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  Artificial Sweeteners Could Alter Blood Sugar Response

  Many people with diabetes reach for diet drinks as a substitute for regular soda or juice because they assume that sugar-free beverages won't impact blood sugar. But artificial sweeteners may not be completely neutral after all, according to a new study published in the journal Diabetes Care. When a group of 17 obese, non-diabetic participants sipped a beverage sweetened with Splenda (sucralose) prior to taking a standardized dose of glucose, their blood sugar and insulin peaked at higher levels than when they drank plain water. However, the research isn't definitive — other studies have found that artificial sweeteners have no effect on blood sugar. "If you drink a lot of diet soda then you might want to cut back and see if it has an impact on your blood glucose," suggested Patty Bonsignore, MS, RN, a certified diabetes educator at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. However, you'll want toswitch to healthier alternatives like water or seltzer, not regular soda, which is far worse than diet.