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I broadly agree that we americans consume too much sugar but I'm worried that many will find drinking artificial sweeteners as detrimental as I have. Somewhere

by smoyer 9y ago

I broadly agree that we americans consume too much sugar but I'm worried that many will find drinking artificial sweeteners as detrimental as I have. Somewhere I have a link to a source article with references to the study behind this article but alas, I'm not finding it in my Pinboard - https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/01/14/artificial-sweeteners-dont-fool-your-brain.aspx https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/01/.... What about all our other over-sweetened junk foods? What about all our fried snack-foods?

Keverw 9y ago
Good point. At least sugar is natural instead of a bunch of man made chemicals.
- drchickensalad 9y ago
  Soft drinks are very refined sugar. Quite different from natural. Also implying natural is better.
  - baq 9y ago
    'natural' usually comes with fiber, which makes it's digestion completely different.
    - SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
      Refined sugar (either HFCS or crystallized cane) doesn't come with fiber.
- icebraining 9y ago
  The sugar used in drinks - especially in the US - is far from natural. There's no HFCS in nature.
  - Keverw 9y ago
    Yep. I would prefer if they went with just regular cane sugar instead but I know some drinks do have a version with that now.
    - senectus1 9y ago
      Australia overwhelmingly uses cane sugar, but we still have plenty of obesity. I think its less to do with the type of sugar consumed... and more about how much we consume.
  - calvano915 9y ago
    HFCS is chemically identical to naturally occurring fructose and glucose (high concentration of simple sugars). Not advocating to consume it, but the possible harms of consumption have to do with simple sugar metabolism, and its consequences, and not the origins of the substance.
froindt 9y ago
I've posted this before, but I'd like to bring it up again for those who are unaware. -- As a general note, the validity of claims from Mercola should be taken with a large grain of salt. He publicly holds a number of frankly dangerous opinions which he bestows upon anyone who reads his website, and has made many millions of dollars from such claims and tactics. Among other things: * Questioning whether HIV is the cause of AIDS, claiming manifestations of AIDS (including opportunistic infections and death) may be the result of "psychological stress" brought on by the belief that HIV is harmful. * Claims that microwaving food alters its chemistry, despite consensus that microwaving food does not adversely affect nutrient content compared to conventionally prepared food. * Claiming cancer risks arise from mobile phone radiation, which is pseudoscientific. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mercola https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mercola
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
dawhizkid 9y ago
Isn't diet soda consumption also declining in favor of seltzer water (i.e. La Croix?). I thought the reason why La Croix has exploded over the past 2 years or so is because canned carbonated water is the best no calorie/no artificial sweetened alternative to soda.
- JeanMarcS 9y ago
  Probably unrelated, but I spent 2 weeks in US early December and had trouble finding a tasty sparkling water (most tasted awful) until I randomly found LaCroix and really liked it. At home I’m using a soda stream machine to sparkle my water (mostly tap water), and I found in LaCroix the equivalent of what I drink mostly. So I think if it exploded as you say, the taste is involved. My 2 cents.

by smoyer 9y ago

Keverw 9y ago

Good point. At least sugar is natural instead of a bunch of man made chemicals.

drchickensalad 9y ago
Soft drinks are very refined sugar. Quite different from natural. Also implying natural is better.
- baq 9y ago
  'natural' usually comes with fiber, which makes it's digestion completely different.
  - SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
    Refined sugar (either HFCS or crystallized cane) doesn't come with fiber.
icebraining 9y ago
The sugar used in drinks - especially in the US - is far from natural. There's no HFCS in nature.
- Keverw 9y ago
  Yep. I would prefer if they went with just regular cane sugar instead but I know some drinks do have a version with that now.
  - senectus1 9y ago
    Australia overwhelmingly uses cane sugar, but we still have plenty of obesity. I think its less to do with the type of sugar consumed... and more about how much we consume.
- calvano915 9y ago
  HFCS is chemically identical to naturally occurring fructose and glucose (high concentration of simple sugars). Not advocating to consume it, but the possible harms of consumption have to do with simple sugar metabolism, and its consequences, and not the origins of the substance.

froindt 9y ago

I've posted this before, but I'd like to bring it up again for those who are unaware. -- As a general note, the validity of claims from Mercola should be taken with a large grain of salt. He publicly holds a number of frankly dangerous opinions which he bestows upon anyone who reads his website, and has made many millions of dollars from such claims and tactics. Among other things: * Questioning whether HIV is the cause of AIDS, claiming manifestations of AIDS (including opportunistic infections and death) may be the result of "psychological stress" brought on by the belief that HIV is harmful. * Claims that microwaving food alters its chemistry, despite consensus that microwaving food does not adversely affect nutrient content compared to conventionally prepared food. * Claiming cancer risks arise from mobile phone radiation, which is pseudoscientific. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mercola https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mercola

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

dawhizkid 9y ago

Isn't diet soda consumption also declining in favor of seltzer water (i.e. La Croix?). I thought the reason why La Croix has exploded over the past 2 years or so is because canned carbonated water is the best no calorie/no artificial sweetened alternative to soda.

JeanMarcS 9y ago
Probably unrelated, but I spent 2 weeks in US early December and had trouble finding a tasty sparkling water (most tasted awful) until I randomly found LaCroix and really liked it. At home I’m using a soda stream machine to sparkle my water (mostly tap water), and I found in LaCroix the equivalent of what I drink mostly. So I think if it exploded as you say, the taste is involved. My 2 cents.