Artificial Sweeteners And T1D

Living with type 1 diabetes can be tough - to say the least. Not only do we have extreme regimens with insulin and low corrections but our diets tend to be fairly strict as well. So of course when a low-carb anything comes out, we have to and are drawn to try it. Makes sense, we are only humans after all. 

The thing is, we are so conditioned to think about what we can’t eat, it makes eating/drinking these products that much more appealing and while there are many products I can talk about, this month I wanted to focus primarily on “sugar free” beverages specifically. 

If you are part of our Facebook group (inside The Warrior’s Tribe) you may remember a few months ago when we had this discussion and I thought it was extremely important to bring it to everyone because I think everyone living with diabetes can benefit from this information!

What is an Artificial Sweetener?

Let’s start by breaking down what artificial sweeteners are in the first place - we can’t really understand sugar-free beverages if we don’t first understand what it is we are putting in our bodies. Below is a list of artificial sweeteners that are commonly used in foods and drinks and I made sure to use their brand name (the name you see advertised) versus the generic name (the name you will find on the label). 

In the list you will see Stevia as well. Now while this is a list of artificial sweeteners to keep things simple, I do not want to confuse anyone at all. Stevia is a plant-based and natural sweetener and out of all on the list, is probably my preference because it is in fact natural. That being said, you can see it is still 300 times sweeter than sugar and that is going to be super important when we read below about the impact this has on our taste buds. 

Types of products with artificial sweeteners

While there are many food products that contain artificial sweeteners, I like to focus more on beverages that contain them because these are very easy for us to get our hands-on. These include: 

• Diet sodas (Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Dr. Pepper)

• Diet Sports Drinks (Gatorade Zero, Powerade Zero, Vitamin Water Zero) 

• Diet energy drinks (Sugar-Free Redbull, Blue Monster, Sugar-Free Rockstar)

• Starbucks or other Fast Food Chain drinks (Skinny Caramel Frappuccino, Sugar-Free Vanilla Latte) 

Of course, these are only a few examples in the realm of diet drinks but it is important to stay familiar with everything that falls under this umbrella. Sometimes we think that because these are sugar-free that it means they are healthy but they are only healthy for us in the sense that it prevents high blood sugars and low calorie. But we are whole people, not just diabetics, so we need to make sure we take care of every part of our body.

Why SHOULD this matter to us? 

There are many reasons why drinking sugar-free beverages should stay on our radar. Of course, it is great that drinking these beverages do not spike blood sugar. No one can argue about that! It is important, however, to remember that there are other consequences of drinking these beverages, and here are a few things to consider. 

If you remember above I showed you that artificial sweeteners can be anywhere from 180-600 times sweeter than sugar. This means we are priming our taste buds to crave sweeter things. At that moment we are avoiding high blood sugar but when it comes time to have a treat or if we experience a late-night craving, we are setting our taste buds up to not be satisfied. This means we are likely to eat more of whatever treat we are having which will raise blood sugars. Not only that, these treats are typically high in calories and if we overdo it, can cause some weight gain. Remember that weight gain can cause you to become more insulin resistant. While we don’t need to focus on weight 100% of the time, it all stems from drinking a sugar-free beverage that we’ve been taught is super healthy. In reality, it might be the one thing standing between you and your diabetes goals. 

Not only are we priming taste buds, but we are also tricking our minds into thinking we can eat more since we are doing a “good” thing by avoiding excess sugar. For example, I LOVE In-N-Out... absolutely love it. When I was first diagnosed I would sometimes say no to the fries and get a milkshake instead. While it was a healthier choice rather than eating both those options together (plus the burger) I instantly felt like I was “healthier” because I did this. While I am NOT putting anyone down who does this, it is funny the way our mind can justify things and it can very quickly turn from every once in a while to all the time. In the same way, we may be justifying eating something else (high in carbs) because we are opting for Diet Coke rather than regular Coke. Maybe if you’re at a party where there are a lot of snacks or something to that effect. While we don’t have to be perfect diabetes robots we do want to be mindful of our habits and how often we are or aren’t doing something. If it truly is every once in a while for you, no harm no foul. If you find yourself constantly justifying high carb foods, then it might be time to take inventory of habits and see where we can improve. 

Our system is not used to eating artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols which can lead to some stomach issues. I’ll never forget my first Halloween after my diagnosis (I was diagnosed 1 month before) everyone in my family went crazy with the Sugar-Free candies to make sure I felt included. What we all didn’t realize was that it was going to wreck my system. This can include gas, bloating, diarrhea, or just general stomach pain/discomfort. While not the main reason to stay away, it can make us feel “crappy”, (pun intended) which can impact the way we manage our blood sugar. 

Last but not least, back in May I wrote a blog about our gut microbiome and spent a few weeks talking about it with others. Since those artificial sweeteners are in fact artificial, our gut bacteria is not ready to process these products and as a result eating or drinking too much of these things can mess up our gut microbiome. For more details about the effects of having bad bacteria in the gut microbiome, please click here. To keep it brief, bad bacteria in the gut microbiome can lead to depressed moods, weight gain, increased hunger, and worse blood sugar control - all things we tend to want to avoid. 

How to implement into your day to day life 

What does this mean? That you can NEVER have any sugar free drink or treat ever again for the rest of your life?! OF COURSE NOT! 

What it does mean is that like anything else, we need to practice moderation. While it feels like we can have these beverages every single day - we honestly should try to limit them the same way we would limit soda as a person who doesn’t live with diabetes, or in the same way we limit sweet treats. We have a lot working against us and the last thing we want to add is something else. Not only this, but if you have been struggling with meeting your goals then this might be a simple thing you may be overlooking. 

Like anything else, never stop cold turkey, be sure to set a small, realistic, achievable goal for yourself as you slowly decrease the amount of sugar-free drinks you are drinking. Opt for non-sweetened beverages like tea, coffee, water, or fruit-flavored water. 

And of course, remember to indulge yourself every so often - you are in fact a human with real needs and cravings. The more you deprive yourself, the worse your cravings will become. Always remember to be gentle and speak kindly to yourself - you do not need to get down on yourself, rather harness that energy to set a new goal for yourself. 

Keep up the fight Warriors! 

Taylor, PA-S, T1D