What happens if you drink Pepsi Max?
What happens if you drink Pepsi Max? Nothing if you believe the soda industry. Diet soda contain no calories, only artficial sweeteners (Aspartame and Acesulfam K in this case).
But when my friend Ronnie Mathiesen tested his blood sugar after drinking Pepsi Max it had a weird effect on his blood sugar (pictured above).
I’ve been planning to redo that test to see if I get a weird result too. Now is the time. And I will not only measure my blood sugar. As I’m in ketosis now I’ll also track my ketone levels closely. If artificial sweeteners result in release of insulin (studies show divergent results) the ketone levels should drop. Ketone production is very sensitive to insulin.
Ultimately this is not just about diet soda. It’s about whether common sweeteners (regardless of use) can somehow disrupt the regulation of blood sugar, insulin and thus mess with satiety, cravings and weight.
What do you think will happen to my blood sugar and ketone levels when I drink 500 ml (17 oz.) of Pepsi Max while fasting?
Update: The results
The first time I tried a Zevia soda, I had all of the symptoms I get when I accidentally ingest hidden carbs. (I never consume carbs intentionally, with the exception of non-starchy veggies). I don't test insulin or blood sugar because my symptoms are so severe that I don't feel I need to. I experience a shakiness with an elevated heart rate, stomach gnawing, and a feeling like my skin is crawling within a few minutes of eating something that causes what I interpret as an insulin spike. Within an hour or two, I have a major "comatose" energy clash. The stevia- sweetened soda had that effect on me, so I assume that just the taste of something sweet produces an insulin release for me. Is there an easy, inexpensive way to test insulin levels at home? I am more interested in that than in BG levels. At my age, however, and with my family history, I am concerned that despite my current ketogenic lifestyle and 13 years VLC, my pancreas may still be suffering from the earlier havoc my high-carb diet wreaked upon it so I'm thinking about getting a meter. I don't have health insurance, so I'm not sure I can afford it.
Body chemistry is so complicated -- seems like a bad idea to load up on an isolated compound. Best to get one's aspartate and phenylaline where God put it originally....where the cure is wrapped with the poison.
I may not be able to explain the reason why it's bad -- but it doesn't mean that reason is nonexistent.
It would result in more insulin production overall than the classic curve because of the re-spiking in the levels.
Curious to see if yours will show the same tendency....
Which would mean the overall insulin response/production would be similar to something which had raised the overall blood sugar to around 8.5, i.e. a little bit lower, but pretty close to the response to the bread & jam.
I have a hunch that diet soda is a player (maybe an important one) in the obesity epidemic.
Funny that my super ripped partner I work with tells me every time he sees me drinking a diet soda that he thinks they cause weight gain.Who knows??
Fun and interesting experiment!
They discussed diet soda specifically to that effect, in that when you drink diet soda, you are indeed increasing your blood insulin levels simply from the sweet taste. I imagine 500 mL will do the trick. Looking forward to seeing the results.
This was in a Jimmy Moore podcast a few years back, but I don't remember the episode number or exact date.
I think the caffeine point is very valid as caffeine does cause an insulin response. I wonder what impact sugar free lemonade would have, for example??
Also, the issue of sweetness is an interesting one as what tastes sweet to one person doesn't to another - I find diet Pepsi far too sweet to taste and can only drink it with a massive wedge of lemon. So there may not be a 'one size fits all' answer.
Agreed. Ironically, abstinence from sweeteners is the best sweetener of all - it sweetens everything!
Caffeine ? and/or artificial sweeteners? and / other ingredients ? ?
I'd be curious to see what happened if you drank it for several days instead of water. (Gross, yes, but there are hundreds of thousands of people who do exactly that, every day.)
I think if you got your blood tested before the test, then did a week or two drinking soda in place of water, then got your blood tested again, you'd discover some pretty startling effects. (I'm betting you'd gain fat, see higher triglycerides, and your blood pressure would skyrocket.)
I also think that, if you did such a test, your blog would get more traffic and links than you ever thought possible.
Anyway, I have lost 50+ lbs using low carb eating and some portion control. My sweet problem was and is solved by using Splenda. Every reputable scientific study has said that neither Splenda nor Equal (I don't use this because it gives me headaches) causes any kind of a spike in blood sugar.
I decided to be my own guinea pig, so on a morning when I was fasting for a full blood analysis, I sweetened water with a boatload of splenda. Almost couldn't drink it! To make it even more skewed, I took some with me and drank it 10 minutes before my blood was drawn.
Results? Not even a hitch in the giddy-up. Nada. And I had had borderline diabetes before I started losing weight. That changed with low carb dieting.
Anyway, that's my experience, and if nothing else, Splenda has helped me cut down my sweet tooth. I drink no soft drinks anymore, have a couple cups of coffee per day (1 decaf) with three packets of Splenda, and I eat one Gnu Bar per day, covered with cream cheese (as per the good Diet Dr.'s advice).
I also exercise more and hardly feel it. Walk, bike, play racquetball, dragon boat race, etc. I'm female and 58 y/o.
I found that especially if I drink pepsi max between meals my blood sugars will drop, I think this is because there is nothing to keep my blood sugars stable. I'll go into the topic of G.I here, (Glycaemic Index)
Something with a high G.I, (sweets, refined carbs, sugary drinks, jam...) Are foods which contain carbohydrates that break down quickly into sugar and raise blood sugar levels quickly, but will not sustain them, you will find that with high G.I foods and drinks your blood sugar will "spike" and then quickly drop again because the sugars have already been broken down and your body has released the adequate amount of insulin to cope with the dramatic spike in your blood sugars. This is why if you eat say, two pieces of white toast for breakfast, you have an energy slump and/or are hungry not long after.
Things with a low G.I (Beans, porridge, Basmati rice) Contain carbohydrates which break down into sugar more slowly and provides a more sustained release of energy into your body. Low G.I foods produce a gentle rise in your blood sugar levels, so your body will gradually release insulin to convert the sugar into energy. Choosing slowly absorbed carbohydrates will help to even out glucose levels. Soluble fibre is also important, as it takes longer to digest and lowers G.I . This is why if you choose to eat say, rice, vegetables and a form of protein for dinner, it will sustain you for longer.
This is why I don't agree that Pepsi Max actually RAISES blood sugar, but LOWERS it. My body doesn't produce insulin at all. It can't. The beta cells in my pancreas have been destroyed and I rely on injections of insulin to live. So I think that as pepsi max contains a lot of caffeine, and caffeine is a diuretic, the caffeine will actually flush out the sugar in your blood, causing you to have an energy slump, and then to eat something sugary or high in energy to compensate.
That's what I think anyway! =)
Also, I was a heavy alcohol drinker years ago and I find that most men who discover that they are Alcoholics are actually Hypoglycemic, I know that I was.
Still lost 55 kg in two years on a low carb diet. Still after a year kept weight ie added a litle due to training muscle and a litle fat.
So I dont think it lead to weight gain or liver problems as I have taken full bloodtest yearly and all is welll.