Supplementation during fasting

[Garrett Smith]

I don't know which data Robb was referring to...I found the hypoglycemia part of this study interesting...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_docsum

During test meals with sucralose, one episode of symptomatic hypoglycemia occurred in each of three IDDM patients, but these episodes were not considered the result of sucralose administration.

I'd be interested to know why three of the sucralose subjects experienced symptomatic hypoglycemia, none of the others did, and yet it's somehow not related to the sucralose...I mean, there was only 26 total subjects and it was a cross-over study...why did it happen to 3 of the IDDM subjects when consuming sucralose and not with the other meals? I just find it interesting...

Maybe Robb has more interesting stuff than I could find on a simple PubMed search.

[Stuart Mather]

Originally Posted by Robb Wolf

Stuart-
There is a mountain of data on this phenomena:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

I just grabbed this one, there are more...and yes, an artificial sweetener will releases insulin, crash blood sugar and cause a desire for more carbs. It also perpetuates insulin resistance. Our clients who refuse to cut artificial sweeteners from the diet have a buggar of a time loosing weight compared to the folks who are low-carb AND not using sweeteners.

There are many studies showing a potent insulin release in individuals simply looking at or thinking about sweets. The effects vary but they can be quite dramatic.

I'm thinking that there might be more of the 'Pavlov' mechanism at work here than we realize. Robb, the studies you have linked to are all really short term. The metabolic necessity of releasing insulin if sweet 'normally' means elevated blood sugar, is a pretty compelling reason for insulin cranking up 'just at the thought of sweet' - dog saliva like. But over time, if you constantly remind yourself that 'sweet' does not mean carbs at all, then perhaps neither the mental association, much less calorie free sweet taste, produces insulin release. I honestly can't even remember if the first few months of VLC (<40g) regular AS use were characterized by blood sugar crashes. I would have thought I would have remembered, life long hypoglycemia was one of the reasons I got interested in low carbing to begin with. But the last five years have been hypoglycemia free. It's probably the most conspicuous benefit of this dietary approach. But my regular AS use is matched only by my avoiding intense calorific sweet completely.

Why would you mess with the hard stuff if you can have all the fun without any downside? And for all those culinary adventures where the functional characteristics of sugar are essential, there's erythritol, so you can avoid the side effects of all the other sugar alcohols too .

[Allen Yeh]

Originally Posted by Robb Wolf

There are some helpful items out there like cinnamon which works as an insulin analog but without decreasing insulin receptor density. Using stevia to drop blood sugar is not fixing the damn problem.

How much cinnamon is recommended per day? Currently I'll throw in a tbsp in my shake and since being here I've read how cinnamon is good but I don't recall specific amounts being mentioned.

[Allen Yeh]

Originally Posted by Robb Wolf

I just grabbed this one, there are more...and yes, an artificial sweetener will releases insulin, crash blood sugar and cause a desire for more carbs. It also perpetuates insulin resistance. Our clients who refuse to cut artificial sweeteners from the diet have a buggar of a time loosing weight compared to the folks who are low-carb AND not using sweeteners.

You answered my question before I even asked it! Last night I was thinking about artificial sweeteners and I knew you had said in some it can pose a problem. I was wondering on the "how do you know it causes a problem" and voila the answer was here when I logged on.

Robb the mind reader/nerd herd flying saucer guru!

[Robb Wolf]

All I know is AS's can buggar weight loss and clean eating in many people. For some it may work as an effective half-way house and like any tool they have their application...it's just not as simple as "sugar free...good to go".

This is a bit like the caffeine question. Barry Sears (I think Atkins concurred on this) recommends against it as it stalls weight loss in obese individuals. For athletes caffiene can work as a potent lipolytic, especially if used the right way. I just tracked a paper down that talks about the blunted endocrine/lipolytic response to epinephrine in the obese.
Same chemical, different populations, different considerations.

[Mike ODonnell]

Originally Posted by Robb Wolf

This is a bit like the caffeine question. Barry Sears (I think Atkins concurred on this) recommends against it as it stalls weight loss in obese individuals.

I want to be there when Robb tells people this while sipping his 6th expresso....