fake sweetners

[plumbaman]

Simple question, splenda or trivia

[MakaveliThaDon]

I think you mean truvia. Anyways, truvia gives me intestinal cramps from HELL. Splenda works well though.

[plumbaman]

Yeah truvia,damn spell check. I Like it in oatmeal and black coffee.

[Stri8ted25]

WHat bout stevia?

[AustrianOakJr]

I think it pretty much comes down to what you like best. They all have brotastic rumors of causing cancer, strokes, growing a third eye, etc. But I have yet to read a study that looks like it could be applied real world usage. Personally, I like Splenda the best. But im a sweet and low kinda guy cause im cheap.

[Mrodz]

Since buying stevia never going back to splenda, it's even granulated which for some reason just seems better

[fightbackhxc]

WHat bout stevia?

same thing. Truvia=Stevia.

Splenda and many other artificial sweeteners have actually been shown to elicit an insulin response in the absence of carbohydrates...I believe the only one that did not do that was Stevia. Aspartame is certainly garbage and I would stay away from that.....10% of it is Wood Alcohol.
I would always try to stick with Stevia.

[AustrianOakJr]

A lot of foods elicit an insulin response. Even protein powder will elicit an unsulin response. What difference does the insulin response make?

[fightbackhxc]

A lot of foods elicit an insulin response. Even protein powder will elicit an unsulin response. What difference does the insulin response make?

Well people stay away from regular soda because they think the sugar will cause an insulin spike and the sugar will be stored as fat...I was just pointing out that the same is true for most artificial sweeteners.

[AustrianOakJr]

Gotcha. The insulin response to artificial sweetener is minimal at best (probably non-existent). But in order for anything to be stored as fat, it has to contain calories. An insulin response cannot trigger storage if there is nothing to store. Insulin is really only a very small piece of the fat storage equation as well. Really not worth concerning yourself over.

[fightbackhxc]

Gotcha. The insulin response to artificial sweetener is minimal at best (probably non-existent). But in order for anything to be stored as fat, it has to contain calories. An insulin response cannot trigger storage if there is nothing to store. Insulin is really only a very small piece of the fat storage equation as well. Really not worth concerning yourself over.

Any articles or evidence on that?

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/704432
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2887500

[AustrianOakJr]

Im not sure which part of my post you are referring to. I dont think we need a reference for the fact that unless there are calories to be stored, then fat storage doesnt take place. That seems like common sense. And the calories in those sweeteners are minimal at best. If you are drinking a diet coke and insulin is somehow triggered, what does it matter? There are no calories in the coke to be stored.

Even when looking at a mixed meal where carbs, fats, protein, etc is present ......insulin is obviously going to be secreted regardless of the sweetener you use on the meal. And so what if it is? Our body is constantly storing and releasing fat. Trying to control insulin secretion is a futile attempt. If insulin is high at this moment.......it will be low in an hour from now. What matters most is the net storage of bodyfat and that comes down to calorie intake vs calorie expenditure. If you are counting calories as a bodybuilder would, concerning yourself with insulin is like worrying about whether you should use a chrome bar or gun-metal finish when doing squats. Its just irrelevant.

[JudoJosh]

A diet based on maintaining insulin control is FAR from irrelevant

[AutoKal47]

D'you guys ever heard of Z-Sweet?

[AustrianOakJr]

A diet based on maintaining insulin control is FAR from irrelevant

Insulin control is important if you eat by "feel" because insulin secretion has a lot to do with satiety. Most bodybuilders count their calories and macros and in that case, insulin secretion is a very minor issue.

On a bulk.....I might tend to agree with you more. But when you are in a calorie-controlled deficit, insulin is a very small player.

[AutoKal47]

..But when you are in a calorie-controlled deficit, insulin is a very small player.

That's interesting. Could you tell something more about it? (legit question)

[fightbackhxc]

Insulin control is important if you eat by "feel" because insulin secretion has a lot to do with satiety. Most bodybuilders count their calories and macros and in that case, insulin secretion is a very minor issue.

On a bulk.....I might tend to agree with you more. But when you are in a calorie-controlled deficit, insulin is a very small player.

This goes against everything I have ever heard about being in a caloried controlled deficit and dieting. I have always heard levels of stable low insulin is the best environment for fat loss.

[AutoKal47]

Just found this which seem interesting,
it actually says that aspartame has no effects on insulin, blood glucose, GH and cortisol
whether it's mixed with CHO or not

Same source on Stevia

I personally use Erythritol/Inulin (glycemic index 0 and no effects on insulin or blood sugar,
also no stomach discomfort with this, the only sugar alcohol that doesn't do that)
to cook and make home made protein bars and such, and Z-sweet as sugar substitute.
This one too has zero glycemic load, no effects on insulin and zero cals

[fightbackhxc]

minus truvia, I would just rather stay away from most artifical sweeteners regardless of their little effects on insulin or damage on the body (aspartame). It would be like someone putting a little battery acid in my drink and saying ...its in such small amounts you wont taste it...it wont do anything to you. Would I drink it? No. haha just my personal preference. These sweeteners really haven't been out long enough to get really good studies on.

[AustrianOakJr]

That's interesting. Could you tell something more about it? (legit question)

This goes against everything I have ever heard about being in a caloried controlled deficit and dieting. I have always heard levels of stable low insulin is the best environment for fat loss.

Well, I hate to be bro-science buster, but it just aint true. When I first began bodybuilding I ate very consciously considering GI of the carb sources. I lost fat and had decent success. Following my first competitive season I started to associate with some guys that put the emphasis on food quantity and macro ratios......and COUNTING everything to the gram. And although some importance was placed on the micronutritional side of the equation, food source was the lesser issue for these guys. Glycemic index was not even on the radar and I watched the conditioning of these guys while they dieted on Pop tarts, protein cakes, frozen yogurt, etc. And they got RIDICULOUSLY shredded. Like striations so deeply cut in their ass, you can see them through their shorts. No joke. So....i decided to try paying closer attention to the details of weighing, tracking and measuring food and less attention to food source. I regularly diet on all kinds of "taboo, insulin-spiking" foods now and I found it doesnt make a lick of difference.

Why? First off.....insulin is a highly anabolic hormone. And the more time we can spend with insulin levels high while still losing weight, the better. Yes, i know this is absolutely contrary to what most people believe about dieting. But think about the fact that many guys purposefully TRY to spike insulin post workout. Why? Insulin is anabolic. The thing is that if I eat a mound of peeled white potatoes now (very high GI) my insulin spikes faster and further than if I had a bowl of oatmeal. But the flip side to the white potato is that the insulin comes down much faster and im back to a very low level before the oats would reach that baseline. So the spike of the low GI oatmeal is lesser but its also longer and more linear.

All that to say it "all comes out in the wash". Whether I allow insulin to spike and fall or allow it to remain more steady throughout the day, im still burning the same amount of fat. How much fat you burn depends on the difference between your calorie intake and calories burned. Thats it. Very simple. To further add to the arguement, as you lean out your body adapts and will moderate its blood sugar levels quite well. So, carb choice is even less of a factor as your insulin sensitivity improves. You take a bodybuilder at stage-ready lean-ness and blood sugar levels do not spike and fall to any great degree. They are pretty steady throughout the day regardless of food choice.