4 ms·

I know several people who’ve undergone bariatric surgery. One of the post-surgery ‘rules’ is … “Don’t drink your calories.”

hombre_fatal 2y ago
It's odd to me that zero-calorie sodas aren't the default by now.
- tasty_freeze 2y ago
  I used to drink a lot of soda but stopped 15 years ago and have had a total of three or four cans since. I switched to unsweetened green tea instead of a zero-calorie soda because I don't like the taste of artificial sweeteners, and I am somewhat suspicious of the unknown long-term consequences of their use.
  - busyant 2y ago
    > I am somewhat suspicious of the unknown long-term consequences of their use. Can you elaborate on what you mean? You're suspicious that sweetened drinks are more harmful than advertised? Less harmful? Something else?
    - gitaarik 2y ago
      A lot of sweeterers used are synthatically created, and their long-term health effects are not well studied. They could cause various diseases, or could confuse your metablic system, because your body thinks it is getting calories because the food is sweet, but then the calories are not there so you could actually get an energy drop from it.
    - tasty_freeze 2y ago
      sorry, I didn't check my comment history to see if there were any replies. Aspertame, stevia, whatever else have been around for a just a few decades and in heavy use for less than that. My fear is it isn't just adding sweetness but doing other metabolic things we don't yet appreciate.
    - gdjskslsuhkso 2y ago
      Aspartame metabolises into methanol. Sugar alcohols give you the squirts. Lots of them have downsides. Allulose seems promising, I'd love to find some pop sweetened with it.
- loeg 2y ago
  The older diet sodas definitely didn't taste like sugar but the new ones (Coke Zero) are pretty great? Idk, I almost never drink full sugar soda but I'm a fan of Coke Zero.
  - bitwize 2y ago
    Coke Zero still has aspartame and so still has a bit of that "aspar-tang" to its taste. But there's something in its formulation that masks that somewhat and makes it tastier than Diet Coke. The advertisements used to say "Diet Dr. Pepper DOES taste more like regular Dr. Pepper!" and it's true: something about the spices? they add to Dr. Pepper causes the aspartame flavor to blend right in and be less noticeable. I drink sugar-free (or occasionally, low-sugar variants like Olipop) soda from time to time but I find I'm drinking way less soda -- and everything else except maybe water and coffee -- these days. Being on a dietary protocol for early T2D has brought my liquid cravings way, way down.
- carwyn 2y ago
  They are in some countries. The sugar tax in the UK quickly led to many places only selling non sugar variants or charging a premium for the sugared versions.

hombre_fatal 2y ago

It's odd to me that zero-calorie sodas aren't the default by now.

tasty_freeze 2y ago
I used to drink a lot of soda but stopped 15 years ago and have had a total of three or four cans since. I switched to unsweetened green tea instead of a zero-calorie soda because I don't like the taste of artificial sweeteners, and I am somewhat suspicious of the unknown long-term consequences of their use.
- busyant 2y ago
  > I am somewhat suspicious of the unknown long-term consequences of their use. Can you elaborate on what you mean? You're suspicious that sweetened drinks are more harmful than advertised? Less harmful? Something else?
  - gitaarik 2y ago
    A lot of sweeterers used are synthatically created, and their long-term health effects are not well studied. They could cause various diseases, or could confuse your metablic system, because your body thinks it is getting calories because the food is sweet, but then the calories are not there so you could actually get an energy drop from it.
  - tasty_freeze 2y ago
    sorry, I didn't check my comment history to see if there were any replies. Aspertame, stevia, whatever else have been around for a just a few decades and in heavy use for less than that. My fear is it isn't just adding sweetness but doing other metabolic things we don't yet appreciate.
  - gdjskslsuhkso 2y ago
    Aspartame metabolises into methanol. Sugar alcohols give you the squirts. Lots of them have downsides. Allulose seems promising, I'd love to find some pop sweetened with it.
loeg 2y ago
The older diet sodas definitely didn't taste like sugar but the new ones (Coke Zero) are pretty great? Idk, I almost never drink full sugar soda but I'm a fan of Coke Zero.
- bitwize 2y ago
  Coke Zero still has aspartame and so still has a bit of that "aspar-tang" to its taste. But there's something in its formulation that masks that somewhat and makes it tastier than Diet Coke. The advertisements used to say "Diet Dr. Pepper DOES taste more like regular Dr. Pepper!" and it's true: something about the spices? they add to Dr. Pepper causes the aspartame flavor to blend right in and be less noticeable. I drink sugar-free (or occasionally, low-sugar variants like Olipop) soda from time to time but I find I'm drinking way less soda -- and everything else except maybe water and coffee -- these days. Being on a dietary protocol for early T2D has brought my liquid cravings way, way down.
carwyn 2y ago
They are in some countries. The sugar tax in the UK quickly led to many places only selling non sugar variants or charging a premium for the sugared versions.