.................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................... Artificial Sweeteners and Overeating by Tanya Zilberter, PhD It seems that our body weight set points are not carved in stone. Clinical studies revealed links between taste and the amount of food we eat. What is overeating? It depends. For one person, overeating means that she eats in excess of her energy expenditure, which may be due to the sedentary needs. For another person, it's because of sluggish metabolism. For yet another, it can be a plain old cheating on his diet. In this article, I'll talk about the weight-loss plateau and one of its aspects that is rarely discussed: taste and calories. There are two issues in the weight-loss plateau problem that concerns low-carb dieters. First, what is this plateau ? is it anything real or all in our heads? Second, is low-carb stalled weight loss different from any other diet stalling? A Look at the General Problem of Plateaus A weight-loss plateau is when you were losing weight and then stopped losing, without changing your diet, exercise or other lifestyle factors. You eat the same diet and exercise as much as before, but your bathroom scales are frozen at some mysterious point, sometimes referred to as the body weight set point (Just think of your refrigerator: it's the point you set to maintain the temperature you want. Though different in details, basically the same parts make up the human body's "thermostat" or "fat-o-stat," for that matter.) Body weight set point is nature's idea of what amount of fat you need. If we deviate from nature's, it forces us to eat more ? even when our Fat stores are huge. Luckily, a low-carb diet allows your body to recognize Your stored fat as legitimate fuel and uses it instead of storing it (as it Does on any other diet.) However, there is another danger that is often overlooked by low-carb dieters: The Sweeter, the Heavier It seems that our body weight set points are not carved in stone. Clinical studies revealed links between taste and the amount of food we eat. Tastier foods make the set point of body weight shift up proportionally, that is: the tastier the food, the greater the set point. Researchers even showed that foods with negative taste qualities, (in the study, researchers added quinine) do the opposite: the more bitter the food, the lower the set point. Artificial Sweeteners Are Not the Answer Sweet taste -- even from artificial sweeteners -- causes an increase in calories coming from fat and protein. Why does this happening? Sweet taste, even coming with artificial sweetener, raises glucose concentration in the blood before the food has a chance to be digested. Your body knows that eventually, it will have all the carbs you've swallowed and it doesn't wait until it that happens. Instead, it releases some glucose from the carbohydrate depots and hopes to get it all back. When the sweet food is real, the carbohydrates eventually get into the blood. And if they're not? Well, nature never counted on us inventing artificial sweeteners. Being fooled, your body reacts rather vindictively: it forces you to want more sweet food plus eat more next time, no matter what food you agree to have. So, you'd be better off without artificial sweeteners. There are other tasty foods you can have on a low-carb diet. Some Clinical Data on Fats: Preference for high fat foods appears to be a universal human trait. How much fat we eat appears to be determined simply by the amount of fat available. Fats are especially provocative in the obese, who tend to overeat fatty foods more than the lean. Clinical Data on Other Tasty Foods: Good tasting foods increased so-called diet-induced thermogenesis (heat production after meals) and reduced food efficiency (how many calories are used and how many pass through the intestines). Good tasting foods increase energy expenditure. It seems like a paradox, but when you eat what you really enjoy, you body gets less of this particular food's calories. Sources: Zeitschrift fur Ernahrungswissenschaft, 29 Suppl 1:45-52, 1990 Annales d Endocrinologie, 49(2):121-4, 1988 Journal of Comparative & Physiological Psychology, 89(9):1003-9, 1975 European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 52(4):300-7, 1998 International Journal of Obesity & Related Metabolic Disorders, 21(12):1100-3, 1997 Physiology & Behavior, 62(6):1345-54, 1997 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 65(5):1375-83, 1997 Annual Review of Nutrition, 17:237-53, 1997 Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 97(7 Suppl):S58-62, 1997 American Journal of Physiology, 270(6 Pt 2):R1197-202, 1996 Ciba Foundation Symposium, 201:138-54, 1996 ................................................................................................................................................. ................................................................................................................................................. Inside: | Table of Content | Articles | Low Carb Diets and Cholesterol. Research and Testimonials | Meal Frequency Increase Prolonges Carbohydrate Absorption | Naturally Low Carb Foods: Cheese | Glycemic Impact Diet, secrets revealed | Facts About Dr. Atkins Diet & Calorie Intake. | Low Carb and Calories. Studies | Diet Plan | Inside Banta: European Paradox | Recipes | Lamb Chektyrma. A Mid-Asian Soup Recipe | Lamb Shorba. A Turkmenian recipe | German low carb soup | Authentic Low Carb No-bake Cheesecake | 1. Pasta Lite and Cheese | 2. Farmhouse Pasta Lite and Cheese | 3. Mandarin Style Low Carb Spaghetti | 4. Low Carb Elbows Casserole | 5. Italian Sausage Low Carb Spaghetti | 6. Low Carb Linguine Stew | 7. Low Carb Penne Rigate | 8. Low Carb Elbows Fagiole Soup | Is Low Carb for You? | Health Benefits of Low Carb Diets | Facts About Dr. Atkins Diet Calorie Intake. | Foods Releasing Insulin | Health and Mood on Low-carb Diets | Atkins Diet Statistics | Overweight people - should they drop sugar or should they focus instead on eating less fatty food? | Russian low carb soup recipe | Naturally Low Carb. Recipes | Harvard Goes Low Carb | Hunza Bread | Estonian cabbage cream soup | Ketosis: Mystery or Misconception? | Ketosis: Mystery or Misconception? -- 2 | Low Sugar Diet for the Hypoglycemics | Low Carb Food and Mood | Naturally Low Carb: Avocado Facts and Recipe | Carbohydrates and Other Macronutrients: How Much? | Easter Cheese Desserts | Very low carb foods: 1 gram carbs or less | Chocolate: Did you know? Facts and recipes | Weight Loss Plateau? | Low Carb Chocolate Cake | The low carb GO-Diet: not only a balanced, but also clinically tested! | Russian Baked Cheesecake | Taste and Waist. Why they do not get along | Zone Snacks | Zone snack tip. Mini-Pita Iizza Recipe | Sensation of Sweetness | Search | Green Tea and Low Carb Dieting | Atkins Diet Tips | Atkins Long Term Results | Low Carb and Potassium | Cooking sugar-free | Atkins vs QuackWatch | Low Carb and Exercise | Before You Choose a Low Carb Diet | Onion Soup, Low Carb Recipe | Moldavian Chorba Soup. Low Carb Recipe | No one benefits from refined carbohydrates. | Calorie Intake on Atkins Diet | Lamb Shorba. A low Carb Recipe | Almond and Orange Cake | Low Carb Article Archive | Low Carb version of Low Fat Banana Bread | One-Minute Zone Breakfasts | The Zone - fast meal idea for tonight's dinner | Curry Green Beens and Tofu by the Zone Diet | South Beach Diet Recipe - Oriental Cabbage Salad | Sonoma Goes Glycemic | Low Carb Recipe Makeover | Low Carb Food - Wild Salmon