Diet soda

[Cherokee68]

I am so addicted to my diet soda. I just need a sweet pick-me-up in the afternoon. But then I read online about artificial sweeteners being bad for you. Which is better: sugar or the fake stuff?

[Starbaby]

| can definitely relate to your craving for something sweet as afternoon hits. Most people experience an energy crash around that time as their blood sugar levels drop. When it comes to real sugar or a fake substitute, there have been numerous studies done on the long-term safety of ingesting artificial sweeteners and while many show negative results, there are also others which seem to show no cause for concern. However, the word artificial should make you wary. We try to avoid artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives in our food and beverages, so why should sugar receive any less consideration? Stevia is currently the most popular natural sweetener on the market and it can actually be found as the sweetening agent in some big name brands. For those who are not fans of the stevia taste but still wish to stay away from the highly refined white sugar, an excellent alternative is organic cane sugar which you can find in any supermarket.

[franco3113]

It all comes down to genetics, and whether your system digests real sugar better than fake sugar (or not). But since it's widely reported that real sugar is easier on your digestive system, we would all be wise to avoid artificial sweeteners for as long as our blood-sugar health permits.

[simonwins]

I prefer soda with natural sugar in it because I don't like the taste of artificial sweeteners. I find that they leave a bad taste in my mouth. The best sweetener is Splenda in my honest opinion because it is made from real sugar and doesn't have that bad aftertaste like other sweeteners.