Filler/artificial sweetener stalls?

[TitianWasp]

Now, here's a question. A lot of people worry greatly about carb fillers or artificial sweetener carbs causing stalls. However, technically, if one counts those nasty little things as part of the carb count, why would they cause a stall any more than the carbs in a bell pepper, for instance?

I am just trying to look at this from a scientific standpoint. What is the logic behind one carb causing a stall, and another not causing a stall?

I know it's "common knowlege" here that they can, but my question is why?

[not2late]

Individual food intolerances.

[ValidRouge]

Also, the powdered versions of sweetners (Sweet N Low, Splenda, Equal, Altern) use maltodextrin or dextrose as the powder or bulking agent for the sweetner. From what I've read (and experienced myself as I got closer to goal) is that the saccharine or the sucralose may not stall someone, but the bulking agent CAN. Maltodextrin is made from FOOD starch. Sometimes it's corn starch, sometimes it's wheat starch/gluten. So, if you have a food intolerance to grains in general, or specifically to corn or wheat...you would have an intolerance to the maltodextrin used to bulk/deliver/convey the artificial sweetner.

http://www.grainprocessing.com/food/malinfo.html
http://www.sugar.org/consumers/sweet...ure.asp?id=277
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextrin

Also, note that this is a derivative of Sugar. Sugar and corn syrups, even in miniscule amounts can cause stalls.

[TitianWasp]

Why would you suppose that anything causes a stall? Again, I am trying to think of this from a science perspective. The basic equation is calories in - calories expended = weight loss or gain. If something is going to stall me, or is reputed to stall me, I want to know why (so I can get good and mad, instead of curious and frustrated, ha ha).

Too many questions, I know.

[Momtofour]

Originally Posted by TitianWasp

Why would you suppose that anything causes a stall? Again, I am trying to think of this from a science perspective. The basic equation is calories in - calories expended = weight loss or gain. If something is going to stall me, or is reputed to stall me, I want to know why (so I can get good and mad, instead of curious and frustrated, ha ha).

Too many questions, I know.

I don't know from a scientific perspective, but I do know it isn't as simple as calories in - calories expended = weight loss or gain. I have done other weight loss programs where my calories were kept low and yet I didn't lose much weight and then stalled. I for one, can not lose weight eating higher carb foods even when I keep my calories low.

[not2late]

Again, it goes back to food intolerances. Our bodies are essentially bio-machines. If something interferes with its functioning, the body will function less efficiently and a disease state occurs. "Disease" meaning decreased operational efficiency. For example, if you lack potassium, your body will malfunction. In the most extreme cases, your heart will stop beating. In the most mild cases, you might feel fatigued.

What happens with a food intolerance is that our bodies considers the food an enemy invader and mounts an immune response to battle it. In other words, it sees the food as it would a bacteria or a virus that's trying to destroy the body. So the body does things: starts producing chemicals to combat the food, starts retaining water to "wall off" the spread of the invader, etc. A food intolerance can manifest as feeling fatigued or as anaphylaxis.

To make a long story short, that intolerance screws up your body's functioning level. The well-oiled machine stops being well-oiled and starts creaking and grinding. Just like your car, if the performance of the parts aren't optimal, it's function will be suboptimal itself. And since our bodies have a survival instinct, it will devote its energy to making sure you stay alive. So will stop losing weight and holding onto whatever energy reserves it can in order to keep you alive.

[jroche5998]

I have some thoughts about the artificial sweetener question. Artificial sweeteners were originally developed back in the 1950's for diabetic patients who produced no insulin. While the sweeteners are non-caloric, the insulin response in people able to produce insulin has never been studied (if you know of a study I'd love to know), and it is believed by some that the artificial sweeteners actually trigger the exact same insulin response as real sugars, which directly corresponds to fat storage of blood borne glucose. So if artificial sweeteners do trigger an insulin response, than the fat storage machine is in full swing, and you are storing fat.

Also regarding stalls, I believe that while some foods can contribute to the issue, I think a lot of it is more basic than that. I think it's related to the fight or flight concept. Your body I think has comfort points, places at which your body is comfortable (not meaning to give the actual body sentient qualities). Once there your body fights to stay there, otherwise it thinks you are in distress. Think about it, there are probably some weights where you neither gained nor lost for long periods of time throughout your life. Those points, at least for me, ted to be stall points. Is it something physical or is it more psychsomatic? Do I subconsciously focus on those points, thus making the stall a self-fufilling prophecy? I don't know.

Just some points to consider.

[TitianWasp]

Not2Late & JRoche very logical answers. If intolerance is compared to an allergy or inability to digest, it wouldn't make sense - that scenario leads to gi distress, but typically weight loss (you can't digest it = you can't make fat out of it). If it is more like a pathogen, mucking up the gears, that holds a lot more water theory-wise.

I wonder if I have some intolerances.

[not2late]

Originally Posted by TitianWasp

Not2Late & JRoche very logical answers. If intolerance is compared to an allergy or inability to digest, it wouldn't make sense - that scenario leads to gi distress, but typically weight loss (you can't digest it = you can't make fat out of it). If it is more like a pathogen, mucking up the gears, that holds a lot more water theory-wise.

I wonder if I have some intolerances.

If you can't digest it, then you don't absorb the nutrients in it either. All the chemicals our body creates (hormones, enzymes, etc.) require nutrients---vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbs, and fats. If your GI tract is so screwed up that it can't absorb Vitamin X, then whatever body function depends on Vitamin X will be compromised.

Remember that song "the foot bone is connected to the leg bone"? Well, that's how the chemical functions of our bodies is like too. Let's say Vitamin X is used to produce Enzyme 24. Your GI tract can't absorb food nutrients properly, so Vitamin X isn't absorbed. Therefore, Enzyme 24 production is decreased or if it is produced it's a cheap version of it that doesn't function as well. Whatever depends on Enzyme 24 will be affected too and so on. This tosses a proverbial monkey wrench into your body-machine and it will function less efficiently, which means it will need to divert its resources to essential functions.

[not2late]

Just adding....About what I wrote here: "Therefore, Enzyme 24 production is decreased or if it is produced it's a cheap version of it that doesn't function as well".


This is the theory behind trans fats and its effect on the body. The walls of our cells are made from fat/lipids. They think that the hydrogenated fats have some sort of weak structure. So when our body incorporates them into our cell walls, the walls are weak. In other words, it's like building a rock wall not using rocks, but using rocks made from styrofoam. So, the thought is that the bad cell walls makes the cells unstable, which might do things like make your platelets more "sticky" that they collect easier on blood vessel walls, etc.