What are you ordering at Starbucks?

('Jackie P') #141

Haha! You should get out more! Xx

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #142

I get out plenty, just not to Starbuck’s. The times I’ve tried their food and drink, I haven’t been impressed. Bought a very nice couple of coffee presses there, however.

(JustGettingStarted) #143

Have you tried the Nitro brew? or is that the same as the Cold brew?

(JustGettingStarted) #144

I see your point Traci, I personally do not feel the increase in appetite I do have concerns that the artificial sweeteners cause the same effects as sugar (or worse as you pointed out) in my body. That being said, a yummy drink every once and awhile does have other benefits such as I’m happy drinking it. Over- indulging was an issue for me so allowing myself to indulge here and there satisfies a previously insatiable desire to indulge. So the short version is, it works for me!

(Jody) #145

The nitro and cold brew are the same and it’s my new go-to when I feel the need. It’s less bitter than the other starbucks coffees (not that I don’t like bitter). If you get it straight, it’s 0 carb. But if you want, you can add cream too.

(Bunny) #147

That is why I would use a tiny bit of regular table sugar (even on keto) if I did drink coffee, but I do have an occasional bullet proof coffee but that’s very rare for me.

Something that was designed or intended to be an insecticide and does not trigger insulin or exclusively triggers insulin and does not raise blood sugars sounds too much like high fructose corn syrup HFCS?

#148

I think you quoted the wrong person, or you missed the point of my post.

(Bunny) #149

Was responding to both! “real sugar”

(traci simpson) #150

Roger that!

#151

There’s no way someone can convince me that a packet of sugar is somehow better for me than a packet of stevia, just because sugar is “more natural.”

(Bunny) #152

Ever wondered why Stevia is sweet?

To kill insects trying to eat it?

Hansel and Gretel?

Potential side effects linked to stevia consumption include:

  • Kidney damage. …
  • Gastrointestinal symptoms. …
  • Allergic reaction. …
  • Hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. …
  • Low blood pressure. …
  • Endocrine disruption. …More
#153

All plants have defenses against animals trying to consume them (unless they’re fruits and actually want the animal to consume it, to spread the seeds). Is that supposed to deter me?

(Bunny) #154

I would not want to be a guinea pig to find out that extra weight or fat I just gained from artificial or natural sweeteners (like stevia) is visceral adipose fat accumulating around my internal organs[1]; that is if I am not eating enough eggs or getting enough choline[2] in my diet? But who wants to play with fire?

…Just sayin…

Footnotes:

[1] “…Humans eating diets low in choline develop fatty liver and liver damage. Rodents fed choline–methionine-deficient diets not only develop fatty liver, but also progress to develop fibrosis and hepatocarcinoma. This review focuses on the role of choline in liver function, with special emphasis on the epigenetic mechanisms of action. …More

[2] “…Acetyl-CoA can be metabolized through the TCA in any cell, but it can also undergo a different process in liver cells: ketogenesis, which produces ketone bodies. “…When glucose levels are low, oxaloacetate is diverted away from the TCA cycle and is instead used to produce glucose de novo (gluconeogenesis). …” …More

[3] “…For years now studies have shown that consuming artificial sweeteners breaks the connection between a sweet sensation and a high-calorie food, thereby changing your body’s ability to regulate intake naturally. In one study by psychologists at Purdue University’s Ingestive Behavior Research Center, rats that ate yogurt sweetened with an artificial sweetener consumed more calories (and didn’t make up for it by cutting back later), gained more weight, and put on more body fat than rats that ate yogurt sweetened with sugar. …” …More

[4] “…Choline works behind the scenes to maintain normal liver function through the role it plays in fat metabolism. The liver produces very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) as a way to export fats out of the liver for storage or to muscles for immediate conversion into energy. VLDLs are composed of an inner core of lipids and an outer layer of phospholipids. As a precursor of the phospholipid phosphatidylcholine (PC), free choline is a required raw material to make VLDL. Without adequate levels of free choline, transport slows and fats will begin to build up within the liver. …” “…Choline Balanced Metabolism: Choline plays a significant role in keeping both cells and bodily systems operating at their best. Another unique feature of choline is its trio of methyl groups which can be given to other molecules. Through methyl donation, choline is able to positively influence metabolic processes that fall out of balance. One prime application of methyl donation is choline’s management of homocysteine, an oxidizer that accumulates in the body as part of normal cell metabolism. High plasma homocysteine seems to be associated with negative impact on both cardiovascular and cognitive function, though further research is needed to understand how. Choline’s donation of a methyl group turns homocysteine into the benign amino acid methionine, which is used to repair and build proteins. …More

#155

My problem with much of these studies rests on certain things:

  1. Like I said earlier, these mice/rats are usually fed absurd amounts of artificial sweeteners, amounts no normal human would or probably even could consume in the same time span. The studies are also usually funded by the Sugar Association, and we can easily track how they’re responsible for most of the scare mongering surrounding artificial sweeteners.

  2. There’s the assumption that once you consume the sweetener, it’s going to trigger a calorie binge. Maybe for some people it does. Not for me. I can have my 24oz coffee with half a packet of stevia and however much sucralose is in two pumps of those sugar-free syrups, and that, along with my 3 tbps of heavy cream, is enough for me. It’s not a gateway drug ffs, I don’t go “welp might as well go get a piece of cake to compliment all that stevia.”

  3. The assumption that even if stevia was that bad, that sugar is somehow less terrible because it’s “natural.” We know sugar is uniquely terrible, outclassed only by fructose unaccompanied by fiber. We also are assuming that we’re consuming artificial sweeteners even anywhere close to the amounts we were consuming sugar or HFCS, which I’m not. Not even in the ballpark.

  4. I’ve been losing weight, and a substantial amount of that has been fat loss, while consuming my coffees like that, as well as diet soda and the occasional Atkins treat. It’s possible it may be giving me issues I can’t see, but fat gain apparently isn’t one of them.

(Bunny) #156

If I were eating artificial sweeteners everyday (a ridiculous amount?), then I would be worried about bioaccumulation[1] in my fat cells? If it becomes lipophilic (liposomal; fat soluble) then it’s not just innocently passing through my body as a water soluble substance?

Footnotes:

[1] e.g. “…Further, sucralose was found in adipose tissue in rats two weeks after cessation of the 40-day feeding period even though this compound had disappeared from the urine and feces. Thus, depuration of sucralose which accumulated in fatty tissue requires an extended period of time after discontinuation of chemical ingestion. These new findings of metabolism of sucralose in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and its accumulation in adipose tissue were not part of the original regulatory decision process for this agent and indicate that it now may be time to revisit the safety and regulatory status of this organochlorine artificial sweetener. …” …More

#157

Again, I’m not gaining fat; the worst I’ve ever done is maintain weight, I so far haven’t seen a case of increased fat, so I don’t see the problem.

(Bunny) #158

Pre-existing fat and bioaccumulation is where I would see the problem, may make it more difficult to burn the fat you already have because the adipose tissue is sucking it up like a sponge?

That is a type of artificial chemical sugar I would not want to be bioaccumulating in my existing adipose or visceral adipose tissue!

#159

I’ll take my chances.

(Pan Dulce) #160

I usually say, “Please give me a grande nitro cold brew in a venti cup. Fill it up the rest of the way with heavy whipping cream.” I sometimes also say, “Please add four pumps of sugar free cinnamon dolce syrup.”

I like this combo because it’s fairly low acid, and gets me the most bang for my buck in terms of whipping cream. I think the syrup usually makes me feel hungry, so I don’t as often request this. It costs USD4-5.

(Full disclosure, I read many of the replies, but not all 159 and counting, so please excuse this if it’s a repeat!)

(Jane- Old Inky Crone) #161

You’ll probably think this is just anecdotal, but aspartame gives ME seizures, and very long lasting migraines. It took literal months of weekly visits to the neurologist to figure out that aspartame was the cause.