Are Artificial Sweeteners Making Us Fat?

Since 2012, when I started my weight-loss journey, I have heard that drinking diet soda and/or using artificial sweeteners can actually make you gain weight because it causes you to consume more calories and crave sweets.

To be honest, I ignored this information and continued to drink my diet drinks and use artificial sweeteners in my cooking.  I lost 65 pounds between 2012 and 2013.  I then went on to compete in several bodybuilding competitions during 2013-2014.  As I prepped for these competitions my coach told me no more soda.  I could have black coffee and I could use artificial sweeteners, but no more than three packs a day.  For the most part, I followed these instructions and did well. I never asked any questions.  I just followed my coaches instructions.  In the months after my last competition, November  2014, I put on approximately 20 pounds.  This is not uncommon because being at "stage" or "competition" weight is not realistic or healthy.  Since then I have unsuccessfully been working on taking off approximately 10-12 pounds.

Since I am an active person and work out regularly, I know my failure at losing this weight has to be tied to my nutrition and metabolism. 

This picture shows me prior to 2012 nearing almost 200 pounds and at one of my competitions following losing my weight. 

As a coach that helps others to lose weight and get healthy.  It is important to me to stay current with the research on how to safely help people  lose weight and to keep it off.  I want my clients to embrace their new lifestyle and feel energized and better everyday. 

When this information of artificial sweeteners and weight gain crossed my path again, I decided to dig into the research a little more to gain clarity on the topic.  

What Happens When We Eat Sugar?

When we eat sugar, whether it be a sugar laden triple layer chocolate cake or a piece of fruit, simply put, two things happen.

First, our sensory preceptors, our taste buds, light up and tell our brain that a little piece of heaven, I mean, sweetness, has entered our mouth and has landed on our tongue.  

Secondly, our brain sends a signal to the mid-brain center that participates in the food reward response.  When the brain receives this signal, dopamine, a neurotransmitter commonly associated with reward and pleasure, is released and Leptin, a hormone that lets the brain know it's full is released.  This is why the first few bites of the cake are heavenly and bites 3, 4, and 5 start feeling like a bit much.  When finally we put the fork down and say, enough. 

As you can see, these two steps are important because they regulate how we feel when we eat something sweet and how much we eat before we feel full.

If you'd like to know more about what happens when you eat sugar, check out this link. 

http://www.health.com/nutrition/sugar-health-effects

Here Is The Skinny, Pun Intended, On Artificial Sweeteners.  

When we eat artificial sweeteners our taste buds think, yum, here's another slice of sweetness, but our brain does not fall for the imposter.  Why? Because it's not real food.  You see, are brains are smart!

Instead of going through the two steps of the food reward response as mentioned above, it only goes partially through the reward response.  The taste buds are sweetly satisfied, but the dopamine and leptin are not fully released.  This causes problems because we are not completely satisfying our reward response or our energy pathway.  

What happens is we will crave more sweets to satisfy this reward process. Thus, consuming not only more calories, but more of the unhealthy calories, sugar!

As we try to be more healthy by not eating sugar, we may be sabotaging our health and our weight loss efforts by using artificial sweeteners.

Here is one of the studies.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3772345/

So What Are Our Options?

So what do we do now?  

Don't fret.  Here are some options for you to try. 

• Make sure you are getting 7-9 hours sleep.  This is important because we not only feel more energized with good sleep, but we make smarter decisions when we are well rested.  Not as tempted to gobble down a box of chocolates. 

• Drink a glass of water when you wake up and before every snack or meal.  This will help you feel fuller faster and also make sure you are really hungry and not just thirsty. 

• Eat a piece of fruit as your first attempt to conquer a sweet-tooth.  The natural sugar, fiber, and water that are in the apple, grapes, berries, or other fruit may fill you up while satisfying that need for a sweet.

• If all else fails, remember, moderation is key.  Have that piece of cake or cookie, but savor every bite.  Eat it slow.  This will allow your tastebuds, your brain, and the food reward responses to work properly and allow you put that fork down before you over indulge.

I hope this has been informative and helpful.  If you would like to follow my journey and receive more articles that may help you on your journey, click below to sign up to receive my free articles.  Thank you for your following and support.  I wish you well on your journey.

 https://pamelabradley.mykajabi.com/p/sign-up-for-free-weekly-articles