Artificial Sweenters??

I visited my PCP yesterday to talk about results from blood tests - everything is fine. My H1AC tests have been in the normal range for 5 years, so he is taking the Type 2 Diabetes off my chart - Yeah!!
But we discussed ways for me to eat better - he did ask if I drank alot of sweetened drinks - told him no - I only drink Crystal Lite, Propel and Fruit 2O. He said since I was previously diabetic that I should really watch those types of drinks as even though they aren't full sugar, they are sweetened artifically and my body can't tell the difference. Going to give them up for awhile to see if it makes a difference, as I get almost all of my liquids via those 3 items.

Has anyone else given up Crystal Lite, and other artifically sweetened drinks??
What have your results been? Thanks in advance.

I haven't given up artificial sweeteners but it seems to me that if you H1AC test results are showing normal and you're using artificial sweeteners, how is it that your body doesn't know the difference? I'm just thinking those two statements don't make sense to me. There are some sweeteners that mimic sugar like Stevia and Splenda but...I'm not sure all of them are foolign your body.

I think he meant that my body recognizes it as a glucose/sugar and since I could still be insulin resistant it could store the glucose as fat. At least that's how it was explained to me.

I use Truvia as a sweetener.

As for the body not being able to tell the difference, I don't buy that.  For any sort of glycemic response you would need Glucose and the artificial sweeteners do not contain Glucose.  Well, some do...kinda (read on)

I can think of only two possibilities:

1)  Reactive Hypoglycemia.  This is caused, from what I understand, because your body is adapted to pumping out lots of insulin in response to the enormous meals you used to eat.  With the smaller meals you end up with the excess insulin sopping up the available glucose.

2)  Maltodextrin.  Artificial sweeteners like Splenda a bulked with maltodextrin so they measure like sugar (remember Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar...try using 1/600 of a teaspoon!).  Maltodextrin is a chain of glucose molecules which your body WILL break down and I can see that affecting blood glucose.  It tends not to spike Blood Sugar because it takes longer to break down the Maltodextrin that it would sucrose (regular sugar).  This is also why Splenda has calories (96 per cup, IIRC)

Not sure how to spell it but it has a lot of aspertain in them. It can make you feel like you are having a heart attack. That is what someone told me. 

 

Amy

You may be right on the aspertame(I can't spell it either!) ...Sometimes when I drink Crystal Light drink mixes on an empty stomach, I get a rush sort of like a sugar rush...alittle like a carb rush...Strange that I do...