I drink Coke Zero (Coca Cola Zero, as we don't say Coke over here) and enjoy it, I also drink water, but rather at the gym where I drink 1,25liter at each training and with my protein shakes and also sometimes on its own at home, yes it happens. Coke Zero says there is no carbs and no fat, only aspartame and some chemicals, so it's fine... Today I read an article by Nick Nilsson (author of the fat loss program I'm following, Metabolic Surge) entitled "Nine Sure-Fire Ways To Gain Fat" in which he states:
Drinking soft drinks (even diet drinks) with fatty foods will make you gain fat
A sugary soft drink will result in a high insulin response. Insulin is a storage hormone - it helps the body store carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
There is also evidence to suggest that the artifical sweeteners commonly found in diet drinks can cause an insulin reaction in the body. It's a simple reaction to the sweetness, not carbs as there are no carbs in diet drinks. The body simply associates the taste of sweetness with the presence of carbs and assumes that carbs are present, increasing insulin levels in response.
What do you get when you have fatty foods in the presence of increased insulin levels? Simple. You get fat.
My advice is this: if you're going to eat fatty foods (we all do it at some point or other), drink water, not soft drinks or even diet soft drinks. Save the diet drinks for times when you're not eating fatty foods.
Because that reminded me of my brother telling me about the same thing, that diet drinks prepare your body to take all the subsequent carbs and transform it into fat (my brother is not a scientist and neither am I) and I was not 100% convinced about that: could the body be so dumb as to react not to pure chemistry but be fooled by a mere sweetness taste? So I asked.
I asked Nick Nilsson by email, I also asked the same question to two bloggers:
- one is Israel, a familiar commenter of blogs such as John Chow, John Cow, Problogger and the rest of the money/blog marketing/trendy bloggers, he's blogging mainly about his fat loss journey.
- the other one is Adam Waters who has done the most difficult part of his physique transformation journey (the beginning) and took daily pictures which resulted in a now famous time lapse video on YouTube.
Here's what they had to say...
First, Nick Nilsson replied promptly and with good information, Israel replied he doesn't know and Adam is currently overwhelmed with emails because his video has been featured on a TV show and the resulting feedback is BIG! Update: Adam Waters replied on sunday (his training-free day) that he's sorry but really doesn't have that much advanced knowledge on the topic I discussed in my email.
Here's what Nick Nilsson told me:
Honestly, my sentence in the book needs editing, and I appreciate you pointing that out - I want to keep things accurate. You're right about the body reacting to chemistry rather than taste. I thought I remembered reading about that sweetness reaction somewhere in my research but can't find the studies to back that up.
Anyway, I have links to a couple of studies for you. These show the insulin response to Aspartame, but the aspartame was injected directly rather than fed to rats. Hard to taste something that's injected!
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve &db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list _uids=2887503 "Acesulfame K (aspartame) acts directly on the pancreatic islets and potentiates glucose-induced insulin release." - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve &db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list _uids=2887500 "The effect of Acesulfame K on insulin secretion was similar to that observed by injecting or infusing the same doses of glucose (150 mg/kg body weight for injection and 20 mg/kg body weight/min for infusion), except that no hyperglycemia was observed with Acesulfame K"
I then asked him (watch out for the scientific discussion) about Coke Zero, which has in my opinion a better taste than Diet Coke, and boasts on the label 0,3 calories for 100ml with 0g proteins, carbs and fat and fiber, with only 0,01g sodium. I know water is always better than water + things inside the drink, but I still hoped Nick would tell me "Go ahead you can drink a lot, it's good for your body and tastes great!" not quite so:
With Coke Zero, you're unfortunately still looking at a pretty significant chemical soup. You're definitely right about water being best but sometimes it can get to you after a while! What you might try is a few drops of lemon juice concentrate in the water. That helps give you flavor without the chemicals.
I'm not really sure how Coke Zero would compare to fructose or sugar in terms of insulin response but it does have Aspartame in it, so there will be some reaction.
Basically, it's not going to kill to drink Coke Zero, but it's probably better to minimize intake as best you can. Eventually, you find your body loses that craving for that kind of stuff. I honestly can't remember the last time I had a soft drink (used to drink them regularly) - now even if it's right in front of me, I don't want it. I'll go for water instead. I've gotten used the look of disappointment from the wait staff at restaurants when I say I just want water :)
So, that's something new to me, and when you're doing low carbs (meaning you eat mostly proteins and fat) then drinking Diet Soda Drinks all day long is probably doing the opposite of what you're trying to achieve, despite the label saying there's no Calorie.
Did you know about it? What do you think?
I have been doing Atkins for
I have been doing Atkins for a week and a half and haven't lost a pound (and I really have been sticking to the plan) now I see maybe why, I have been drinking gallons of diet pepsi, diet coke, Sprite Z etc. etc.
It all makes sense now!
I couldn't believe it at
I couldn't believe it at first but now it makes sense that if the insuline level increase then it's more or less like we're eating sugar: the fat is being stored.. And with Atkins there are plenty of fat to store...
Oh my gosh, I have been doing
Oh my gosh, I have been doing the Atkins diet for over 2 weeks now, it has been quite difficult but whenever I had a crave for something sweet, I had a Coke Zero. I keep looking in the mirror to see if I have lost any weight, but I'm quite skeptical and dont think I have lost that much? I will try my next 2 weeks on Atkins without the Coke Zero, maybe it will just melt off!! ha ha I wish!
Tell me about your results
Tell me about your results without the Coke Zero if you stumble upon my blog anytime in the future. But I think Atkins can definitively works if done correctly, but I don't think it's a good technic in itself. I did a program where you had to alternate/cycle calories sources during 12 days and then do another cycle, etc. I believe this has more potential in the long term because your body can't adapt to this cycling, or at least not as quickly as with a simple change or calorie source such as Atkins. And by eating 5 or 6 meals a day you never feel hungry, of course you have cravings for something better than shit foot, but I guess this can go away just like with cigarette cravings, with time and commitment.
ive been on the atkins for 2
ive been on the atkins for 2 and a half months my first 2 weeks i lost my main weight and but in my 2nd week i started drinkig coke zero..and i still do..even tho in between i had slip ups a good couple of times but im back on it again on my 4th day and have been thinking im gettin to used 2 coke zero, because it is adddictive and i know for a fact its stalled my weight loss..i used 2 think it dosent but it does..i love water but sometimes only soft drinks such as coke zero satisfies u ..so best thing to do is wat sum1 said have some lemon juice in water or maybe feneel seeeds...it sounds eeek but its not bad lol and great for ridding the atkin breath
hi, ive been doing bodytrim
hi, ive been doing bodytrim which is moderate protein and low carbs and low fat. and on this diet they also go on about the hormonal effect of food to ur body and what sets the insulin hormone off. i disagree with ur theory i have lost 20kgs on this diet and i drink a shit load of coke zero. Also they say sugar free supplements are fine because ur body is simple and isnt smart enough to no, to turn it into insulin. have a look at bodytrim best diet around
Diet sodas are even worse
Diet sodas are even worse than normal sodas because the artificial sugar in the diet soda such as aspartame cause cancer. Artificial sweetners are chemicals they are not good for you!!! Aspartame is known to cause the symptoms of M.S., epilepsy,fybromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome just to name a few. Sugar is known to be safe. You make the choice!
Thanks,
Percy
I can't tell you how glad i
I can't tell you how glad i am that i quit drinking sodas :) i have been on atkins for a little over a month and have stuck to it pretty thoroughly but if i wanted a little pasta or a half a baked potato every now and then i wouldn't stop myself. I have lost 13 pounds and i think it is mainly due to the fact that i have completely stopped drinking soda. Yes, i was one of the many who was tricked into drinking coke zero because of it 0 carb 0 calorie label. After the first two weeks i weighed myself and found that i had lost a mere 4 pounds. I know every journey starts with one single step but i was not happy with those results. So i quit drinking the coke zeros and something inside of me must have apparently decided to rev upp on the fat burnin after i made that decision because i weighed myself two weeks later and discovered that i had lost 9 more pounds. This may sound a bit corny but i seriously do feel better and more energetic and i truly believe that by quitting soda i took a huge boulder off my back :)
I drink sparkling water, I
I drink sparkling water, I bought large quantities of bottles and drink mostly that. It's 0 calories and it's water, and you've got the fuzzy feeling of the bubbles. But no cafeine and other chemicals.
I drink sparkling water as
I drink sparkling water as well....I add fresh lemom juice, lime juice and crushed ginger for a very refreshing 'soda-like' drink. :o)
I drink one or two cans of
I drink one or two cans of Coke Zero, sometimes Diet Coke, a day and have averaged losing two pounds a week for nine weeks in a row. I just quit eating a ton of calories, such as cake and ice cream, and increased my workouts. Obviously, it is possible to lose fat/weight while drinking diet sodas, just as you could do it while drinking regular sodas if your caloric intake was still below what you burned in a day. I think I will try it without the sodas to see what happens.
I was on Atkins for a year. I
I was on Atkins for a year. I lost over 70 lbs (I was very strict with it) and likely lost more but gained a lot of muscle. This was by far the easiest and most effective diet I have ever been on. But after about 11 months, I truly began to crave carbs and decided to start drinking Coke Zero. Immediately, my weight loss stopped and I actually GAINED weight. At first I didn't associate the Coke Zero with the weight gain but then I looked back into some old Atkins writings and saw that the good doctor had warned of this way back when.
So, cut out ALL soda. Diet or regular, it makes no difference to your body on Atkins, or likely ANY DIET. Teach yourself to go right to water. As was suggested, you can add some minor flavor with a tiny bit of lemon juice.
Yes its the same for me also.
Yes its the same for me also. I do the atkins diet now and then when i gain a little weight. It works well for me. BUT!.... This time round i have been drinking a small 500ml bottle of 7 up zero every day, or every other day, even as little as that has prevented the diet from working. I eat very lean meat maybe twice a week and for the rest of the week i manage with boiled, steamed and once a week fried fish. (easy for me as i love fish) I eat a small peice of chesse three times a week and i use a minimal amount of butter if i fry fish. Other than that the only fatty things have are a little creamer in my tea once a day. I do try to keep my fat intake down as much as i can and i have beetween 600 and 800 calories a day. I remember reading that it may be ok to drink these drink when you havent eaten anything fatty for a while. I usually drink them mid day after having two boiled eggs for breakfast at around 8 am and it still seems to effect the amount of weight i have/havent lost. I suspected it was the drinks so i thought i would have a look and see what i could find on the net. This is the first information that i found which confirms what i thought. I usually lose a stone/14 pounds in a month on atkins. In the last two weeks all i have lost is 4 pounds, which is a bit dis-heartening when im used to much faster results. I will stop today! Helpfull info, thanks for sharing!
Hello, I’m searching for diet
Hello, I’m searching for diet related blogs and I stumbled your site, nice blog! Admiring the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you offer! I will bookmark your blog and check up here often. Thumbs up! - Shane
Interesting input but I also
Interesting input but I also found some really nice diet tricks on other of your posts, so readers, you might want to check it out.
Gretta
Post new comment