Diet Soda May Prompt Food Cravings, Especially in Women and People With Obesity

NPR ^ | October 7, 2021 | Allison Aubrey

[Old Yeller]

Fat chance of that happening.

[mountainfolk]

I always have diet Pepsi, or diet coke, with my fast food order. I am not overweight by any stretch. I have not drunk non diet sodas since the diet sodas came out. To me, they are simply good. I do watch my weight but if diet sodas are not available, I drink water. I dislike canned sodas of any kind. People with a need to limit their caloric intake are on the right track when they skip those 100 plus sodas. They add up especially for those who drink multiple numbers of non diet sodas daily. Best to be kind and give the overweight folks the benefit of the doubt.

[minnesota_bound]

I drink many cans/bottles a week and I do not gain weight.
I eat ice cream and bread and can gain weight. Especially bread.

[9422WMR]

Diet sodas don’t work. You only see fat people drinking them.
Rimshot!

[seowulf]

I think diet soda doesn’t create a craving for calories as much as it does a rationalization.

If I have a diet Coke with zero calories, I can trade in those calories I saved for an extra Big Mac.

They always wanted two Big Macs.

[cranked]

Lulz, so true.

[Prince of Space]

I drink at least 1 Sparkling Ice Lemonade a day. No sugar added and really tasty with 0 calories.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Yep, I read this years ago.

[Wissa]

I lost 50 lbs over last 7 months. Stopped the diet Mt. Dew. Twice I started drinking it again and wham the cravings for junk food and sweets roared back.

Insulin is dumped into the bloodstream when you consume artificial sweeteners, just like it is when you consume sugar. Among the functions of insulin is taking the glucose out of the bloodstream and getting it into the cells in the body. Insulin doesn't know if your blood glucose level is high or low. It just knows what it's job is. Whatever glucose is in the blood stream will be moved into cells.

So you increase the feelings of hunger due to low blood sugar. Your blood sugar gets lower if you drink diet soda than it would have if you had consumed water, or unsweetened coffee or tea, or nothing at all. Drinking diet soda, or using artificial sweeteners including stevia, leads to eating larger amounts of whatever you usually eat, and probably larger amounts of foods that are higher in sugars, since your body will produce hormones telling your brain that your blood glucose is low.

[jughandle]

You bet it does!

[Osage Orange]

Plus cheese and hot peppers!!..and more beer!!

[Responsibility2nd]

The same thought always goes through my head: What the hell is the point?

——————————————

Apart from the fact you may see these women eating fattening foods at McDonald’s, perhaps the reason why they’re drinking diet sodas is because they prefer the taste over nasty tasting corn syrup sodas.

I’m like a lot of people who prefer the taste of a diet cola over a regular cola.

[hinckley buzzard]

To each his own. It’s just that diet drinks don’t help lose weight.

[Wissa]

People with a need to limit their caloric intake are on the right track when they skip those 100 plus sodas. They add up especially for those who drink multiple numbers of non diet sodas daily.

20 years ago I was classified as "obese". For a long time I had drank about a 12 pack a day of regular coke or mountain dew. I switched to drinking a 12 pack a day of diet mountain dew. That had no effect on my weight, but the change was worthwhile in eliminating the need of multiple new fillings every six months when I went to the dentist.

In the past ten years I've given up all sodas, among other changes in my diet, and have now got my weight down to the point that I'm just below the "overweight" category. Down about 50 pounds from where I was back when I was drinking the diet mountain dew.

[Jamestown1630]

I’m not sure I buy the ‘science’. It may be true for some people, but not all.

[mountainfolk]

Congratulations. Not so easy to start the weight loss but worth the effort. I also like ice tea with a sweetener for regular meals and found that all of the small adjustments made to control weight gain, mostly portion control, kept my appetite satisfied.

[Mr Rogers]

I’ve continued drinking a LOT of Diet Coke or Pepsi while on a keto/IF diet. Down 30 lbs and have kept it off for 3+ years. Have less belly fat now than when I was 20...and I’m on the far side of 60.

[Jamestown1630]

I’ve always liked what I call ‘fuzzy water’ - the carbonated seltzer water. I buy the lemon-flavored kind.

[Albion Wilde]

Have at it, femnazis!

[Getready]

I wonder about any report that states..”the insulin absorbs the sugar”...someone dun know nothing ‘bout insulin...