Caffeine & artifical sweeteners questions

[Chupa Cabras]

Okay, during Induction I understand the reason for eliminating stimulants like caffeine, and reducing Splenda so as not to encourage a sweet tooth. But how do these things cause a "stall"?

1) There are no carbs in caffeine, and it's proven to increase metabolism. the decaffination process is terribly unhealthy, and green tea is full of antioxidants. How does caffeine cause a "stall"?

2) Aspartame has very little carbs, but what exactly is in it that causes a "stall"?

3) Splenda has very little carbs also, but why only 3 packets a day? How does too many servings cause a "stall"?

Please help me to understand. I could really get through the day a lot easier if I could have more than one cup of coffee, and some regular instead of decaffe.

[JandLsMom]

Re: Caffeine & artifical sweeteners questions

From my understanding artificial sweetners can cause cravings which will make it harder to stick to your diet. They cause stalls for some people, but not for others. As far as coffee goes, same thing, some can drink it, some can not. I stick to 1-2 cups of coffee a day with only cream in them and i still lose fine. My hubby drinks 4 or more cups of black coffee a day and is still losing. You have to test the theory yourself to figure out if coffee or splenda will cause you problems or not!

[not2late]

Re: Caffeine & artifical sweeteners questions

Okay, during Induction I understand the reason for eliminating stimulants like caffeine, and reducing Splenda so as not to encourage a sweet tooth. But how do these things cause a "stall"?

1) There are no carbs in caffeine, and it's proven to increase metabolism. the decaffination process is terribly unhealthy, and green tea is full of antioxidants. How does caffeine cause a "stall"?

2) Aspartame has very little carbs, but what exactly is in it that causes a "stall"?

3) Splenda has very little carbs also, but why only 3 packets a day? How does too many servings cause a "stall"?

Please help me to understand. I could really get through the day a lot easier if I could have more than one cup of coffee, and some regular instead of decaffe.

Caffeine can decrease blood sugar. If one's blood sugar goes down too rapidly or to low, it can cause hypoglycemia. There's a big list of the symptoms of blood sugar instability in Chapter 12 of DANDR 2002--so I'm not going to bother reproducing it here. But, one of the symptoms is hunger/cravings for food. So, it's possible to over eat while you are hypoglycemic. Remember, Dr. Atkins did say calories were important and that if your calories in are more than your calories out, you will gain or not lose weight.

Aspartame and Splenda: Before Splenda was introduced in the early 2000s and before the ban on saccharin was lifted, aspartame was the major artificial sweetener. Dr. Atkins noticed that "excessive" amounts of aspartame slowed or stalled weight loss in some of his patients. In DANDR 1992, Dr. Atkins defined "excessive" as "three or more" servings of the product daily. That limit carried over to DANDR 2002.

So why does aspartame and Splenda produce problems? A couple of reasons...In a nutshell, for some people the mere taste of sweet will induce their bodies to produce and release insulin: this is called the cephalic phase insulin response. Insulin is the hormone that "grabs" sugar from the blood and rushes it to the liver. We all have a normal amount of sugar circulating in our blood. If that normal amount is reduced, it causes hypoglycemia.

More interestingly is that we have had diabetic ADBB members who have tested their blood sugar after having these artificial sweeteners and they have noted an increase in their blood sugar levels.


So caffeine and sweetener thing has more to do with how these things affect our blood sugar levels and how keepings these levels steady help our weight loss during Atkins.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Caffeine & artifical sweeteners questions

I would suggest you check your proven study about caffeien and metabolism and check the study criteria.

Atkins is about using fats as the fuel source. Caffeine is an insulin stimulant which is a fat storing not burning hormone.

[Elizellen]

Re: Caffeine & artifical sweeteners questions

Here is an interesting post from the FAQ forum about how caffeine can affect us.
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ead.php?t=6749

[cstraq]

Re: Caffeine & artifical sweeteners questions

Okay, during Induction I understand the reason for eliminating stimulants like caffeine, and reducing Splenda so as not to encourage a sweet tooth. But how do these things cause a "stall"?

1) There are no carbs in caffeine, and it's proven to increase metabolism. the decaffination process is terribly unhealthy, and green tea is full of antioxidants. How does caffeine cause a "stall"?

2) Aspartame has very little carbs, but what exactly is in it that causes a "stall"?

3) Splenda has very little carbs also, but why only 3 packets a day? How does too many servings cause a "stall"?

Please help me to understand. I could really get through the day a lot easier if I could have more than one cup of coffee, and some regular instead of decaffe.

Just wanted to say "thanks" for asking that question! I really needed to hear the answer. Although it's not the answer I wanted, a stall in my weightloss isn't worth it!

[Chupa Cabras]

Re: Caffeine & artifical sweeteners questions

Thanks for the answers and responses. It is much appreciated.

My husband is a diabetic, and has been for many years. He has never been told to eliminate caffeine from his diet. But recent research does indicate that excessive caffeine causes spikes in insulin, and makes controling blood sugar levels much harder.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5518110/

Excessive is the key word here (not sure how much that is.) I think I'm going to tell my hubby to cut the caffeine, and see if it helps with his blood sugar control.

I will continue to drink decafe, but I can't keep the Splenda to 3 packets a day. It's the only thing I'm having difficulty with on induction. I use 2 teaspoons in a mug of coffee, and I drink 2 a day.

I also like to have the sugar-free candies (Nips particularly) made with sugar alcohols. To signal the end of the meal (it used to be a cigarette, but those days are gone!) I have the decafe and two candies, and then I'm done for the evening.

[not2late]

Re: Caffeine & artifical sweeteners questions

Thanks for the answers and responses. It is much appreciated.

My husband is a diabetic, and has been for many years. He has never been told to eliminate caffeine from his diet. But recent research does indicate that excessive caffeine causes spikes in insulin, and makes controling blood sugar levels much harder.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5518110/

Excessive is the key word here (not sure how much that is.) I think I'm going to tell my hubby to cut the caffeine, and see if it helps with his blood sugar control.

I will continue to drink decafe, but I can't keep the Splenda to 3 packets a day. It's the only thing I'm having difficulty with on induction. I use 2 teaspoons in a mug of coffee, and I drink 2 a day.

I also like to have the sugar-free candies (Nips particularly) made with sugar alcohols. To signal the end of the meal (it used to be a cigarette, but those days are gone!) I have the decafe and two candies, and then I'm done for the evening.

The medical community has a knack for not defining what "excessive" or "moderate" is. In the two links below, you'll see the conflict. One article considers "moderate" caffiene to be 250 milligrams daily. The other calls "moderate" caffiene intake to be 300 milligrams daily.

Here's a link about caffiene:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/002445.htm
http://www.ameribev.org/health/caffeine.asp

[Chupa Cabras]

Re: Caffeine & artifical sweeteners questions

And in the test studies, they used 125 milligrams. And the average cup of coffee can contain between 106-164 milligrams!!! Well, that doth suck.

I've been doing great without the caffeine for almost two months. I don't think it helped me lose weight, but I feel better without it.

My weight loss has been extremely slow, and it's disappointing to cut so many things from your diet and get minimal results. I'm trying to justify putting some things back in that I really liked since I don't see any correlation between the two.

[Angelasherell]

Re: Caffeine & artifical sweeteners questions

And in the test studies, they used 125 milligrams. And the average cup of coffee can contain between 106-164 milligrams!!! Well, that doth suck.

I've been doing great without the caffeine for almost two months. I don't think it helped me lose weight, but I feel better without it.

My weight loss has been extremely slow, and it's disappointing to cut so many things from your diet and get minimal results. I'm trying to justify putting some things back in that I really liked since I don't see any correlation between the two.

Chupa,
We are the same age, height and almost the same weight. You have been doing it longer then me. I suspect that the weight loss pace is due to our age, not having alot to lose and being somewhat close to goal. Dr Atkins spoke about us in the book. (Mental pause) It seems 5-7 lbs a month is the norm and really good when you think about it.