About those diet sodas - aspartame

The case for and against diet sodas and artifical sweeteners has been building for years. Sifting facts from hype isn't easy. The very name, diet soda, strongly implies that you'll lose weight if you indulge.


Research last week reported that drinking diet sodas increases the risk of having metabolic syndrome. You don't want to have metabolic syndrome - it's the precusor to type 2 diabetes, and it's symptoms include weight gain especially around the waist, elevated blood sugar levels, higher blood pressure, elevated triglyerides and low HDL (the good choesterol), and insulin resistance. Fortunately with lavish aerobic exercise and a low-glycemic diet, you can banish metabolic syndrome. Oh, and yes, toss the diet sodas and other foods that contain artificial sweetener. The research was done on Equal, or aspartame, not on Splenda or sucralose. The jury's out on Splenda's ultimate health effects.

If the food label of a sweet-tasting product says "diet", or "no sugar", it may not be good for your waistline. Just saying 'no' sounds easy, but I know it's not. Some of my clients get hooked on diet sodas, not just on the caffeine buzz, but also on the lingering sweet taste and they crave it. Here's a couple suggestions for kicking the aspartame habit:

• If you really want a diet soda, drink a glass at one meal, don't sip on it throughout the day. When the meal's over, toss what remains of your soda. Yes, you'll still be drinking the soda, but you'll be reducing your consumption to one manageable glass a day.
• Instead of reaching for a beverage sweetened with artificial sweetener, have a packet of Emergen-C in a glass of water. You get taste, vitamins, electrolytes, minerals and a fizzy fresh taste. Emergen-C is widely available at grocery and health food stores.
• Drink water plain or with a squeeze of lemon.
• Drink tea or coffee plain or sweetened with stevia, a sweet-tasting and healthy herb from South America also widely available.

Some of my clients lose weight when they break the diet soda habit. Perhaps you will, too.

All the best to you and your health,

Lucy

Weight Loss - What you need to know

Every week in my blog, I'll give you vital info for losing weight and keeping it off. Don't expect diets or exhortions to do more ab crunches - instead, you'll find information that will make a difference for you. This week's topic is stress and how it causes weight gain and prevents weight loss.


Stress packs on the pounds as fast as high-glycemic foods. High-glycemic foods are white and fluffy starches: muffins, bagels, white breads, white potatoes, rice crackers, cookies, cakes, etc. Here's why: When you're stressed, your body has high levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which increases your body's level of insulin, which is the hormone that stores body fat. When you eat the high-glycemic foods, insulin increases, which increases cortisol, making you more stressed. If this sounds like a vicious cycle, it is.


Control your stress by using stress soothers as a "stress-interrupt" every day to melt away the pounds. The first step: stop stressing about your weight. It will come off more easily if you relax about it. Review my list of stress-soothers at http://www.weightloss-wellness.com/emotional-and-spiritual-support/stress-soothers.aspx. Try some and find the ones that work best for you. If yoga's not for you, how about hot baths, hobbies and crafts, or using the back roller at home? Prayer and meditation work, too.


Plus, reduce your intake of high-glycemic foods to lower cortisol levels and break the eating-stress vicious cycle.


All the best,
Lucy Beale