Push Ups, Sit Ups, and Maybe No Juice

We are 7 months in to #newyearnewme and if you aren't quite seeing the results you want, there are a number of things that could be contributing to that including, but not limited to, diet. Maybe that diet drink is the cause, or maybe it is not doing anything at all. Or maybe you just need to drink more water, exercise, and sleep more. You read that excerpt correctly - the focus of this post will be diet drinks.

"To drink or not to drink?" that is the question. You may have been told growing up that diet sodas were terrible for you and would result in some form of liver, stomach, or bladder cancer. However, like the disinformation concerning autism and vaccines, there's a semi-misleading study that has led us to believe that all diet drinks will give you cancer. Well, specifically saccharin. There was a study done in the 1970s that linked saccharin to bladder cancer in lab rats. Something to consider is that the rats received an unholy amount of saccharin considering their size, so of course there were observed negative effects. In fact, because of said study, products containing saccharin had health warning labels that saccharin may be hazardous towards your health.

Is any of that true? Are artificial sweeteners really bad for you? Well, in short, not exactly. Artificial sweeteners have been observed to help with short term weight loss and yes, that is a direct relationship to the calories in artificial sweeteners versus sugar. They also can help with carbohydrate-based diseases and disorders such as diabetes. Artificial sweeteners are not carbohydrates, so they won't spike your blood sugar like, well, sugar will. That is a double-edged sword though, because insulin levels do play a part in appetite and not having blood sugar levels change could result in a feeling of "false hunger" and overeating. In other words, it is probably best to stick with water for weight loss, but if you are trying to get a handle on your sugar addiction, an artificial sweetener may help.

Speaking of sugar, "traditional" cane sugar is not found in as many products as it used to: it has been replaced with high fructose corn syrup. There are a number of reasons that high fructose corn syrup has taken over them and one of the largest ones is cost. Corn is cheaper to import and export, and the tariff on corn is not as high as those on sugar. High fructose corn syrup is most commonly used in soft drinks but can be found in a variety of products of course as a sugar substitute. High fructose corn syrup has been linked with obesity, unlike artificial sweeteners, so it may be worth checking the label of your food and beverages to see exactly what it is that you are consuming if you are trying to make "healthier" food choices.

In terms of weight loss and health management, moderation is key. Yes, even water should be consumed with moderation because there are very real health issues that can happen with overhydration. So, when choosing what product to purchase and/or which artificial sweetener or sugar substitute to buy remember that they are not the "end all, be all" to weight loss/weight management and living a healthier lifestyle. Though not low calorie, natural sugars, such as those found in fruits and vegetables, are probably the way to go over a sugar substitute.