werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (07/17/85)
This has nothing to do with the harmful effects of any sweetener. It is a questioning of the rationale behind using any kind of sweetener. Several years back, some scientists let some laboratory rats have all the water or sugar-sweetened water they wanted. They all chose the sugar water. (Most humans would, too.) Given a choice between sugar water and sacharine water, they consumed them equally, which showed that rats, unlike certain humans (myself included) couldn't taste the difference between the two. Then they divided the rats into three groups: Water, Sugar-water, and sacharrine water. As it turned, they first two groups stayed a normal weight, while the rats on sacharrine all gained weight -- quite a lot of weight. The question arose: Why should rats drinking saccharine-water, which contains almost no calories, gain weight? What is going on? The answer was as follows: the saccharine was fooling the body. The mouth tasted 'Sweet.' and sent a message to the gut via the brain that food was coming. Insulin poured out, lowering the blood sugar, in anticipation of more to come. With sugar water, it did. With sacharrine water, the expected calories never came. The blood sugar stayed low. The brain, in response, generated a hunger reflex, and the rats ate more. (The rats who drank sugar-water ate less then the ones who drank just water, which is exactly what would be expected.) A similar phenemonon was demonstrated in humans, who in addition, have the added reasoning ability to rationalize, "Well, I guess I can have one more piece of cake since it's a Tab and not a Coke, etc." One conclusion that could be drawn from this study is that there is no reason ever to drink diet soda, especially in the context of a diet. (Inspired by an old article in _Harvard Magazine_'s Science Watch section entitled "Sweet Cheat Saccharin.) -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner "The world is just a straight man for you sometimes"
glenn@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Glenn C. Scott) (07/27/85)
In article <1799@aecom.UUCP> Craig Werner describes a test of some type where laboratory test with rats and sweeteners. > ... the saccharine was fooling the body. The mouth tasted 'Sweet.' and sent > a message to the gut via the brain that food was coming. Insulin poured out, > lowering the blood sugar, in anticipation of more to come. With sugar water, > it did. With sacharrine water, the expected calories never came. The blood > sugar stayed low. The brain, in response, generated a hunger reflex, and the > rats ate more. (The rats who drank sugar-water ate less then the ones who > drank just water, which is exactly what would be expected.) > A similar phenemonon was demonstrated in humans, ... I have a friend who is diabetic (hypo). She cannot, as a rule, drink regular sodas. She can drink diet sodas. The above mentioned laboratory test makes me think that both regular and diet sodas would have the same effect. As I understand it when she drinks a regular soda her body produces more insulin that is needed and the result overcompensates for the increase in her blood sugar level and causes her blood sugar level to drop below her usual (albiet low) blood sugar level. This causes problems for her. If a diet soda, which tastes sweet, causes insulin to pour into the blood and lowering the blood sugar wouldn't the effect be the same as a regular soda ? Glenn Can someone please enlighten me ?
hutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison) (07/30/85)
In article <2202@sdcrdcf.UUCP> glenn@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Glenn C. Scott) writes: >In article <1799@aecom.UUCP> Craig Werner describes a test of some type >where laboratory test with rats and sweeteners. > >> ... the saccharine was fooling the body. The mouth tasted 'Sweet.' and sent >> a message to the gut via the brain that food was coming. Insulin poured out, >> lowering the blood sugar, in anticipation of more to come. With sugar water, >> it did. With sacharrine water, the expected calories never came. The blood >> sugar stayed low. The brain, in response, generated a hunger reflex, and the >> rats ate more. (The rats who drank sugar-water ate less then the ones who >> drank just water, which is exactly what would be expected.) > >> A similar phenemonon was demonstrated in humans, ... > > I have a friend who is diabetic (hypo). She cannot, as a rule, drink regular >sodas. She can drink diet sodas. The above mentioned laboratory test makes >me think that both regular and diet sodas would have the same effect. > > As I understand it when she drinks a regular soda her body produces more >insulin that is needed and the result overcompensates for the increase in her >blood sugar level and causes her blood sugar level to drop below her usual >(albiet low) blood sugar level. This causes problems for her. If a diet soda, >which tastes sweet, causes insulin to pour into the blood and lowering the >blood sugar wouldn't the effect be the same as a regular soda ? > > >Glenn > >Can someone please enlighten me ? Your friend will definitely needc to cut out the diet sodas if she is or ever has been a rat. On the other hand, most of the diabetics I have talked to inform me that they don't get an insulin rise after a diet soda, even when there is caffeine in the soda. I recall a possibly hearsay claim that the presence of caffeine stimulates a rise in insulin. Maybe that mechanism is also damaged in the diabetic? Hutch
werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (08/01/85)
> I have a friend who is diabetic (hypo). She cannot, as a rule, drink regular > sodas. She can drink diet sodas. The above mentioned laboratory test makes > me think that both regular and diet sodas would have the same effect. > > As I understand it when she drinks a regular soda her body produces more > insulin that is needed and the result overcompensates for the increase in her > blood sugar level and causes her blood sugar level to drop below her usual > (albiet low) blood sugar level. This causes problems for her. > > Can someone please enlighten me ? The problem in Diabetes is not that the body makes too much Insulin, but rather that it 1) does not make enough, or 2) it does make enough but the cells are insensitive to it. Since Insulin causes Glucose to be absorbed from the blood into the cells (this is a generalization), Insulin lowers blood Sugar. In Diabetes, the problem is too much Sugar in the blood -- hyperglycemia. A problem in TREATING diabetes is that, despite the best efforts, replacement of what the body lacks is not as fine a control as a healthy body, so in trying to lower blood sugar, the medication may cause it to go too low. I believe this is where the confusion arose above. Incidentally, the term 'diabetes' has nothing to do with sugar regulation at all. It actually derives from the fact that the kidney cannot not reasbsorb all of the sugar in the blood and it leaves in the Urine, carrying water with it. It used to be diagnosed by excessive urine and by a sweet taste of the urine (and a generation of Doctors breathes a collective sigh of relief that this is no longer the diagnostic method of choice.) -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner "The world is just a straight man for you sometimes"