Do you know of any studies showing that sweetener raises insulin levels? I thought it really depended on which sweeteners…?
Studies showing Sweeteners that Raise Insulin Levels?
CFLBob
(Central Florida Bob )
#2
Sorry to jump in, but I think it depends on the person. A sweetener that bothers one person won’t bother another. I’ve tested myself for the sweetener I prefer (erythritol) and get no reaction. I’ve also tested myself with the diet soda mix of sweeteners (aspartame and ace K) and get no reaction. I know other people who say they get a reaction to one or both of them.
daddyoh
(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!)
#3
The more insulin resistant a person is the more that food tastes and smells trigger insulin responses. I don’t have study urls but I have seen them. PubMed can be your friend. I avoid sweeteners.
adorfaru
#5
I know this isn’t scientific, but I also found Erythritol does not impact me as much. For example, if I drink a Cherry Coke Zero, I get major sugar cravings/hunger pangs later in the day. Drinking my Bai Coconut Water does not give me the same cravings. To me, that means the Erythritol does not cause an insulin response. I have read this somewhere as well.
Also I know Keto Connect did a youtube video on how they tested all the sweetners. Once I noticed the lack of cravings with the Bai and then saw their video, I checked the label and saw the Erythritol. I have seen other images that say Erythritol is bad because we don’t know enough about it yet, but it seems pretty decent to me.
Digital_Dave
#6
Erythritol is said to be one of the go-to sweeteners for folks doing Keto, since it generally does the best. (So I’ve read) And I use it as well, and I also like the Coconut Bai’s… But since this is more sciency talk and not to do with the threads original subject manner, maybe we should move these questions to a separate post regarding sweeteners? … I’m heading home for the day, so don’t have time presently. But if someone would like to start that thread, I would be more then happy to move the post over once I get home. 
… Just let me know in here and I will do so. Thanks. 
CFLBob
(Central Florida Bob )
#7
First off, fasted four or five hours so that nothing else affects it. The test is to stick my finger and measure blood sugar at half hour intervals out to two hours. Why half hour and not less? When you see published sugar tests after meals, the response isn’t really fast - it peaks 90 minutes to hours after a meal. So after being fasted, I’ll mix a couple of teaspoons in a half glass of water and drink it. I did it with four teaspoons of erythritol because that’s how much I’ll put in two mugs of coffee. For the diet soda test, I just drank the 12 oz. can as quickly as I could.
The idea is if your getting an insulin response from the sweetener, your blood sugar should go down. I think you don’t want to see your blood sugar change in either direction, and that’s what I got. The only changes were the couple of points either way that I get with different test strips.
Digital_Dave
#8
@AuntJane @CFLBob @daddyoh @adorfaru … As I mentioned earlier, I have moved this information to it’s own thread, as to not distract or take away from the ‘Centurians Thread’ … I too would like to see some science on this as well. But as I mentioned before, I do use Erythritol in making some things such as when I make Keto Cheese Cake. As well, I use some Liquid Stevia, (mostly in Iced Tea here & there) But I still try to limit sweeteners in general, but do think they have their place. Example, we also use Liquid Stevia to replace things like Brown Sugar, when making BBQ Sauce, or Stir Fry Meals.
CFLBob
(Central Florida Bob )
#9
Try the Swerve Brown Sugar blend. I got that for barbecue sauce and can almost eat it by the teaspoonful. Then I found my wife is the one in a crowd who gets GI reactions to it. None of the sugar alcohols bother me. I think they all bother her.
buxomlass
#10
Very much this. We are all special little snowflakes, and the anecdotal evidence I’ve seen in Ketoland (multiple peeps consuming the same sweetened foodstuffs, then measuring/comparing their numbers thereafter) seems to bear that out. And then of course there’s the whole cast-iron-stomach folks v GI-distress-disaster-pants folks thing…
carolT
#11
Moved it to Show Me the Science for ya. I’ll dig up some links.
Just like to add that not all the effects of sweeteners are glucose or insulin related. The sensors in the small intestine are connected to the brain via the vagus nerve, in addition to the pancreas etc. so even non-nutritive additives do something. Exactly what is a big grey fuzzy area and best left to individual subjective testing.
P.S.
Some sweetener tests are conducted by adding the test substance to a meal (one with carbs in it). The action of some sweeteners on the intestinal sensors will increase the insulin response to glucose in the same meal.
Alecmcq
(Alec)
#13
I did a series of live tests for this if you’re interested…
And there were others…
AuntJane
(Jane Srygley)
#14
Thank you! I so appreciate all the input on this thread!
I would have to say I did my own “self experiment” 2 days ago. I’ve been counting calories very well but lately have not been so careful. I made 12 of these wonderful chocolate coconut protein things sweetened with stevia and erythritol.
2 days ago I ate 7 of them. I just couldn’t stop. They have nearly 7g of protein each and I guarantee you I could not eat 7 eggs in one sitting!
So whether or not they trigger blood sugar or insulin, they definitely trigger me from an addictive/overeating perspective. I am interested in the insulin connection though and why they are so addictive for me. Thanks again everyone 
CFLBob
(Central Florida Bob )
#15
That’s a real puzzle. Well, maybe the second puzzle behind insulin effects. I heard on one of the podcasts I listen to that one of the problems with the home insulin measurement meter development is that insulin is more pulsatile during the day than blood sugar. I gather it varies for reasons that aren’t completely known. That makes checking meters against other tests harder. Because of that, a single fasting insulin test isn’t as meaningful as we’d like.
The other effects in the body coming from the small intestine are puzzling to me. I notice other people talking about cravings. I have a tendency to crave sweets, but no sweetener I’ve tried makes me worse at that. I get careless about that with erythritol because it seems harmless. I will put a teaspoon in my tea, for example, and then lick the spoon. It’s just a little more than I was having already, after all.
I used to wisecrack at work when donuts came around that, “I’m allergic to donuts. They make me break out in fat”. If the only small intestine-mediated reaction to a food was that it made it harder to lose weight, how would you know other than eliminating everything and adding stuff back?
Digital_Dave
#16
Thanks, Carol. Actually thought I put it in ‘Show me the Science?’ … But was tired when I did it. 
Thanks for the links too. Will be checking them out when I get the chance.
I remember reading through these when you did them back in the day.
We have actually talked about doing just this, but haven’t as of yet. I did purchase some of the Powdered Erythritol, but think they were sold out of the Brown Sugar Swerve at that time? But I will probably purchase some at one point or another. I like to experiment to see what works best as well. And like you, I don’t find that many of the ones I’ve tried affects me either? But again, I’m still prefer to keep them to a very limited use as well. The most I’ve been using lately is the Liquid Stevia for when I want to add some to Iced Tea. I drink it as is as well, but do like to mix it up and have some sweetened Tea at times too.
You’re quite welcomed and you’re not the only one as you can see. A lot of folks speak about these issues from time to time and it would be good to know indeed. … One of the things I’ve noticed, both on my own and reading others post, is that simply keeping sweet treats in the mix, whether Keto or not, simply keeps that sweet tooth around, so folks tend to keep wanting more. - I personally don’t do a lot of things, such as Fat-Bombs, etc. Not just for this purpose, but simply don’t desire them as much as I probably did before? But instead will just do a couple squares of 92% Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate with most meals. This is not overly sweet, and I think by consuming this on a semi-regular basis, may even help to keep the sweet-tooth as bay more-so then if I were doing sweeter things? Again, this may be conjecture on my part, but it does seem to be doing just this overall. :slight_smile
carolT
#17
I’m going to add a couple of things here re: gut incretins.
First, a post I wrote about how fructose acts on the GIP sensor to potentiate the insulin response to glucose while not being particularly troublesome when ingested by itself.
Some studies summarizing the role of incretin sensors in hunger regulation
A recent study showing how processed foods increase appetite and corresponding measurements of incretins. Small but highly controlled study: ultra-processed foods hijack health - 5/16/19 Journal of Cell Metabolism
carolT
#18
Just one more thing…
GIP and GLP-1 sensors work in opposition to each other regarding inflammation. GIP increases it, GLP-1 decreases it. I’m still formulating a post about this aspect of foods and incretins and how inflammation and the immune system are directly related to IR.
David_Stilley
(Full Metal KETO AF)
#19
You’re looking at glucose levels if you’re testing for a reaction, you can’t test insulin at home.
Erythritol seems to be the best,
You may still lose some weight using them but they definitely have an effect on your metabolism and insulin response.
