Any long-term hypoglycemia diet should focus on avoidance of sugar, but would the substitutes leave you better off?
Most people think so without checking anything further. After all hypoglycemia symptoms are about sugar, right?
From my own clinical experience I can attest that sugar substitutes are not any better than sugar for people with blood glucose issues. Artificial sweeteners DO NOT correct blood sugar irregularities – neither short term nor long term.
Unconfusing diabetics
The most affected by this confusion are diabetics. It is common to think that sugar substitutes are better for blood glucose regulation than actual sugar. This is not the case. Both are equally problematic.
It is worth mentioning is that the reason why blood sugar gets erratic is not due to use of the substance itself, but due to faulty sugar metabolism. To improve blood glucose metabolism and remove hypoglycemia symptoms one needs to repair this faulty metabolism and not just switch from bad to potentially even worse blood sugar management.
Download the fridge chart below. You will have a handy hypoglycemia diet tips page whenever you are in the kitchen.
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Without sugar – the studies
The studies on artificial sweeteners vary in conclusions regarding health or ill-health effects, suggesting that there are in fact measurable changes in many physiological variables including liver detoxification enzymes or membrane permeability. However, researchers are unsure what that really means for the users.
Although smaller short term studies are still inconclusive, the long term cohort studies are strongly suggestive. The verdict is clear: artificial sweeteners help neither with weight loss nor with health. Sudden rise in obesity in USA seem to correlate with introduction of artificial sweeteners on the consumer market and long term studies indicate that users of artificial sweeteners tend to put on weight the same way as sugar users.
Hypoglycemia diet for weight loss?
When BMI of soda drinkers got compared it became clear that switching from sugar to non-sugar sweeteners do not make much difference to weight loss. Surprisingly a steady increase in BMI was recorded in ALL soda drinkers regardless of the type of the beverage. What’s even more concerning is the fact that artificial sweetener group seems to be a tad more prone to weight gain than those who chose sugar.
For more hypoglycemia diet tips go to the posts below:
My clinical experience is also worth mentioning. I noticed that people using artificial sweeteners are generally less careful about their dietary choices. These individuals were more likely to reach for highly processed choices, foods loaded with chemical additives, artificial flavors and colors. They were also more likely to trust marketing keywords on the packages and less likely to choose whole unprocessed and thus more nutritious foods.
Testing your beliefs
If you don’t’ use them – great! Carry on as usual, however if you are a firm believer that artificial sweeteners are good for you, I invite you to do a test.
For a full week hydrate yourself with artificially sweetened sodas only. Nothing else. After all, if no ingredients in those drinks are harmful and all beverages are equally hydrating then you should have all fun at zero cost.
Take a challenge. I did. I had enough bad side effects after only one day. However, you are different and you have to be your own judge. After all, studies are just studies, but your own experience will be more relevant and definitely more convincing to you than anything written on paper.
Getting wiser about diets
I personally discourage use of chemical additives including artificial sweeteners. I do not find them to be health-promoting or healthy for the environment. Only diet made of organic unprocessed foods is. That’s why artificial food substitutes do not belong to nutrient-dense diets including healthy hypoglycemia diet.
