Ask Barbara: Diet Soda — What’s the Harm? Bill wrote: A, Danes aera piggies ayaa era soci sanlehtabos or 2 glasses of milk a day. About 2 years a surgery, I started to drink diet Coke. [have been drinking about 2 cans per day. I am almost 3 years post-op and have managed to keep the weight off — nearly 200 pounds, My quéstion is, “What is the harm in drinking diet soda when you are more than 2 years post-op? - ‘The short answer is, plenty if you believe the studies. ‘When you are newly post-op, you have probably’heard the arguments: cut ns will expand your pouch, Thereforeyyou may havereasoned that you will let the'soda get flat and then drink it. Of course the ‘time you wait for the soda to go flatmay Hiave gotten shorter and shorter, so that you'may just be drinking the soda right after opening the can the further you.get away from your surgery date. And besides, if you are many years post-op, the fear of expanding your pouch probably left you long ago. If your soda has caffeine, like Diet Coke, then the caffeine will dehydrate you, so you are getting no hydration benefit from the soda, Caffeine is a diuretic that causes you to lose fluids from your body. So how about caffeine free diet soda? What could the harm there be? You aren't sees ‘You don’t really have to,worry about expanding your pouch if you are several years post-op. You aren’t getting caffeine thatrobs. your body of fluids. Sounds like the perfect liquid! Here is one important reason why it is not. Diet sOddr decaf- feinatedor not, contains artificial sweetener and we need to consider how artificial sweetener aéts ip @urbodies. ‘of a study conducted by the University of Texas, researchers followed 600 peopl period. They found that of those who drank 1 to 2 cans of diet soda per day, 54% of them over the .. Yet, of those who drank | to 2 cans of regular soda, only 33% of them’became obese. Tam nofStwgesting and neither is the study that you should drink regular soda. However, this study ioxié more reason {6 ehnsidgt how artificial sweetener acts in the body. : . the néurochémical that regulates emotions and appetite, among other things. Therefore a decrease in serotonin pression Which can lead us to turn to comfort foods as well as increase our appetite. So the caffeine that you are drinking may very well be making you more hungry and’eausing cravings. fll out on Splenda, There have been some adverse reactions reported, so you may not be safe sub- for aspartame. no diet soda or artificially sweetened pféduets and see if you notice a difference. See if your appetite calms dawn and your cravings decrease: Here are some substitutes for dict soda that:yon might want to consider. ‘Water —pure and simple - Water with a little fruit juice mixed ‘Water with a slice of lemon or orans Herbal tea a “Reprinted from Barbara Thompson s free e-newsletter featuring helpfil information and research material to help patients succeed following weight loss surgery. Subscribe at http://www barbarathompsonnewsletter.com " (Continued from Low-Carb Gravy Re Consider just reducing the sauce wih no thickener. i. Titel hi ahahan any hen rg tat Fy to go ed amc che Se oe Stes, sn acta anc! apatite sustances aren the arppngs. dus bl h sauce do unt isthe tickess Jou vant onsder whether you realy care about he cars in our ‘no tablespoon of our taken cup of os, and as 6 rams of carbohycale. So cup of rayhickened wih flour has about 1 remo catbo- Ferate, This just migitretmake tat mucho cfererce whan you ome ih dom oi But thre ae altomatives: Comstare Comstarch fas atte oer 7 rams of car pee eblespons, and that tablespoon wil icken chou Yo 2 cups of aw. The aay wortke Sopamue, and wil be gos. Arrowroot - Arrowroot has the,same carb cout sea ar PC Te LER Ly ken a cup of Reduced Gram You can usb roam 'o teen, abn he mtr seduced, Cream has 68 glans Sour ream Sore ow-caf recbes sugges wishing n sur ream fo tcken tho gravy such ash Sour ream has about ‘rams of carbohysrate per eu. 3 Vesa Gams Yantan gam ad open procs made fom bem, such x Thonn eta, ian wth oa nd ‘arte bo) You have to use fe plan santan or guar gums wih ere beeal you cn easly go oo a and get a sa of sty oss you spine I slnt ard stp at hei time, however, gums can bo eed. Then ess cy my exporonce. Those preduls can aso produce a somewhat "sho leur tat bothers some people mote han oe. in, the sauce willbe clearer and glossiet. Page 8