diet drinks: myth or fact?

[emily_in_nc]

Here ya go:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/Sto...4271246&page=1

[Miranda]

Here ya go:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/Sto...4271246&page=1

Thx for that link. There were so many different articles that came up when I googled. I think it means "the sweet" just makes you crave more "sweets" in general. I wonder in the study of people if it's a sense of false hope?

Meaning, "well, even though I'm at McDonald's drive thru getting a BigMac meal with french fries, I'm drinking a diet pop, so that's a calorie saver".

That reminds me of a life changing diet book I read. It was bought originally for DH's high cholesterol. "The South Beach Diet". That doc's book made the most sense to me of anything I have ever read.

At the time, I was on the "fat free diet" approach. The SBD doc says all they did was strip out the fat, and load the product up with sugary bad carbs that just make your blood sugar skyrocket and crash. Which leads to craving more sugar/carbs to balance yourself out.

I'm going to dig my book back out and see if he mentions the fake sugars.

[Eden]

Interesting article. It sounded like they don't really know why the artificial sweetener rats overeat, if its physiological or psychological, but the researcher seemed to be leaning toward physiological. If that's the case then does it go for all non-sugar type sweeteners or only truly artificial ones? So say aspertame or saccharine would be bad, but stevia or sucralose OK?

[Zen]

I like splenda, hate diet soda and make my own green tea blend (cut the grassiness with a bag of Earl Grey).

So there ya go.

[Kalidurga]

If you like drinking bottled tea for convenience or whatever, Honest Tea's Honey Green and Just Green are both good, as are their black teas. On the whole, the company uses very little sugar in their products, if any.

Though my preference is always for a good robust black tea with a lotta raw sugar. White sugar just doesn't seem to have as much flavor as raw, and all of the artificial sweeteners taste funky to me.

[Jolt]

Looks like somebody already mentioned the study on this topic that I had heard about and was going to bring up. As for diet soda etc. and anything with fake sugar, I just don't think they're good for you regardless. Too many funky chemicals with unknown long-term effects (besides, they just taste icky IMHO). Try putting a little bit of honey in the green tea and see if you like it better that way. You can also add lemon juice.

[channlluv]

I love Honest Tea, but I found I can save a lot of money if I brew my own. I go for easy, too. I use Culligan water in a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup, plus four tea bags, in the microwave for five minutes, then I let it steep while I finish making breakfast. (Go ahead and cringe all you tea pros. I know that's not the best way, but it take so long for the water to boil on the stove, and then steep, too...I can't be late for work.)

I use various green teas. Lipton's green tea is pretty good. I like organic jasmine green tea, too, though. And I rarely use sweetener, but I guess I've gotten used to the bitter notes.

I pour my four cups into portable water bottles and drink it through lunch.

People keep asking me what my secret is for beautiful skin. I tell them green tea. Me and Gwyneth Paltrow. I read it in a magazine. Ha!

Also, I read in another magazine - or maybe it was here - that if you take those brewed green tea bags and let them cool, then rub them on your bare skin and let the green tea dry, your skin soaks up lots of antioxidants.

I don't know if that's true or not, but my skin actually has improved quite a bit since I started doing that. It helps my rosacea a lot.

How do you all transport your drinking water every day? I know you're supposed to drink half your body weight in ounces of water. For me, that's 125 ounces of water every day. That's just shy of 16 cups of water. A full gallon of water. Ai-chi-wah-wah.

I don't drink soda at all, but I do get two or three pieces of fruit every day. I think that helps, but I never get the full amount of water.

How do you all do it?

Roxy

[Miranda]

...but I never get the full amount of water.

How do you all do it?

Thx for the tea tips. As far as water goes, I'm really bad about that. I hate drinking just plain water and am working on that one. For spin class say, I'll make sure I drink one water bottle. That's three 8oz glasses. Now, I've been refilling it before I leave the gym and make sure I drink it before the days over. That makes six 8oz glasses total. I have always just went by the 6-8 glasses (8oz each) a day thing. The other things I drink have caffeine in them (coffee, tea) so I don't count them.

[Miranda]

I like splenda, hate diet soda and make my own green tea blend (cut the grassiness with a bag of Earl Grey).

So there ya go.

That's good to know because I like Earl Grey. I typically use a decaf form for the evenings. A Brittish lady friend of mine instroduced it to me a few years ago. She's since moved away, or I'd have her brewing my tea the "proper way".

[Miranda]

Thanks, those are great tea tips for one thing! I think the jury is still out on the fake sugars. I think I'm going to ditch any drinks with the fake sweetner. I know this sounds crazy, but giving up diet pop again was hard. If it's the fake sweetner that causes me the trouble, I don't want to be drinking it again in anything else. I think on my health food store trip I'll ask them about the alternatives mentioned here for supplies.

[channlluv]

My favorite natural sweeters are Stevia (you can buy it in packets, like Splenda, et. al., but it's natural, not chemical) and Agave nectar, which is a little pricy, but similar to honey in consistency and delivery (in a sqeeze bottle).

Roxy