# 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:** 4
### Author:  [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/61 "2010-09-09T08:16:48Z")
I am fat, and if i’m allergic to anything it’s probably dust and dander.
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### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/62 "2010-09-09T12:54:37Z")
I’m overweight, but I don’t really eat sweets and at most I’ll drink a soda once every couple of weeks, but my beverages of choice are plain soda water or beer. If I _do_ have something with aspertame in it, though, it affects my breathing in an unpleasant way. I’d not call that an allergy, though, because when I eat shrimp my throat closes, and when I rub shrimp on my body I get hives.
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### Author:  [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/63 "2010-09-09T13:18:44Z")
I have never ever heard an overweight person say they were allergic to artificial sweeteners so I’m curious where the OP hangs out that they _all_ say this.
I live in WI, we’re all fat and I’ve never heard this.
Maybe his one friend, who is the only person he’s heard this from, is sensitive to them and just doesn’t want to explain. Or maybe he’s allergic.
I’m sensitive to them: aspartame gives me migraines and carb cravings and too much Splenda gives me urinary incontinence. So if someone pushed me to have something with one I might turn it down and explain the headache thing but for the other I probably wouldn’t say “No thanks, if I drink that I’ll pee all over you couch with no warning.” But I also won’t usually grab a regular soda either.
And I’m tired of people criticizing people ordering a diet soda with their McD’s meal. Just because I have a craving for a quarter pounder does not mean I also need to wash it down with a half cup of sugar.
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### Author:  [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/64 "2010-09-09T13:24:01Z")
> [@Balthisar](#):
>
> …when I rub shrimp on my body I get hives.
Um…why do you know that? 😕
😃
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/65 "2010-09-09T14:07:53Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Um…why do you know that?
One way to check to see if you’re allergic to something is to take the substance and rub it on the skin of the inner elbow. Wait 24 hours, and see if redness appears. If you’re quite allergic to something, then you’ll have redness, swelling, and possibly hives. This test is supposed to be done each time one uses hair dyes or perms at home, but hardly anyone does it after the first time.
When my daughter was an infant, she was allergic to cow’s and goat’s milk. I breastfed her until she was over 1 year old, at which time I gave her soy formula. Of course, I gave her solid foods when she was old enough to eat them. At any rate, one time my husband drank a cup of hot chocolate right before he left for work and then kissed her. She developed a rash in the shape of a kiss mark, because she was so VERY allergic to cow’s milk.
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### Author:  [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/66 "2010-09-09T14:17:05Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#):
>
> Odd. The only people I know who drink diet sodas are fat people.
Non-fat diet soda drinker here.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/67 "2010-09-09T14:20:57Z")
Thin diet oda drinker here. My standard reply to people who ask me why a thin person drinks diet soda:
If I’m going to get sugar calories, I’m going to chew.
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### Author:  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/68 "2010-09-09T14:25:58Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> Thin diet soda drinker here. My standard reply to people who ask me why a thin person drinks diet soda:
>
> If I’m going to get sugar calories, I’m going to chew.
Heh. My answer is “if I’m going to drink my calories, it better have alcohol in it.”
The other more obvious answer is “one of the reasons I’m thin is that I don’t drink real-sugar soda.”
Truly, there are very few drinks that I like enough to be OK with them not being no-calorie. My glass of wine at night and my coffee and half&half in the morning are the only two that are worth it IMO. Real soda? It’d have to taste a LOT better for me to drink it.
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### Author:  [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/69 "2010-09-09T18:16:15Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#):
>
> > [@Gruntled](#):
> >
> > Come to think of it, almost every fat person I’ve ever known has made this same claim.
>
> I’m a recovering fattie and I’ve never made that claim, nor have I ever heard my fat friends do so.
Ditto. Some artificial sweeteners make me go to the bathroom. A lot. It ain’t pretty. :eek: I’ll use Stevia in my one cup of decaf coffee (if that) a day. I gave up all sodas, both full strength and diet. If regular sodas are just empty calories, diet sodas don’t even give you calories, so they’re not worth the effort. I drink 90-100 oz of plain water a day. I’m actually experimenting with a vegetarian diet to see if I feel better.
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### Author:  [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/70 "2010-09-09T18:42:43Z")
> [@pbbth](#):
>
> > [@Balthisar](#):
> >
> > …when I rub shrimp on my body I get hives.
>
> Um…why do you know that? 😕
You’ve never tried it? You don’t know what you’re missing! Rrrrrowr!
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### Author:  [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/71 "2010-09-09T18:47:45Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > Um…why do you know that?
>
> One way to check to see if you’re allergic to something is to take the substance and rub it on the skin of the inner elbow. Wait 24 hours, and see if redness appears.
Yes, but the logical reason for this is less funny than my mental image of someone walking around the supermarket rubbing stuff on themselves. Can of peas? Better rub it on yourself. 22 lb ham? That needs to be rubbed on you somewhere. Pineapple? You should totally scrub your face with it. See? Logic ruins the hilariousness.
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### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/72 "2010-09-09T19:29:27Z")
> [@pbbth](#):
>
> > [@Balthisar](#):
> >
> > …when I rub shrimp on my body I get hives.
>
> Um…why do you know that? 😕
**Lynn Bodoni** nailed an actual, legitimate reason for rubbing _something_ on yourself. Personally, I just try a small bite of shrimp every couple of years and see if I react. As of 2007, I still react to shrimp, but as of March, I didn’t react to a small bite of lobster, so there’s hope yet!
And FWIW, I don’t actually rub shrimp on myself. I thought it would be funny in light of how people often test for allergies. 😉
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### Author:  [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/73 "2010-09-09T20:49:53Z")
> [@maladroit](#):
>
> I suspect people use the allergic excuse to put an end to the discussion.
Or to avoid confronting their own need to make dietary modifications.
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### Author:  [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/74 "2010-09-09T20:57:55Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#):
>
> 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.
Let me determine it for you: people who have trouble with their weight are more likely to drink diet drinks than people who don’t.
Why this incredibly obvious conclusion seems to be reported as some great mystery, or even reverse-causal (that drinks without caloric content are somehow causing the obesity) seems to me one of the greatest failings of common sense in news reporting of our generation. None of the original researchers make that claim, nor seem to find this correlation surprising. It’s like claiming that suntan lotion causes hot days.
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### Author:  [@toodlepip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toodlepip)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/75 "2010-09-09T22:28:16Z")
> [@Lightray](#):
>
> My mother has a reaction to artificial sweeteners; aspartame, I think. She experienced what she described as ‘electrical shocks up and down her limbs’ until her doctor figured out the cause. Once she stopped drinking diet sodas, the tingling jolts went away.
>
> Her doctor was explicit that this was _not_ an allergy – by which he apparently meant, it wasn’t a histamine reaction. But she still refuses diet sodas.
>
> And she’s not fat, at all.
I have a similar reaction to aspartame. I get a tingling skin sensation all over my body, strong enough to wake me at night. Extremely unpleasant, and very worrying before I realised what caused it. I used to drink diet sodas like there was no tomorrow, now I don’t touch the stuff. I drink mostly water, and I’m no fatter or thinner as a result. I don’t tell people I’m allergic, my body just can’t handle the stuff.
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/76 "2010-09-09T22:38:29Z")
> [@Athena](#):
>
> Heh. My answer is “if I’m going to drink my calories, it better have alcohol in it.”
>
> The other more obvious answer is “one of the reasons I’m thin is that I don’t drink real-sugar soda.”
>
> Truly, there are very few drinks that I like enough to be OK with them not being no-calorie. My glass of wine at night and my coffee and half&half in the morning are the only two that are worth it IMO. Real soda? It’d have to taste a LOT better for me to drink it.
This is me. And I’m not fat; I’m usually within normal BMI but at the upper end, occasionally barely popping out of normal, which is when I work harder to keep my diet healthy. I drink diet soda only for the caffeine boost (I’m not really a coffee fan but drink it on occasion), and my liquid calories include alcohol as part of the mix, typically as beer.
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### Author:  [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/77 "2010-09-09T22:45:20Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#):
>
> Why this incredibly obvious conclusion seems to be reported as some great mystery, or even reverse-causal (that drinks without caloric content are somehow causing the obesity) seems to me one of the greatest failings of common sense in news reporting of our generation. None of the original researchers make that claim, nor seem to find this correlation surprising. It’s like claiming that suntan lotion causes hot days.
Not quite true. From my link:
"Psychologists at Purdue University’s Ingestive Behavior Research Center reported that relative to rats that ate yogurt sweetened with glucose (a simple sugar with 15 calories/teaspoon, the same as table sugar), rats given yogurt sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin later consumed more calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and didn’t make up for it by cutting back later, all at levels of statistical significance. Authors Susan Swithers, PhD, and Terry Davidson, PhD, surmised that by breaking the connection between a sweet sensation and high-calorie food, the use of saccharin changes the body’s ability to regulate intake. "
Some researchers at least are making that claim. Whether its a solid finding is still being contested.
Otara
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### Author:  [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/78 "2010-09-09T22:49:17Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#):
>
> Doesn’t anyone drink just plain water anymore?
I’ve kinda got browned off drinking diet cola etc. so I drink fizzy water now. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2010, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/79 "2010-09-10T09:40:37Z")
While I wouldn’t call it an “allergy”, which has a very specific meaning, I would say I can’t tolerate artificial sweeteners. I found this out while living with a very overweight diabetic who liked soda, so there was always sugar-free stuff around the house. I quickly discovered that I couldn’t drink it without having unpleasant biochemical reactions, namely tension and anxiety attacks, that sort of thing. I have a similar reaction to artificial colourings, specifically the petroleum-based FD&C colours. The jury is still out on artificial flavourings, but the effect is not as noticeable as that for the colours. I haven’t yet learned what all the ingredients abbreviations mean on this side of the pond, so I just try to avoid anything that I don’t know for sure has a natural source. Not that refined sugar is good for you as such, but it’s less of a toxicant than the non-food-based ingredients in my experience.
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### Author:  [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2010, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-almost-all-fat-people-allergic-to-artificial-sweeteners/553071/80 "2010-09-10T09:48:32Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#):
>
> 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’m sorry, this made me laugh hard. I’ve had bad experiences with those too, so though they might not be as panic-inducing as aspartame, I still avoid them.
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#):
>
> I also believe that unlike the other fake sugars, Splenda will actually cause an insulin spike.
I get the impression from what I’ve read that aspartame might affect blood sugar/insulin activity, and perhaps other sweeteners as well. I’ve seen speculation that it might be a brain wiring thing – expecting sugar because of the sweet flavour and acting accordingly. I think a lot of people may be shooting themselves in the foot by drinking diet soda and thinking it’s calorie-neutral in all senses.
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