The artificial sugar study
Yesterday's release from Purdue University, showing that rats fed yogurt with saccharine gained more weight than rats whose yogurt had regular sugar, did not surprise me.
Diet Coke has always made me hungry. Of course, I also claim to be able to feel my high blood pressure. And some have called me a dirty rat.
We should also note that the PDF file of the study (A Role for Sweet Taste: Calorie Predictive Relations in Energy Regulation by Rats) tested just nine critters. Your rat may vary.
But the result is not counterintuitive, as Time Magazine claimed. It makes perfect sense to me. What is interesting is the specific way this works, according to co-author Susan Swithers.
Your body heat rises as you eat, but if you're fed a sugar substitute it doesn't rise as much. This leads to sedentary behavior and weight gain.
It's really the opposite of the Pavlov's Dog response. We're conditioned to think sugar means calories. Then we learn sugar may mean no calories. We cut back our normal response to calories. Thus it takes more food to get the response.
The late Dena Dietrich was right when she said, advertising Chiffon margine, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."
Most of the soft drinks I consume contain sugar. My body expects to become full from the drink. When that doesn't happen, if I get a diet drink, I start to crave the calories anyway.
Oddly this doesn't happen when I consume, say, unsweetened iced tea. Tea doesn't make me hungry.
Further studies will be needed to see whether this effect holds for other artificial sweeteners. Skeptics like Adam Drewnowski, director of the nutrition sciences program at the University of Washington, will be waiting anxiously for them.
My feeling is if you lie to your body, your body might just lie to you.
Another great philosopher, Soupy Sales, once said this in relation to teeth ("Be true to your teeth and they won't be false to you") but it may hold for our tummies, too.
So hold the Olestra. If you want to lose weight eat less and walk more. Start by eating more slowly and parking further from the office. Then try climbing the stairs and consuming smaller portions.
It takes time but it works. By the time you're walking three miles a day and then enjoying a simple salad, I guarantee you'll have lost weight. Regardless of whether you drink a Coke or Diet Coke with it.