Natural Sugar or Diet Chemicals - which one is better for you in your drink?
550572
Better to avoid either.  High doses of refined sugar can lead to obesity and diabetes.  Artifical sweeteners lead to liver, kidney, stomach, circulatory system and mucous membrane problems. Pick your disease!\n\nI suggest you drink low doses of real sugar pop because won't harm your body as much.  Remember that coke has phosphoric acid, a powerful inorganic acid that if consumed in quantities can give you the ulcer of a lifetime, believe me, been there.
729681
Registered Nurse Here; Yes the natural sugars in fruits is much, much, better for ones health.  Than table sugar, table sugar is refined, and pure sugar.  Where as Fruits, are natural, non-concentrate, natural fructose, much easily absorbed my the body.  This is why it's recommend for diabetics as well as the general population to have 3 to 5 servings per day of fruit.  One can eat a bananas or apple and see minimal increase in blood sugar, on the other hand you can add a teaspoon of sugar to a drink such as coffee, or tea.  And the blood sugar in a diabetic raises rapidly.  Thank you for the opportunity to address such a meaningful question, and one that confuses lots of people.
259385
Actually, it is slightly better. The acidity of both does eat away at the enamel on your teeth. But, the sugar in regular soda also allows the bacteria in your mouth to have a field day with your teeth. You should always drink soda through a straw. That way it does not come into nearly as much contact with your teeth and gums.
88462
They basicly take corn syrup (which already has plenty of sugar in it) and add more refined sugars to it. Sugar found in fruits and other natural food sources is fine, but concentrated, refined sugar has been linked to over 100 degenerative diseases. Including arthritis, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, ect.
640051
its worse for you than sugar because you body dosent recognize splenda and cannot process it . your body is able to process sugar so you can get fatter eating splenda.
44106
Sugar alcohols, also know as polyols, are ingredients used as sweeteners and bulking agents. They occur naturally in foods and come from plant products such as fruits and berries. As a sugar substitute, they provide fewer calories (about a half to one-third less calories) than regular sugar. This is because they are converted to glucose more slowly, require little or no insulin to be metabolized and don't cause sudden increases in blood sugar. This makes them popular among individuals with diabetes; however, their use is becoming more common by just about everyone. You may be consuming them and not even know it.
440958
It's true. Commercial fruit juices are full of sugar and usually 10% or less fruit juice. My advice is to read the label. High Fructose Corn Syrup is basically concentrated super sweet sugar. It's hard for your body to process and I beleive it makes people gain weight. Organic juices should not have this and should be 100% juice. Much healthier! My motto is if I can't pronounce it in the ingredient list--I don't eat or drink it.
782679
The sugar in fruit is easier to digest.  That makes fruit sugar easier for those with diabetic condition.  But, you need to consult with your physician about all these things.  \n\nStevia is natural sugar substitute.
714333
I'd go with Equal.  I've had diet lemonade with splenda as the sweetener and it was probably the most God awful thing I have ever had to drink.
139319
I've been drinking Diet Sodas for the past few years -- started the same time as I started Weight Watchers. Ironically enough, I now drink more diet drinks than I ever drank regular drinks. The caffeine has me in it's claws! :) I think there are studies that prove aspartame (an ingredient in most diet drinks and flavored drinks) can be harmful. I still drink them. I found the weeks I drank them less and focused on water, I felt much better. So, the best bet is probably just to stay away from them as much as possible.\n\nI always used the dieting mantra "Everything in moderation" and I think that definitely applies to diet drinks as well. Good luck with your dieting.
1149456
the sugar mentioned in "blood sugar" is glucose.  natural sugars and starches are metabolized to glucose.  if you use a sweetener that is not a carbohydrate, those with chemical formula Cn(H2O)n, you probably won't see an increase in glucose (although, since there is carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen present in those artificial sweeteners, it is theoretically possible for your body to build glucose out of their metabolites).  For example, aspartame has the chemical formula C14H18N2O5.  in order to raise your blood glucose, your body would need to convert this to C6H12O6.  i'm not aware of any enzyme that catalyzes this conversion.  xylitol, sucralose, saccharin, and others do not have the necessary Cn(H2O)n structure to be converted to glucose.\n\non the other hand, your body still needs glucose for efficient energy production, so it will convert other molecules in your body-- such as glycogen, triglycerides, and proteins-- into glucose.  it sounds like you are doing all the right things... exercising will help you get rid of extra glucose storage forms (fat, glycogen) as well as keep your muscle proteins from being broken down and converted to glucose.  controlling your diet is going to be extremely difficult, as carbohydrates are present in pretty much everything, from bread to milk to fruit... you are forcing a big change on your body and it will probably be very stubborn about accepting it.  so your glucose levels will probably drop very gradually provided you follow your doctor's advise precisely.  you may notice that eating foods sweetened with artificial sweeteners actually cause you to crave more sweets.  it's frustrating, i know...\n\nif you are an adult, as i suspect you are, then you most likely have what is known as type II insulin-resistant or adult-onset diabetes mellitus.  your pancreas makes plenty of insulin, but your liver doesn't recognize it.  so taking insulin supplements will not help you.  i know some people who have been diagnosed with type II diabetes and they take insulin shots, but there is no medical or biological reason why they should.  it's generally a bad idea to overdose your body with any hormone.  then again, i suppose it is possible that you had juvenile diabetes which went undiagnosed.  in that case, you are probably taking the wrong medication for your condition, and insulin injections may be a very good option.\n\nmetformin is great for reducing insulin-resistance (allowing your body to use the insulin that it has been producing), but it doesn't work for everyone.  since you are taking a metformin combination, you've probably already tried regular metformin, right?  have you tried any other anti-diabetic medications?  there are a number of good ones out there, talk to your doctor about your individual needs.  you might ask about thiazolidinediones like avandia which also help you use the insulin your pancreas makes.\n\nif at any time your pancreas stops functioning for whatever reason (worn out, cancer, whatever) you will need insulin supplements.
430588
Coke Zero-- much better than Diet Coke.\n\nBut the problem is the caffiene.  Caffiene stimulates hunger, so cutting the caffiene could go a long way in eating more reasonable portions.\n\nBut Coke (and I still love Coke, even though I drink Coke Zero and Diet Coke)- has a lot of carbs.  Depending on how much you are drinking, if that is the only change you make, it could be significant in and of itself.
77426
diet sodas have really really bad compounds in them like aspartame which can cause cancer and stuff like that. diet soda is diet cuz of its artificial sweeteners, which are much worse than consuming sugar. if you eat too much artificial sweeteners, they are really bad for you
55602
Yeah to some people . Its also good for...Stroke ,high blood pressure ,Various mental problems including (but not limited to)early forms of dementia ,depression,anxiety/panic attacks..Stick to sugar .even small doses are better for you than that man-made stuff.
228204
fructose is sugar extracted from fruit instead of sugar cane.\nIts not healthy just as usual sugar is not healthy: if you take an excess of it\nFructose is much cheaper to produce. that's why all products have fructose instead of cane sugar
263862
Splenda is an artificial sweetner made from sucralose.\nIt was discovered about 20 years ago and as a product has had about 100 different Pk or safety studies conducted on it.\n\nThe process to manufacture Sucralose does take sucrose, the normal sugar we consume and bind it with a chlorine atom. This makes a chemically stable bond that is only broken apart under some very specific parameters, none of which are normally encountered in everyday use.\n\nTo make it appear as a replacement for sugar, Sucralose is bulked up with Maltodextrin a carbohydrate derived from corn, giving it some calories but making it measure and act more like sugar. This combination is called Splenda Granular.\n\nUsing lab animals, many studies concerning cancer, toxicity, kidney and liver damage have been done. Surprisingly, rats do make excellent models for humans for this type of research, and opinions about lab animal research aside, the chemicals involved in this product have been well researched.\n\nSucrose is treated in a specialized process and some molecules are moved as a chlorine is substituted. In gheneral, we consume a lot of chlorise., Sodium Chloride is one atom of sodium and one atom of chloride bound to make table salt. All srts of presevatives and processes utilize chloride in this fashion.  A small percentage of os sucralose does  break down into small amounts of 1,6-dichlorofructose, a chemical that has not been adequately tested in humans.\n\nIn general, the product should be deemed safe in most people. There are some documented, and MANY UNDOCUMENTED reports of health issues among people. The documented are from peopel with current throid or kidney problems having those problems get worse. The undocumented problems blame anything from eyesight loss, to arthtitis on artificial sweetners. As a scientist, I have to question any report that is not duplicated or one that you cannot rule out other unrelated problems. \n\nI think common sense should apply here. In normal consumption doses this product will behave as expected in nearly all people. Meaning, don't consume 40 cans of Diet cola and eat 20 diet twinkies, etc. Normal consumption will be fine over a lifetime.\n\ni could do a study over 25 yeras that shows the adverse effects of sugar, versus aspartame and sucralose. Bottom line is that all will have some impact. One can cause diabetes and obesity. The others may cause enlarged kidneys or livers (whch goes away if you stop use). In terms of public health and lifestyle, which threats are worse? Eating poorly, consuming fast food and not exercising are far worse than sonsuming diet drinks and foods. \n\nThese products can help eliminate the guilt of empty calories, but you should not reley on them for weightloss without proper diet and exercise.\n\nAs for safety, they are as safe as any processed food product is.  Look at a label of cereal, or cheese slices, or a frozen meal. They all contain some complex molecules that in some are probably very reactive, but in most are just fine.
177570
Cutting non-diet drinks out of your diet can help you lose weight. Diet drinks, such as those that contain artificial sweeteners (nutrasweet, splenda, etc.) are fine. So, if the sweetened iced tea contains sugar then it is not diet.