So many opinions

keto
fasting
food
intermittentfasting
insulin
(Dani) #1

Please can someone give me some clarity.

I’ve been doing clean/strict keto since May 2017 however, the only thing I am not strict on is diet coke. I’ve known for years about the nasties in it but I feel that it helps me, especially through my OMAD.

My normal routine is to do OMAD 4 days per week and whatever my body needs the other 3. This works very well for me and I’m losing weight. One thing that does concern me though, is the variations of opinion with diet coke and fat throughout a fast.

Dr Berry thinks diet coke isn’t OK, but putting butter in your coffee whilst fasting is OK
Thomas Delauer says that although Aspartame is awful it doesn’t break a fast
Dr Berg and Jason Fung say don’t drink it

I know that other forums I have looked at say “if diet coke doesn’t affect you and you still loose weight, then great” BUT I’m wondering, that if I am testing my mental strength by doing long fasts, would my results be better without diet coke? Also, could I help curb the desire to break my fast by adding a little butter?

I hope that makes sense…

(Ron) #2

Hey Dani,
You’re questions are good ones but unfortunately can somewhat only be answered by you. The artificial sweeteners cause an insulin response in some people and not in others. Different ones effect different people differently so there is no set answer. Dr. Berry probably feels it is easier to just avoid than take the risk as he deals with a lot of patients and has probably just adopted this as a standard.
Some do butter or HWC in their coffee during fasts as fat doesn’t spike insulin. There is no set rules for fasting if you are doing it to lose weight but it is generally though that if you are fasting for Autophagy then it is water only (coffee/tea without anything in them) as anything else will hinder that process.
If you have a BG meter you can check and see if the diet pop causes an insulin response, if not it probably isn’t helping by stressing about the diet coke situation and what your currently doing is working so just KCKO.:+1:

(Tim W) #3

This!!

It doesn’t matter what a doctor or podcast guest says, you have to do what works for you.

How to tell? Experiment!

Example, I can’t drink coke zero without an impact (the ace-k in it) but I can drink diet coke, so a I have one every few days.

Try cutting things out a few days (you can do it!) and see how you feel.

Good luck!

(Dani) #4

Thanks so much for the response.

I don’t have a monitor and quiet honestly wouldn’t know how to understand the reading. I do have a ketone monitor and I always have very high readings. I often find I am in therapeutic ketosis and never drop below 2. So at least I know that I’m not kicking myself out of ketosis by consuming sweeteners.
So just to clarify. I could have butter, cream, or any other type of keto friendly fat and that would not effect my fast?
Autophagy is a goal for me however, fat loss is 100% my priority right now.

(Dani) #5

Thanks for the response.

I haven’t tested my response to it and quite honestly I drink about 3 cans per day and the weight is melting off me. What is worth mentioning though is that I do ALOT of exercise and weight training so maybe that is counteracting any spikes I’m having from drinking it?
Maybe I should just keep doing what I’m doing until it doesn’t work anymore. Then if I stall, I can tweak it.

(Ron) #6

Yes butter and cream and oil and things of that nature are acceptable. Some say not over 500 kcals a day consumed and some say not over 250 kcals consumed a day during fast. I go with the 250 kcals a day just to play it safe.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #7

The reason why there’s so many opinions is because it’s such an individual thing. It can affect people very differently.

I have a horrible addiction to Diet Coke, but it does cause me major issues. Not with weight but GERD. A couple weeks ago I just had a couple bad days in a row with my food choices (let’s just call it the birthday cake incident of 2018). Anyway, it left me craving sweets again, and in an attempt to feed the sweet craving without killing my Keto WOE altogether, I started drinking it again. After not having any since New Years. I told myself it would just be a can a day. No more.
Within a week I was drinking a couple 32oz a day.

Then last week I said “no.” And I have been a full week now without it again. It was really hard the first couple days. But I also noticed it increased my hunger levels. I could no longer even do IF while I was drinking it. I’m back to IF again, and today I’m going to attempt another EF.

For me the stuff just isn’t worth the problems. Though it is like a drug and I am still prone to crave it. I will continue to fight the cravings like mad.

(Dani) #8

Yknow my Mum died in her 40s (for many reasons and complications) but one thing she did used to drink a lot of was diet coke. She drank it to counteract the dehydration form her medications, and drank about 5-6 cans per day. I did read that that diet coke had such terrible effects that it may have contributed to her complication (of course I have no way of knowing for sure) After reading that I quit drinking it for a long time and it was actually my trip to Orlando last year that got me hooked again.

I really suffer with GERD too! Y’know what. I’m going to ditch it again. I’ve made so many strides towards a healthier body, I may as well go the whole way…!!!

Thanks! Youve motivated me to ditch it once again.

(Tim W) #9

Very sound idea, sounds like something many on the forums would suggest. If it aint broke…

(Diane) #10

:laughing::laughing::laughing: