# Are (almost) all fat people "allergic" to artificial sweeteners?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 8, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071 "2010-09-08T17:05:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/21 "2010-09-08T19:16:58Z")
FWIW I have never heard _anyone_, fat or otherwise, claim to be allergic to artificial sweeteners. Quite a lot of people do not like the taste, though.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/22 "2010-09-08T19:24:42Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#):
>
> Doesn’t anyone drink just plain water anymore?
Me. A lot of it. In fact I’ve got a refillable bottle at my desk and am drinking some now. Practically the only time I drink pop is when I go to a fast food joint, which happens about once a month maybe.
I do like beer though…
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/23 "2010-09-08T19:31:53Z")
{Raises her glass of tap water and salutes **Freudian Slit** } 🙂
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### Author:  [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/24 "2010-09-08T19:33:28Z")
> [@gurujulp](#):
>
> > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#):
> >
> > I hate the taste of artificial sweeteners, too, so I usually drink water or club soda with a little fruit juice. I don’t like to waste too many of my daily calories on my drinks. ETA: Forgot to say that I have actually found two diet sodas I don’t hate - diet ginger ale and Fresca.
> >
> > **Fried Dough Ho** , there are some studies that are saying that dairy products actually help people lose weight. I mean, not if you eat two pounds of cheese a day, but in moderation. 🙂
>
> I believe that FDH had mentioned that a gallon or so a day was likely with her milk habit…
More like two gallons a week – for a minimum… But I know it is still too much. I genuinely CRAVE milk!
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### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/25 "2010-09-08T19:33:36Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#):
>
> Doesn’t anyone drink just plain water anymore?
pssst … post # 2 …😉
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/26 "2010-09-08T19:46:29Z")
The medical evidence for aspartame allergies is pretty thin.
However, one of the byproducts of aspartame metabolism is phenylalanine\*. So phenylketonurics (people who cannot metabolize phenylalanine) can’t consume aspartame. The odds that all (or any) of your chunky friends are phenylkeurotonics are comfortably under 1 in 10,000.
\*Yes, the stuff they warn you about on tonic water.
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### Author:  [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/27 "2010-09-08T19:53:47Z")
I’m fat and up until recently I thought I was allergic to artificial sweeteners. I developed itchy blisters on my hands after having diet soda several times in a row and my doctor told me they were probably connected. For years I would scour my food labels when the blisters showed up until I found the thing I had eaten that had artificial sweeteners in it and threw it away. Earlier this year I saw a new doctor that said my itchy blisters are actually stress related excema and were not connected to the artificial sweeteners. He wrote me a prescription and now they’ve gone away completely so I am giving sugar-free products another try.
I am absolutely not supposed to have caffiene though, so that does impact my soda choice. If my only real options are soda and I pass over the diet coke for a sprite the caffiene is why. I tend to drink mostly water, fruit juice, and carbonated water for beverages.
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/28 "2010-09-08T20:19:46Z")
I’ve heard of people claiming that artificial sweetener (usually aspartame) gives them headaches, but I’ve never heard of anyone claiming to be allergic. And I know a lot of fat people, including me. But now I mostly drink water.
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### Author:  [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/29 "2010-09-08T20:34:44Z")
> [@little\_bit](#):
>
> I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to saccharine & aspertame. I get hives on my tongue when I have them & my throat gets all itchy. It doesn’t cause any breathing problems, so I guess it’s a pretty mild allergy.
> As to being fat, I’m 5’7" and 137 lbs.
There was a lighting designer I knew who had what you describe as well, but I think it was only to _one_ of either saccharine or aspertame. I think it was the latter actually because I remember when we were talking that I realized it was the first time I’d ever heard that word out loud… “aspertame”.
His mouth and tongue would get itchy and he would drool, but otherwise I don’t think it made him sick.
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/30 "2010-09-08T20:41:24Z")
I’m definitely one of the fatter Dopers and I have no allergy to artificial sweeteners at all. I’ve actually been teased for using so much Sweet & Low in my unsweetened ice tea when I go out to eat with friends.
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/31 "2010-09-08T20:42:58Z")
I think diet sodas taste disgusting. But lots and lots of times people say they are allergic because otherwise they get pushed and pushed and pushed to “just try something”.
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### Author:  [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/32 "2010-09-08T20:47:09Z")
I’ve never heard anyone claim to be allergic to artificial sweeteners, but I know people who claim to be allergic to things they don’t like. Why not? People don’t seem to respect their preferences until they pull out the big guns so they head off the argument by starting there.
I’ve claimed to be allergic to things that I don’t strictly have an allergy to, things that inevitably upset my stomach and cause… erm, gastric distress. It’s not usually something I want to be detailed about, so “allergy” is a nice way to just put that conversation behind us.
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### Author:  [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/33 "2010-09-08T21:05:18Z")
Oh, I forgot. The lighting designer I knew who got drooly from diet soda was pretty thin. Short too.
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### Author:  [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/34 "2010-09-08T21:09:10Z")
Of the many many fat people I know, \*one \*has claimed to allergic to some specific type of artificial sweetener. I’ve forgotten which, but it’s one thing in the multi-page list of things this woman is allergic to.
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### Author:  [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/35 "2010-09-08T21:11:34Z")
Odd. The only people I know who drink diet sodas are fat people.
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### Author:  [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/36 "2010-09-08T21:17:22Z")
I’m skinny, and I wouldn’t say I’m \*allergic \*to some artificial sweeteners, but they do give me stomach cramps and diarrhea.
I do use the ‘allergic’ blanket excuse for various things that I don’t eat because they give me the shits, etc. Since I’m so thin, people are always trying to ply me with food, and I find the ‘allergy’ excuse prevents me from being accused of an eating disorder again when I decline.
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### Author:  [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/37 "2010-09-08T21:21:16Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#):
>
> However, anything with Splenda or any sugar alcohols in it will rush through my alimentary canal like there’s a prize at end of the trip that must be claimed within 10 minutes. I understand that this is not uncommon – maybe your friend had a bad experience with sugar alcohols.
Sugar alcohols, especially mannitol and sorbitol, are near-legendary for their effect on the bowel. I recall a recent “help me, I’m constipated” thread here in which the OP was advised to eat some candy with mannitol to help get things moving.
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### Author:  [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/38 "2010-09-08T21:34:34Z")
Artificial sweetener makes me dizzy (aspartame) or gives me gas (sorbitol), but I never say I’m allergic to it. Having said that, the only soda I ever drink is club soda; I dislike drinks with sugar in them. (I’m not excessively fat, either, but I’m not thin, for the record.)
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### Author:  [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/39 "2010-09-08T21:43:27Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#):
>
> Odd. The only people I know who drink diet sodas are fat people.
There have been studies that show a link between obesity and diet soda drinking. [WebMD Link](http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20050613/drink-more-diet-soda-gain-more-weight). Not exactly that drinking diet soda _causes_ obesity, but there’s a correlation in there somewhere that hasn’t exactly been determined.
And I’ll ring in here as a non-soda drinker. I love an occasional sugared soda as a treat, maybe twice a year, with cane sugar soda from Whole Foods. But I never have any in my home much to the disappointment of visitors. I do always have a gallon pitcher full of iced tea - no sweetener - and I’m a coffee drinker, cream no sugar. My dark chocolate intake, however, makes up for any “saving” I’m doing on the sugary drinks.
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### Author:  [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/40 "2010-09-08T21:47:32Z")
Are (almost) all fat people “allergic” to artificial sweeteners?
I also have never heard anyone make this claim, be they fat or skinny. I also find it to be a stretch that the OP claims to have never met a fat person who DIDN’T make this claim.
:dubious:
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