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.
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…
{Raises her glass of tap water and salutes Freudian Slit} 
More like two gallons a week – for a minimum… But I know it is still too much. I genuinely CRAVE milk!
pssst … post # 2 …
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
Oh, I forgot. The lighting designer I knew who got drooly from diet soda was pretty thin. Short too.
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.
Odd. The only people I know who drink diet sodas are fat people.
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.
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.
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.)
There have been studies that show a link between obesity and diet soda drinking. WebMD Link. 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.
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: