Comment on What the hell even is Diet Coke?
AnyOldName3@lemmy.world 3 months agoAspartame is very mildly carcinogenic. An equivalent amount of sugar is much more carcinogenic, and is harmful in other ways, too. If you have to have a can of cola, diet is the healthier choice.
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
That last part isn’t true.
You can’t ignore the effects of artificial sweeteners on insulin levels and the fallout from that.
Truth is that drinking over sweetened water is just not healthy at all, it’s a matter of picking what problems you want to get from them
doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
Based on a quick google search, the jury is out on whether artificial sweeteners affect blood sugar and insulin at all.
A study from the National Library of Medicine says they do but cites no source and the study itself isn’t reaaly about that; it does demonstrate that diabetics that drink artificial sweeteners have higher insulin resistance, but is that a causal relationship? If so, which is causing which?
The mayo clinic says straight up that artificial sweeteners don’t affect blood sugar at all.
There is a response to release insulin purely on tasting something sweet that’s been demonstrated in some mammals using artificial sweeteners, but nobody’s been able to consistently reproduce it in humans.
So… Eh? If there’s any kind of scientific consensus on this it isn’t clear to the layperson. Maybe I’ll start measuring my blood sugar before and after having a coke zero just to see for myself.
AnyOldName3@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Personally, I can ignore the effects of artificial sweeteners on insulin levels as they, like everything else, have no effect, and my insulin levels are only affected by when I inject it. I’m type 1 diabetic. When people make incorrect claims based on effects that aren’t reproducible or weren’t statistically significant in the first place about the safety of sweeteners, it causes direct problems for me. I’ve had bartenders mess up my blood sugar levels by lying about serving diet drinks because they think they’re dangerous. Plus, if the people who push for artificial sweeteners to be banned had their way, there are plenty of things I couldn’t ever eat or drink again.