Is there a connection between Cravings And Diet Drinks?
I recently shared an article on facebook about the negative effects of soft drink. This particular article didn’t discuss DIET soft drinks but recent research has indicated that diet soft drink may be the main reason you struggle to keep your weight under control. Researchers are also now concerned that artificial sweeteners might even be one of the causes of our obesity epedemic! So if you think that diet soft drink is helping you to lose weight, think again.
Research has shown that the intense flavour of artificial sweeteners found in diet soft drink appears to dull our senses to naturally sweet foods such as fruit. Artificial sweeteners seems to effect the body in exactly the same way sugar does when it comes to triggering the insulin response and impacts the body’s capacity to process blood sugar, leading to possible development of both diabetes and obesity .
During a news conference on the subject, Dr. Eran Elinav, immunologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel explained the study. “The experiments were conducted on mice and showed artificial sweeteners abruptly increased the glucose in the blood to a dangerous level. Decreasing very slowly, the high sugar level was linked by the researchers to the alteration of the bacteria in the digestive system, inflicted by the use of artificial sweeteners.
Many of us are under the impression that because a soft drink had artificial sweeteners in it or was labelled as a “diet” drink it would help us to lose weight. Researchers from the University of Texas found that a study conducted over the course of about 10 years, showed that there was a 70% greater increase in waist circumference between those who drank diet drinks compared to those who did not. That’s a waist change of 66 cm to 112 cm in 10 years.
The way artificial sweeteners confuses the body plays a part, but another reason might be psychological. When you think you’re not consuming any liquid kilojoules, it might be easier to justify those hot chips or that extra piece of cake. Years ago I used to drink diet coke and have a packet of potato chips thinking that one cancelled the other out.
EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) is one of the easiest and fastest ways of getting long term relief from sugar cravings. Dr Peta Stapleton from Bond University is actively undertaking clinical trials on EFT and cravings with excellent results. The great thing about EFT it once you learn how to do it it can be used on almost any emotional issue.