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> The main finding from an admittedly quick look is that drinking artificially sweet soda may encourage people to eat more calories and gain weight. If you're c

by dxhdr 6y ago

> The main finding from an admittedly quick look is that drinking artificially sweet soda may encourage people to eat more calories and gain weight. If you're controlling your calorie intake then that's irrelevant. It's relevant because controlling caloric intake without relying on the bodies natural hunger signals seems to be close to impossible for most people. The alternative is to ignore your gnawing stomach all day and carry a food scale to every meal. Only the most dedicated athletes can sustain a routine like that. Everyone else eats until they are satiated and will gain weight. There's an obesity epidemic in the US and discounting mounting evidence of a substance modifying our eating habits in a potentially unhealthy way as "unsubstantiated woo" strikes me as counterproductive. We should be taking a very critical look at the American diet as something is wrong.

fossuser 6y ago
On a level of societal risk I understand and agree with you. On an individual level where diet soda is replacing regular soda, or where diet soda is used as a treat when controlling caloric intake otherwise I find the generic “diet soda is bad for you” to be misleading enough to be wrong. The “woo” is that usually it’s not some commentary about artificial sweeteners increasing caloric intake, but some nonsense about artificial sweeteners being unnatural or causing cancer, etc. it’s not too dissimilar from 5G warnings or anti-vaxx.
- hntrader 6y ago
  Diet soda (aspartame) does nasty work to the brain. It's best to avoid totally. Large observational study referenced in this article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/the-red-light-district/201606/diet-soft-drinks-linked-depression https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/the-red-light-distri... Some decent primary sources in this article, specifically interventional animal model studies: https://ketodietapp.com/Blog/lchf/artificial-sweeteners-the-not-so-sweet-truth-about-zero-calorie-sweeteners https://ketodietapp.com/Blog/lchf/artificial-sweeteners-the-... This interventional study was ended early on ethical grounds because the depression caused by diet soda was too severe: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8373935/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8373935/

by dxhdr 6y ago

fossuser 6y ago

On a level of societal risk I understand and agree with you. On an individual level where diet soda is replacing regular soda, or where diet soda is used as a treat when controlling caloric intake otherwise I find the generic “diet soda is bad for you” to be misleading enough to be wrong. The “woo” is that usually it’s not some commentary about artificial sweeteners increasing caloric intake, but some nonsense about artificial sweeteners being unnatural or causing cancer, etc. it’s not too dissimilar from 5G warnings or anti-vaxx.

hntrader 6y ago
Diet soda (aspartame) does nasty work to the brain. It's best to avoid totally. Large observational study referenced in this article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/the-red-light-district/201606/diet-soft-drinks-linked-depression https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/the-red-light-distri... Some decent primary sources in this article, specifically interventional animal model studies: https://ketodietapp.com/Blog/lchf/artificial-sweeteners-the-not-so-sweet-truth-about-zero-calorie-sweeteners https://ketodietapp.com/Blog/lchf/artificial-sweeteners-the-... This interventional study was ended early on ethical grounds because the depression caused by diet soda was too severe: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8373935/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8373935/