The FastDay Forum

I've tried this today for the first time and found it very palatable. It's natural, from birch trees, discovered 50 odd years ago in Finand I think. There seem to be other good outcomes, as well as low-cal sweetness, as it can help re-mineralise your teeth and aid bone strength.
For me the big plus is it can give you the runs thereby overcoming my intermittent constipation!
Anything to make the day pleasant ...

[Tracieknits]

My understanding is that low calorie sweeteners screw up the body's mebabolism and insulin response. So the sweet flavor is telling your body "look out! Calories are coming!" The body gets ready for those calories, but they never show up. This can, in turn, rev up your appetite.

Perhaps someone else can post some studies - I'm a bit too lazy

Good point. I'm only having it during my 8 hour eating window so perhaps it'll be ok? :0@

[Tracieknits]

Probably a little bit in moderation won't hurt, but I wouldn't do it. I have enough trouble with my metabolism!

I daren't even sniff at any of the sugar alcohols or I get the most awful stomach cramps! There was a call to remove sugar free sweets from supermarkets some time ago after a spate of children being admitted to hospital with stomach pain that was linked to excessive intake. I think they just amended the labelling though.

One of the nerds might have more info but I believe the insulin response is an individual thing and hasn't been proven to affect everyone. Sweeteners don't affect blood glucose as such but can cause an insulin response in some people and that can hamper weight loss.

I try to avoid sweeteners as I'm not that comfortable with some of the stuff I've read about them. I've almost eliminated all soft drinks now and I have seen an improvement in my weight loss lately. Can't really pin that on sweeteners though as I changed several things.

My understanding is that low calorie sweeteners screw up the body's mebabolism and insulin response. So the sweet flavor is telling your body "look out! Calories are coming!" The body gets ready for those calories, but they never show up. This can, in turn, rev up your appetite.

Perhaps someone else can post some studies - I'm a bit too lazy

I have read quite a bit about artificial sweeteners, including xylitol, and the conclusions that they "screw up ones metabolism" and cause insulin spikes are not supported by science. I appreciate that I have not read every study on the topic but from what I have read I would not draw such conclusions. If there are studies supporting these ideas I would be very interested in reading them.

[carorees]

that's my understanding too DomDom.

[Tracieknits]

Well this is the first thing that came up when I googled it

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/0 ... 62122.html

Well this is the first thing that came up when I googled it

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/0 ... 62122.html

Countless studies have been conducted on artificial sweeteners. I recall an FDA spokesman saying that aspartame is one of the most researched compounds, for instance. You will find a handful of studies or reports indicating that it causes an insulin spike or has other adverse effects. You will find many more indicating that it does not.

This is an area where you need to look at the whole body of scientific work and conclude what you think about it, since there is so much material and so many agendas out there. Two sources I trust have reviewed the body of scientific work on artificial sweeteners and say that they do not see a reason to avoid them. That combined with my personal experience is good enough for me. I understand if others reach other conclusions.

I am not really arguing the point that it does not have any adverse affects, but merely pointing out that there will be reports and articles claiming support for every diet out there. You will also find reports and articles claiming that they are dangerous. You will most certainly find a ton of reports on fasting being horrible.

Thanks for posting the link.

What in the world are you all talking about?!

Xylitol is not an artificial sweetener. It is not particularly low-calorie, although it is lower in calories than sugar, and is very low on the GI, 7 compared to 100 for glucose.

Discussing it as if it were in the same category as aspartame or other artificial sweeteners makes no sense.

I think it's pretty tasty and I prefer to have gum/mints sweetened with xylitol than those sweetened with other substances, especially as I know I'm doing my teeth a favor.

If you have over 30 grams of it a day, you might feel a bit squidgy, but it's not hard to avoid eating that much.

[Tracieknits]

Well I don't trust the FDA as far as I can throw any of them, and I have a bad back! That's a case of the foxes being in charge of guarding the henhouse.

Growing up in Finland, the advice from the dentists was to chew xylitol gum after each meal to prevent tooth decay. Don't have the habit anymore but don't have fillings either so there may be something to it.

Personally I don't really like the taste in other things than gum, have tried xylitol sweetened chocolate and it's got a weird "coolness" to the flavour that doesn't taste right to me.

What in the world are you all talking about?!

Xylitol is not an artificial sweetener. It is not particularly low-calorie, although it is lower in calories than sugar, and is very low on the GI, 7 compared to 100 for glucose.

Discussing it as if it were in the same category as aspartame or other artificial sweeteners makes no sense.

I think it's pretty tasty and I prefer to have gum/mints sweetened with xylitol than those sweetened with other substances, especially as I know I'm doing my teeth a favor.

If you have over 30 grams of it a day, you might feel a bit squidgy, but it's not hard to avoid eating that much.

I think it is fairly obvious what we were talking about. Not knowing the exact qualifications of sweeteners should not be so upsetting, should it?

Please enlighten us as this is an interesting area. I am interested in sweeteners, artificial or not, since I do not want unnecessary insulin spikes. Of course I am not particularly fond of increased health risks either. Since xylitol, just like aspartame and other sweeteners, substitutes sugar for the taste of sweet and do not seem to cause insulin spikes or adverse health risks, I group them together in my mind.

So if I had a little xylitol in my black coffee pre-eating window would that break my fast please?
Also does ingesting something sweet automatically trigger the 'eat now' ghrelins/leptin?