Zero Sugar Soft Drinks,An Opinion Please?

[NoseyNose]

As some of you may know,I am Type 2 Diabetic.

Because of this I drink only sugar free(and some caffeine free) soft drinks.

Having done a sort of "blind" test,I now find that some of these zero sugar drinks give me diarrhea.

Checking on the internet,it seems that sorbitol, aspartame,etc can cause diarrhea in some persons(me for one).

So if I want to stop getting diarrhea,would it be better to just drink less of the soft drinks that do have sugar?

I do drink stright fruit juice(avoiding citrus,which gives me acid reflux)like apple,mango,beetroot,and carrot,which don't appear to cause diarrhea.

Any opinions or experiences would be most helpful.

[Untitled]

i find that aspartame makes me bloated... there is some evidence (though not conclusive) that it can slow metabolism in some people... a shame as i actually like the taste of sweetener. if they give you diarrhoea and you don't want diarrhoea then yes you should stop drinking them lol. 

be careful with fruit juices... while they are healthy they are often higher in sugar than you might think. 

[rowanwitch]

Fruit juice is not good for diabetics as the fructose is absorbed so quickly pretty much all the calorie content is sugars.  (Also linked to fatty liver). If you must have it drink it  really diluted so it just flavours  the water,  no added sugar squashes should be fine,  as they don't have any of the 'ols' which are only usually in specific 'diabetic' products.   Normal sugar free drinks  shouldn't cause diarrhoea but  there is some suggestion they are linked to increased insulin resistance in type 2 diabetics.

Something you might like are the cold infusion teabags by twinings and others,  come in a variety of fruit flavours .

  

[gingejbee]

I'm not a fan of any fizzy soft drinks. If you want something other than water, you could add a small amount of "posh" cordial...we have elderflower, juniper and sloe and have had lemongrass and ginger in the past (all those by Bottlegreen).

[rowanwitch]

The posh cordials  are made with a lot of sugar,  so you would need to use them very carefully

[pastafreak]

Fruit juices are pure sugar. If you have a glass of orange juice, you are effectively eating 3 or more oranges. Without the fibre.

You'd be far better off reducing your reliance on sweetened drinks. I think research has shown that just the taste of sweetness keeps the desire for sugar awake...also may cause an insulin response. As a type 2, the more you the can reduce intake of sugar, the better.

[pastafreak]

Rowan's replies weren't there when I started mine.

[douglas9401]

I'm sure I read somewhere that artificial sweeteners can trick the body into thinking it's taking in sugar resulting in problems for diabetics.

Of course I could be misremembering.

[pastafreak]

If you are misremembering, I must also be 😉

[ToraToraTora]

Plain nice ice cold H2O is better ans tastier than all of them.

[douglas9401]

We passed in the night. 😊

[THECORBYLOON]

https://patient.info/news-and-features/can-diet-drinks-cause-type-2-diabetes

 

[barry1010]

Artificial sweeteners can cause diarrhoea in me, too, so as I am diabetic I stick to water, coffee, tea and mint / fruit teas.

Fruit juice badly affects my sugar levels but fruit in moderation doesn't. 

If I wantedto guarantee that I will have diarrhoea I would only have to eat a few sugar free polo mints. 

[pastafreak]

My daughter had a strong reaction to those polo mints when I was visiting over Christmas. 😣

[Atheist]

Gordon, I dislike sweeteners as they feed your desire for 'sweetness'. I think it's best to wean yourself off the 'sweet' sensation.

Do you put sugar in tea or coffee? TTT occasionally says something useful.

[Old_Geezer]

Maybe just find a sweetener your body can tolerate and create your own soft drinks using that ?

[NoseyNose]

I do like Twinings Jasmine tea,and also their Lemon and Ginger tea.

Would this help with my diarrhea problems,as I presume these are low(ish) in Caffeine,and obviously have no artifical sweeteners?

 

[rowanwitch]

Lemon and ginger is good for gut problems, so are peppermint, and fennel  no caffeine at all in any of the herbal  and most of the fruity teas you might like some of the stranger ones like  passionflower,  verbena,  and chamomile .

Green tea with lemon has caffeine but also lots of antioxidents which  make it worth trying you can find de caf versions if you look around the supermarkets

[NoseyNose]

Well, my friend"My Good Angel" is taking shopping on Monday.I shall have to have a good look at the herbal teas etc in Tesco, and see which are suitable,it can be very confusing!

I am going to the village monthly Lunch Club next thursday.I wonder if the organise would like a donation of about 40 cans of various sugsr free drinks.They are not suitable for me(too much caffeine) Irn bru,Dr Pepper Diet Coke.