Quote:
Originally Posted by danidance
I'm not sure how that would work. Sodas and obesity - yeah - diet sodas?
I'm drinking crystal light in water now. It's a good transitional drink.
|
I'm not so sure crystal light is an improvement over diet sodas. The issue is NOT calories or fat, obviously. It's something about aspartame (the sweetener used in a number of sugar-free items, including sodas, coffee sweeteners, and probably Crystal Light) and how it behaves in the body. I don't remember the details, but I think doctors suspect it does something like stimulating the insulin response, and messes up the body's ability to discern when it has had enough to eat. Anyway, I'd urge anyone who is using aspartame as a substitute for sugar to do some research on it before continuing to use it.
Another sugar substitute to beware of is sorbitol. That gets used in stuff like sugar-free gummi bears, sugar-free cookies/wafers, etc. Sorbitol is a naturally-occurring ingredient in prunes - it's the active ingredient that makes prunes act as a laxative. You can tell from the package whether it has sorbitol or one of its chemically close things, because it'll say on the package that it could have a "laxative effect" in some people. In fact, sorbitol is actually used in at least one brand name of commercial laxative. So, beware of those sugar-free cookies and candies!