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Related thought: Before I switched majors to CS, I was taking pre-med classes. I remember my anatomy and physiology professor telling us that the pancreas produ

Related thought: Before I switched majors to CS, I was taking pre-med classes. I remember my anatomy and physiology professor telling us that the pancreas produces insulin the moment the tongue tastes something sweet. One of my fears is that these "diet" sodas are causing the drinkers' bodies to release insulin needlessly; in other words, lots of insulin in the bloodstream but no sugar to digest. I wonder if this could lead to insulin resistance and diabetes. The article hints at this [1], but I haven't researched the issue very deeply. I'd be curious if other HNers know something about this. [1] "We previously showed [this enzyme] can prevent obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome [a disease characterized by a combination of obesity, high blood pressure, a metabolic disorder and insulin resistence]. So, we think that aspartame might not work because, even as it is substituting for sugar, it blocks the beneficial aspects of IAP."

jpindar 10y ago
It might be interesting to get a blood glucose monitor and see if someone's blood sugar level changes after drinking a diet soda.
- stormbrew 10y ago
  It's worth noting that diabetics often do this almost as a matter of course. If diet soda were spiking diabetic people's insulin, they would almost certainly know. Some of the most avoid consumers of diet soda I've known are diabetics who checked their blood sugar multiple times a day at least.
  - wlievens 10y ago
    Avid|Avoid makes for a pretty big difference here :-)
    - stormbrew 10y ago
      Avid is what I meant. My cell phone keyboard apparently disagreed. ;)
kolinko 10y ago
I browsed the research on this some time ago. From what I remember the sweet taste is not enough, as some sweeteners were tested and didn't produce the insulin spike. There was only weak evidence for one of the sweeteners causing a similar effect when tested. If I remember correctly, Aspartame didn't cause the spike. The problem is that with most diet sodas they won't tell you which sweeteners they use exactly, and in which proportions.
leetrout 10y ago
Actually there's more evidence for that happening in the lower intestine which can "taste" sweet things. Recent studies have shown that this receptor is also expressed in the extragustatory system, including the gastrointestinal tract, pancreatic β-cells, and glucose-responsive neurons in the brain. In the intestine, the sweet taste receptor regulates secretion of incretin hormones and glucose uptake from the lumen. In β-cells, activation of the sweet taste receptor leads to stimulation of insulin secretion. Collectively, the sweet taste receptor plays an important role in recognition and metabolism of energy sources in the body. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3221019/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3221019/ Also check out https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/your-intestines-can-taste-sugar/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/your-intestines-c... Sidebar: I know calories in / calories out vs diets that restrict food groups (e.g. Carbs) is a holy war but there's a whole wealth of info now that supports avoiding foods that cause an insulin response (which starts up fat storage mode). That might not be healthy for everyone but I've experienced first hand how effective it can be.
tkyjonathan 10y ago
Your body also releases insulin when you eat red meat. i.e., red meat is as insulinogenic as white sugar. It may not raise blood sugar levels as much, certainly, but it does raise insulin.
- grzm 10y ago
  Nit: These two statements are inconsistent: red meat is as insulinogenic as white sugar. It may not raise blood sugar levels as much, certainly It would be more appropriate to rewrite the first as "red meat is also insulinogenic"

jpindar 10y ago

It might be interesting to get a blood glucose monitor and see if someone's blood sugar level changes after drinking a diet soda.

stormbrew 10y ago
It's worth noting that diabetics often do this almost as a matter of course. If diet soda were spiking diabetic people's insulin, they would almost certainly know. Some of the most avoid consumers of diet soda I've known are diabetics who checked their blood sugar multiple times a day at least.
- wlievens 10y ago
  Avid|Avoid makes for a pretty big difference here :-)
  - stormbrew 10y ago
    Avid is what I meant. My cell phone keyboard apparently disagreed. ;)

kolinko 10y ago

I browsed the research on this some time ago. From what I remember the sweet taste is not enough, as some sweeteners were tested and didn't produce the insulin spike. There was only weak evidence for one of the sweeteners causing a similar effect when tested. If I remember correctly, Aspartame didn't cause the spike. The problem is that with most diet sodas they won't tell you which sweeteners they use exactly, and in which proportions.

leetrout 10y ago

Actually there's more evidence for that happening in the lower intestine which can "taste" sweet things. Recent studies have shown that this receptor is also expressed in the extragustatory system, including the gastrointestinal tract, pancreatic β-cells, and glucose-responsive neurons in the brain. In the intestine, the sweet taste receptor regulates secretion of incretin hormones and glucose uptake from the lumen. In β-cells, activation of the sweet taste receptor leads to stimulation of insulin secretion. Collectively, the sweet taste receptor plays an important role in recognition and metabolism of energy sources in the body. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3221019/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3221019/ Also check out https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/your-intestines-can-taste-sugar/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/your-intestines-c... Sidebar: I know calories in / calories out vs diets that restrict food groups (e.g. Carbs) is a holy war but there's a whole wealth of info now that supports avoiding foods that cause an insulin response (which starts up fat storage mode). That might not be healthy for everyone but I've experienced first hand how effective it can be.

tkyjonathan 10y ago

Your body also releases insulin when you eat red meat. i.e., red meat is as insulinogenic as white sugar. It may not raise blood sugar levels as much, certainly, but it does raise insulin.

grzm 10y ago
Nit: These two statements are inconsistent: red meat is as insulinogenic as white sugar. It may not raise blood sugar levels as much, certainly It would be more appropriate to rewrite the first as "red meat is also insulinogenic"