Do artificial sweeteners cause weight gain?

"bigvince" wrote in message
...
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-asl020508.php

Artificial sweeteners linked to weight gain
Cutting the connection between sweets and calories may confuse the
body, making it harder to regulate intake

WASHINGTON -- Want to lose weight? It might help to pour that diet soda
down the drain. Researchers have laboratory evidence that the
widespread use of no-calorie sweeteners may actually make it harder
for people to control their intake and body weight. The findings
appear in the February issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, which is
published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Psychologists at Purdue University's Ingestive Behavior Research
Center reported that relative to rats that ate yogurt sweetened with
glucose (a simple sugar with 15 calories/teaspoon, the same as table
sugar), rats given yogurt sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin later
consumed more calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and
didn't make up for it by cutting back later, all at levels of
statistical significance. ..........

Thanks Vince

I read the article. Thanks for posting.

Wouldn't it be ironic if glucose turned out to be the ideal sweetener for
health, if one uses sweeteners at all?

My impression is that the researchers were making wild guesses as to why
they got the outcome they got. Sometimes in science the outcome of an
experiment transcends theory.

IMHO, this outcome should not be ignored.

Cubit wrote:
"bigvince" wrote in message
...
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-asl020508.php

Artificial sweeteners linked to weight gain
Cutting the connection between sweets and calories may confuse the
body, making it harder to regulate intake

WASHINGTON -- Want to lose weight? It might help to pour that diet soda
down the drain. Researchers have laboratory evidence that the
widespread use of no-calorie sweeteners may actually make it harder
for people to control their intake and body weight. The findings
appear in the February issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, which is
published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Psychologists at Purdue University's Ingestive Behavior Research
Center reported that relative to rats that ate yogurt sweetened with
glucose (a simple sugar with 15 calories/teaspoon, the same as table
sugar), rats given yogurt sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin later
consumed more calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and
didn't make up for it by cutting back later, all at levels of
statistical significance. ..........

Thanks Vince

I read the article. Thanks for posting.

Wouldn't it be ironic if glucose turned out to be the ideal sweetener for
health, if one uses sweeteners at all?


Yes, that would be literally ironic, considering that glucose isn't very
sweet, it rushes directly into the bloodstream and from there into your
cells, it causes a sudden release of insulin, and over the course of
human evolution, we haven't been eating much of it.

Just think how ironic it would be if fructose weren't actually sweet,
and didn't appear in fruit after all!

Glucose is the ideal sweetener for some people: namely, those in
diabetic coma. But that isn't ironic, and they're hardly in any
condition to care what it tastes like.


--
Marshall Price of Miami
Known to Yahoo as d021317c

On Feb 11, 12:09 pm, "Cubit" wrote:
"bigvince" wrote in message
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-asl020508.php

Artificial sweeteners linked to weight gain
Cutting the connection between sweets and calories may confuse the
body, making it harder to regulate intake
I read the article. Thanks for posting.

If you are a rat, it would be very troubling. Possessing a lot more
mental
horsepower than your average rat, it might not be the case. Since
there are
other studies showing that people consume the same amount of solid
food,
regardless of whether they drink regular coke, sugar free, or water.
Again,
people != lab rats (unless you send them to the Pennington center,
but
that's a whole other conversation.

Wouldn't it be ironic if glucose turned out to be the ideal sweetener for
health, if one uses sweeteners at all?

It would be ironic. It would probably lead to novel artificial
sweeteners. I
suspect that this is not the case. Better to not eat sweet in
general.

My impression is that the researchers were making wild guesses as to why
they got the outcome they got. Sometimes in science the outcome of an
experiment transcends theory.

Sometimes it should lead to new theory. And sometimes, that's a lot
like
virginal teenagers in the backseat of Dad's Chevy. There's a lot of
amateurish
groping in the dark. Doesn't mean it's not useful activity.

IMHO, this outcome should not be ignored.

IMHO and in my experience: Drinking soda, regardless of type, is
correlated
with quick highs, addictive behavior and long periods of crappy
feelings.
Regardless of the sugar, the HFCS, the artificial sweetener, or
anything
else, I feel remarkably better after going a few days without colored
fizzy
water. This outcome doesn't necessarily have much to do with it. Just
noting
that cola makes me feel like crap. And I'm mostly done with that.

I took myself off of artificial sweeteners for a while to see if they
made any difference concerning my weight loss. Turns out they don't.

Easy Street wrote:

I took myself off of artificial sweeteners for a while to see if they
made any difference concerning my weight loss. Turns out they don't.

Not for you, but overeating is a complex phenomenon
which includes a psychological component. It wouldn't
be surprising if other people have a different reaction.

Mark Thorson wrote:
Easy Street wrote:

I took myself off of artificial sweeteners for a while to see if they
made any difference concerning my weight loss. Turns out they don't.

Not for you, but overeating is a complex phenomenon
which includes a psychological component. *It wouldn't
be surprising if other people have a different reaction.

I've known some people who drink diet sodas almost to the
exclusion of water. All the folks I know like that are fat. I
don't know if diet sodas work to keep them fat but diet sodas
sure never helped them lose an ounce.

It is known that sugar in quantity is harmful. It is known that
some people have problems with specific artificial sweeteners.
I think treating them mentally as a crutch not as a substitute
is the way to go. Use less

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:05:29 -0500, Marshall Price
wrote:

Cubit wrote:
"bigvince" wrote in message
...
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-asl020508.php

Artificial sweeteners linked to weight gain
Cutting the connection between sweets and calories may confuse the
body, making it harder to regulate intake


I can't speak for anyone else (including those in the cross-posted
newsgroups which I cut out of my reply), but I use saccharine and
Splenda daily with no effect whatsoever on weight loss. There is no
difference whether I use them or don't use them.
---
Peter
270/220/180

Marengo wrote in message ...

I can't speak for anyone else (including those in the cross-posted
newsgroups which I cut out of my reply), but I use saccharine and
Splenda daily with no effect whatsoever on weight loss. There is no
difference whether I use them or don't use them.
---
Peter
270/220/180

I found that to be true too Peter, but I am losing my taste for sweet
things, even artificially sweetened things, so I don't use them often
anymore.

Cheri

"Cheri" gserviceatinreachdotcom writes:

I found that to be true too Peter, but I am losing my taste for sweet
things, even artificially sweetened things, so I don't use them often
anymore.

About once a week, I put a cup or raw cream in a glass and add a cream
soda (the brand that uses Splenda). It's getting so the soda seems so
sweet that I'm going to have to start tossing half of it. Or maybe just
drink the cream as-is; that's pretty good too.



--
Aaron -- 285/253/200 -- aaron.baugher.biz

Doug Freyburger wrote:
Mark Thorson wrote:
Easy Street wrote:

I took myself off of artificial sweeteners for a while to see if they
made any difference concerning my weight loss. Turns out they don't.
Not for you, but overeating is a complex phenomenon
which includes a psychological component. It wouldn't
be surprising if other people have a different reaction.

I've known some people who drink diet sodas almost to the
exclusion of water. All the folks I know like that are fat. I
don't know if diet sodas work to keep them fat but diet sodas
sure never helped them lose an ounce.

It is known that sugar in quantity is harmful. It is known that
some people have problems with specific artificial sweeteners.
I think treating them mentally as a crutch not as a substitute
is the way to go. Use less

I'm lean, but I like diet soda. I sweeten my tea with saccharine, too.
Someday, perhaps I'll learn better, but for now, it doesn't seem to
bother me.

--
Marshall Price of Miami
Known to Yahoo as d021317c