THE MYSTERY OF DIET SODA AND THE INTERNET
In the past few weeks, I have explored the entire internet! Yep, from A to Z. The truth that I have obtained is this… You can find strong arguments on either side of what you are searching for in regard to answers. I have found pages and pages of posts about how terrible diet soda is for human consumption AND pages and pages of the opposite. How do I (and you) determine the truth about diet soda?
HISTORY OF DIET SODA
First a little history of diet soda for perspective. Diet Coke launched in 1982 and rode the shirttails of a boom in obesity rising in America. It wanted to target the market of consumers who were focused on calorie counting. This was the “standard” way Americans were taught to reduce their weight. The marketing department of major soda manufactures around the world were thrilled when aspartame was approved for use in food and/or food like products.
This was not the first launch of a “diet” soda though. Several companies had launched other “diet” no calorie sodas throughout the 50’s and 60’s using artificial sweeteners such as cyclamates and saccharin. Cyclamate was banned in 1970 due to the results of studies that it caused cancer in lab rats. The industry turned to saccharin but the public said it tasted to “chemical” and later the FDA banned the use of saccharin as well. Later, in 1991, that ban was lifted but the industry had already turned to using aspartame as the leading diet soda sweetener for low-calorie drinks. Again, the focus was on calorie restriction and not necessarily on the restriction of sweeteners. Most soda companies now have a variety of drinks available using other sweeteners such as stevia, sucralose and acesulfame potassium.
THE BIG ANSWER
There are many studies done on the effects of artificial sweeteners but let’s just focus on aspartame right now. I am not going over every study found on the entire internet, you can if you want, but I want to talk about some findings. It has been stated that even artificial sweeteners have been shown to increase depression and addiction in people over a ten year use. Partly because our brains still think it is sugar because our taste buds tell us it is sweet. Our brain then gets a dopamine response and we crave more and more. Just like the sugar “roller coaster” that your brain loves. See more about that here https://kentuckyketocoach.com/2018/11/25/insulin-resistance-part-1/.
Aspartame as well as other alternative sweeteners, not only trigger our craving for more sugar, we tend to reach for more sugar that is actual sugar. We will crave a candy bar, donut and/or cake to satisfy what we are trying to trick our brain out of having. In other words, we still make a bad choice of food intake due to trying to “fake out” our bodies. It backfires and causes MORE craving for sugary foods. This is considered a “rebound” effect. How is your willpower? Are you prepared with other keto safe foods? Keto friendly desserts are the best choice to have on hand if your willpower is slacking. My favorite right now is keto pecan snowballs https://kentuckyketocoach.com/2018/11/23/keto-pecan-snowballs/.
It is true that aspartame has a zero on the glycemic index and should not effect your blood glucose levels as well as insulin levels. The choice to consume diet soda should also consider the other ingredients you are putting in your body. The use of phosphoric acid is necessary to look at when making your decision. I won’t go into massive details but from what I found, I will not consume it.
THE END OF THE DAY
It is our freedom of choice to make for ourselves whether or not to consume diet sodas. For the keto lifestyle, I think having the occasional diet soda will not throw you out of ketosis. For me, I am three years out of any soda consumption at all and the carbonation upsets my tummy. The choice is yours, keeping in mind your goal, willpower and mindset.
My choice of “soda” replacement is here https://amzn.to/2EZxytH .There are many from this brand and you can find once that are sparkling as well as still.