Started Drinking Crystal Light and I was told it will make me fat???!!! HUH!

I told a friend about my switch from Coca cola to crystal light.  Beaming that I finally am no longer a coke drinker (mind you it was never diet).  I was quickly told artificial sweetners impede weight loss and lead to weight gain .  So much for my new found love of crystal light.  So I decided to do my own research before I took her word to the bank.  I'm sorry to say that everything I found supported her statement.  Now what?  I guess it is water for me for the rest of my life.

An except from an article.
Now here's the truth about artificial sweeteners:

• They fool the body
• Cause cravings
• Don't provide nutrition
• Add poisons to the body
• Don't help make your body a fat-burning machine

 

So really, how do artificial sweeteners make you fat? It works like this: You drink something sweet. Your body senses the sweetness as carbohydrate. It gets ready to process the sugar. But nothing happens.

But your body is now ready for the carbohydrates. It needs it. So it demands more. And still nothing happens. And it demands more. And it doesn't stop until you satisfy the craving somehow.

And how do you satisfy the cravings? Cookies. Ice cream. Chocolate. Chips.

 

Diet drinks can kill your weight loss.

Artificial sweeteners -- like NutraSweet -- can kill your weight loss results.

 

It fools the taste buds, primes them for sweet tastes, because it tells your body that a sugar rush is coming. So your body gets ready for the sugar rush. And then it fizzles -- no sugar rush.

But your body is ready. So it sends you signals that it is time to eat. Time to get the sugar. So you feel hungry. You don't need more calories. Not really. But still you feel hungry.

 

The evidence

 

The best evidence is probably your own eyes. A generation ago there was no diet soda and people were a lot thinner. Look in some old photos and you will see.

But if you want scientific evidence, you could start with a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, May 14th, 2008, page 2137.)

They found that low-calorie sweeteners "help promote weight gain." They also found that artificial sweeteners "increase appetite for sweet foods" and "promote overeating."

An increased appetite for sweets and more overeating is the last thing you need.

 

You can't fight the feeling

Well, that's hard to fight, feeling hungry.

 

But you fight it off. But then your body still wants its sugar rush. So it sends even more signals.

And then you're really hungry. Finally you give in. So you eat -- you've got to eat -- something, anything, everything!

You can eat a whole day's worth of food in one evening snack!

 

The easy way to gain 10 pounds without even trying

If you do that -- eat a whole day's worth of food in an evening -- even two times each week, you can gain 10 pounds in a couple of months! Holy cow! No wonder you can't lose weight.

 

See, look around. All the people that you see drinking Diet Coke are overweight. Skinny people don't drink Diet Coke. Skinny people don't need to drink Diet Coke.

Sure, there's exceptions to everything. You might have a skinny friend that drinks diet drinks and artificial sweeteners and all of that.

But usually it's the overweight people that drink all the artificial sweeteners, and it's a trap. Get yourself out of that trap.

 

Eat real

You don't lose weight and get healthy and fit by putting artificial food in your body.

 

You do lose weight by eating good, nutritious, healthy food. Real food. Even real sugar when you want something sweet.

Fact is, if you get enough exercise you can eat just about anything you want.

So eat right. Eat real. And lose the weight.

Well what I will say is this:

That article was probably written for people with normal digestive systems. While the changes in our systems don't totally eradicate these things, our capacity to eat is diminished in a way that it's not so big of a problem.

I drink Crystal Light. Chew sugar free gum. Eat and drink things with Splenda.

I've lost 155 lbs. and am maintaing and find it quite difficult to eat the amount my nutritionist told me at this point I should eat (about 1800-2000 calories to keep up with a 2500 calorie a day burn rate). I'm 2+ years out.

So...take that for what it's worth. I'm sure Pam'll be along to give you a more scientific rebuttal though.

When I was about 2 months out I discovered the little powder packets that you add to a water bottle.  I found sugar free snapple - fruit punch.  I loved it and I was getting tons of fluids in that way - couldnt' stomach plain water at all. I was drinking 4 water bottles per day and in 1 month, I gained 5 pounds - didnt' change a thing.  NUT told me to stop using any artificial sweetners and the weight gain stopped and I started losing again.  3 months later I decided to try it again and sure enough I gained weight again.  Now that I am at goal, I Will on occasion have a half of a bottle but that is all I will have.  In some people, it does cause us to gain weight - even post op.

My nutritionist said the same thing.  No Crystal Light, nothing with aspartame, but I am allowed drinks sweetened with Splenda.  I just drink decaf iced tea with splenda.  Water makes my belly hurt.  I was super bummed about not being able to drink Crystal Light too!

I thought Crystal Light was sweetened with Splenda! Shows how much I know! (Going off to check the label...)

My crystal light has Spenda.
Crystal light is on my list and I am sticking to my list.
The article refers to nutra sweet, I bet if they did a new article today things would not include Splenda or Crystal Light.

You might want to double check the label.  ALL Crystal Light is sweetened with aspartame (Nutra Sweet).  I'm allergic to it so I try to read every label.  If I recall correctly Crystal Light is made by the same company that makes Equal (Nutra Sweet).

Just checked, mine definitely says aspartame, plain as day/   I'll finish this because it was so expensive, but that'll be my last purchase.

I use walmart brand. Mine says sucralose, which is Splenda.

Which flavors are best?