Aspartame?

Will consuming aspartame hamper my weight loss?

ive heard that for some people artificial sweeteners make them stall, but really who knows if its the artificial sweeteners fault?  i dont think it will affect your weight loss.

Not by itself, but there are some suspicions that it stimulates apetite.

Probably.  Check out a (lenghty) list of Aspartame side effects here:

http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-eff ects.html

I used Equal back when it first came out in those handy little packets.  Not that I needed to lose any weight but I just wanted to cut down on sugar in general. Within two weeks time I was dizzy, had heart palpitations, problem staying awake during the day, upset stomach and I felt like I was dying, kidding you not.  Stopped using Equal and 10 days later I was back to my normal self, feeling well and my heart "problem" just vanished.  Haven't touched any Aspartame containing product since.

The only thing that will hamper your weight-loss significantly is 'eating too much'.   The downside of aspartame are the foods it tends to appear in... mostly heavily processed or 'diet' foods with little nutritional content.  Fizzy drinks, 'sugar-free' dessert, etc.  If you eat too many of those kinds of foods and not enough fresh wholefoods (fruit, vegetables, wholegrains etc.) then you can get a diet that is nutritionally poor.  People with a nutritionally poor diet tend to eat bigger amounts, are less satisfied with what they eat and struggle with hunger-pangs more than people with a well-balanced diet.

'Moderation' is the watchword.... choose your foods carefully and avoid eating too many foods that are artificially produced or flavoured.  

I have used aspartame in my coffee for many years. The alternative is a teaspoonful of sugar (16 calories) in each of my 4 cups of coffee a day...64 calories.

In a year that's 23,360 calories or nearly 7 pound of extra fat. Thank GOD for aspartame. (My taste preference is actually for cyclamate but that requires ordering from Canada and high shipping costs...it's illegal to sell cyclamate in the United States.)

I don't care much for the taste of Splenda but can use it in a pinch and despise both saccharine and stevia...both nauseatingly inedible!

It has helped me lose weight.  I use it regularly in cereal, coffee, and iced tea.  I think the talk about it is as misplaced as the mouse experiment with saccharin years ago was ill conceived!

Aspartame might stimulate insuline production, so is not that great for weight loss.  But you could use sucralose (like splenda) instead.  Sucralose or stevia are good choices to replace sugar.

There are studies that show that both Aspartame and Splenda mess with one's insulin levels and blood sugar.  Stevia does not, and frankly, it tastes the same to me as any artificial sweetener.

There was a study a few years back that showed that people who gave up drinking soda lost an average of 20 lbs in the first year.  The numbers were the same for people that gave up drinking diet soda as for those who drank regular.  That's rather telling.  20 pounds lost by giving up diet soda.  So there is deffinately an effect, whether that's from making you hungry so that you eat too much, or from it effecting your blood sugar levels.

Now if one is just going to use an artificial sweetener to sweeten their coffee, for example, I don't see any harm in it.  (I myself can only use Stevia, because the chemical sweeteners trigger my migraines.)  But if one is loading up on artificially sweetened things, everything from diet soda to sugar free jello, then you might want to consider cutting back.

My personal favorite is erythritol.  It is a sugar alcohol and does not promote an insulin response.  It is not quite as sweet as sugar - but it is the only 0 calorie sweetener I have ever tried that is a very close second.

It is not bitter like artificial sweeteners.  It actually tastes good!! 

You dont have to spend time getting used to it.  But it is expensive so it is best used where you will really appreciate how much like sugar it really is,  I use it in coffee and tea.

It is 1 million times better than the pink, yellow and blue packets!

Yes it will. Your body doesn't know how to digest it, so it treats it like a toxin or fat. It gets pushed aside and then slows your metabolism dramatically. You feel sluggish, your body isn't running efficiently. It is a poison to your body. Yes, it has no calories but overall it is bad and will make it difficult to lose weight. I ingested aspartame for YEARS! Diet foods, diet soda, splenda, sugar free foods, you name it. Cut out all aspartame all together. You will see a huge difference in energy and weight loss. If you have to sweet something, use brown sugar. Your body is designed for 100% organic food. All the processed foods out there and aspartame slow you down and messes with your blood sugars, liver and metabolism. 

Original Post by charlie188:

If you have to sweet something, use brown sugar. Your body is designed for 100% organic food. All the processed foods out there and aspartame slow you down and messes with your blood sugars, liver and metabolism. 

Just so you know, brown sugar as sold in the US is white refined sugar with added molasses. If you're very concerned about eating processed food, you'd be better off with something like Sugar in the Raw (a brand name).

That said, I drink diet sodas from time to time. They neither make me hungry nor sluggish, but I understand that others' bodies react differently. And I do think it's a better idea to just adjust to the taste of unsweetened beverages. As for food with artificial sweeteners - I can't stand the taste. I'd rather eat less of the real thing.

Good looking out about the brown sugar, I will check into that, I never heard that. I do use raw sugar as well too.

As for you drinking a diet soda from time to time, that is fine and you won't have the effects I was talking about. Everything in moderation is good. I was referring to the people who think they have found a loop hole to losing weight and having sweets. Like I said, I consumed aspartame for years and in large amounts, all because I thought it would help in my cravings, weight loss, I could have a lot of things still and it made it feel like I wasn't really dieting. But it was just making it worse.

Aspartame side effects are bloatedness or the marshmellow look, I had that for years no matter how much I worked out or ran. I was in the Marine Corps. for years and ran my arse off and still had that puffiness going on. It makes your liver work overtime which effects the way your body burns fat. It is concentrating so much on what to do with Aspartame that it takes away from your body burning fat. It also enhances cellulite. I guess I should have elaborated more.

I would have it in my oatmeal along with sugar free syrup every morning. I would consumer at least 2 sugar free Red Bulls a day, along with sugar free Kool-aid, Crystal Light, diet sodas, caffine free diet sodas, Splenda, even sugar free candies. Just to give you an idea of how much I consumed in a day. It's important to mention caffine free drinks because I have heard people say "it was the caffeine making me feel sluggish" but that wasn't the case. I now still drink coffee/tea but with out aspartame. I am fine.

So, everything in moderation. But overall it isn't healthy. The "would you feed it to your baby" is a good way to look at things. No, I wouldn't give a diet soda to my baby in a bottle. So, yes, you are right everyone is different but you never know, someone could be the same as me. It could be useful information. Doesn't hurt to try, it worked for me. =)