice and less aspartame. But for the required amount of sugar or 1 cup=8oz, I used 1/6 cup of the sweetener. But still slightly too sweet.

Why isn't there some surgical operation where the fatty tissue of the pancreas or liver can be removed? Or is it otherwise impossible to separate the fatty part from the essential part?

Doubling my daily Metformin, I've noticed that I feel better -- pee less. This over about two weeks of upping my daily dose.

Today is a vegetables-cooking day, or I'll otherwise spend more time later feeding my red worms. I'm manufacturing a lot of worm poop. Tomatoes and zucchini are growing like gangbusters . . . .

Anyway, here's a minor discovery. You can buy those pudding cups in six-packs at the grocery -- tapioca, vanilla, butterscotch, etc. Slice up some strawberries and mix with the tapioca or vanilla. Reminding myself to have a banana this morning so the worms only get the peel.