In the 1960s, diet beverages were introduced so that people could enjoy a fizzy drink and not have to worry about their blood sugar spiking. For years, we didn’t know exactly what was happening inside the body, but we knew it wasn’t good.
When you drink a diet pop or other drinks with artificial sweeteners, you are essentially tricking your body into thinking sugar is coming, so it gets ready to secrete insulin. By repeatedly doing this, your cells are becoming less sensitive to insulin, making you insulin resistant.
In addition to this, there is now conclusive evidence showing that your microbiome changes, where bad bacteria can flourish in the absence of sugar. You're consuming fake sugar, but it still has an effect on the gut bacteria, providing fuel to the bad guys, just like sugar does.
Listen to today’s episode where Dr. Martin presents compelling arguments as to why you need to eliminate artificial sweeteners from your diet.
Dr. Martin also answers some questions he missed on Question and Answer Friday.
TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY'S EPISODE
Announcer: You're listening to The Doctor Is In Podcast, brought to you by MartinClinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr. Martin: Well, good morning. Hope you're having a great start to your day. Nice to have you on. Here we go. Story out... Well, I saw it on the weekend so it probably came out last week sometime on artificial sweeteners. So if you'd listened to me, 25, 30 years ago, I said the case is sort of pending, meaning that when people were drinking, especially diet soda, diet pop, we didn't have exactly what that did to the body. I always suspected it wasn't great, but for a lot of people, that was a big difference for them getting off of sugar, including my father. I always tell the story that my dad was one of the first guys in the world to drink diet pop. And in the 1960s, I mean '67, '68, they had Tab. I think they got rid of it finally. And in those days you drank diet Tab or diet Fresca. I think Fresca was around, and maybe it still is. I said, "Dad, how can you drink that stuff? It tastes like urine." Remember, we're going back to the 1960s. So diet pop, diet soda for my American friends has been around a long time.
Now, new studies that have come out have said this... One came out last week and I think the other one came out at the end of the week. So I flagged one early last week. Then I flagged the last one on the weekend, but here's what they're saying. One, your body thinks, even though you're having a diet pop with saccharin and sucralose are all those artificial... aspartame, what they're doing is tricking your body, but your blood sugar doesn't go up. Okay. So that's what they thought the biggest benefit would be is if you're a diabetic or you wanted to get rid of sugar, well, your blood sugars not going up.
Yes. Okay. So they're finding out that that's pretty well true. Your blood sugar is not going up, but your cells become less sensitive to insulin, because your body is sort of tricked into thinking sugar’s coming so now your body is getting ready for the secretion of insulin. That's one thing. And the studies are pretty interesting on that. And this is a few years ago, we found out that diet drinks with fake sugar change your microbiome. We didn't know exactly how it did it, but now the research is showing that it does two things in the bacteria of your stomach. One, the area that it seems to affect the most is your epithelial level. Okay? Your epithelium level is a single cell. It's so microscopic you can hardly find it, but you have a little barrier there. Okay. I've talked to you about this many, many, a times. You got a barrier between your gut and your blood. Okay? The gut blood barrier. And it really is made up of a lining of little epithelial cells. And they are fed by your bacteria.
Now, apparently when you drink diet pop, that layer gets affected. So now it's affecting the blood gut barrier, allowing bad stuff to get into your bloodstream. Okay? And the study is also showing that your microbiome changes where bad bacteria can flourish in the absence of sugar. You're not putting sugar in there. You're putting fake sugar, but it still has an effect on the gut bacteria, providing fuel to your bad guys, just like sugar does. You know me, and don't feed the bears. Don't feed the bears with garbage. Apparently this is real bad garbage too for the microbiome.
So why The Reset? One of the reasons on The Reset... Because a lot of people are hooked on diet soda. A lot of people are hooked on that stuff. And with The Reset, of course you're not having that. You're not allowed that. And one of the reasons that I get you to do that is because I'm trying to form habits in a person. Okay? Now again, human psychology, here’s it is 101. It takes three weeks to form a habit. You need to flip out, if you can, your diet soda. "Doc, give me a break." I'm trying to give you a break. I'm trying to be on your side. But I've got to bring up the research that tells you, one, it's affecting insulin resistance, which is one of the things on The Reset. This is the primary thing I'm fixing. We're fixing your insulin resistance. When you fix insulin resistance, you're fixing just about everything else.
Two, you're helping to fix your gut, your microbiome. So it's really important to wean you off, get you off of fake sugars. I know one of the greatest things you can do is get off sugar. One of the greatest things you can do. If you do nothing else, but get off sugar, you made a huge step in your life. You really have, and I applaud you. I am on your side. I want you to succeed. But the more we know, the more I want to tweak. And it's forming habits, like have water instead, have water instead, get used to drinking water. It's a habit. It's a great habit. I was reading a study on the weekend about water and how it affects even in diabetes, how good water is for you. Even with insulin and the brain. It's amazing. Vitamin W. So what I'm trying to do is switch your habits. "Yeah, but, Doc, I don't like water." I didn't say you had to like it. You will. Trust me. Trust me.
And thousands of you and found out that you can get off the sugar. Right? You get off the sugar, you bring sugar down. And then after The Reset, "You know what? That's too sweet. I don't like that anymore." Thousands of you have given me testimonies. Over the years, thousands. "You know what, Doc? I lost my sweet tooth." Well, good for you. You've done an amazing job on that. Good for you. Can I ask you to tweak it even more? Getting used to drinking water. "Okay. Okay. That's not going to be easy for me." I didn't say it was going to be easy, especially if you liked your diet pop, but you know what? Now the research is coming out and it's pretty conclusive. Come on. All those chemicals and all that, we knew it wasn't good.
We just didn't know exactly what it was doing to the body. And I'm sure we'll find out even more. And if you're coming off sugar and you have a diet pop here and there, I'm not going to make a federal case out of it. But if you want to know what you should do, this is an important factor for you. It's an important factor for you. Get off of that stuff. Get off of that stuff. You don't need it. And on The Reset, of course, I'm very limiting on what you're drinking. Water, your body will thank you. You're drinking two liters of water a day minimum, but two liters, measure it out. I can tell you with great assurance, great assurance that you need two liters of water every day. That's 64 ounces for my American friends.
Every day, seven days a week, you need vitamin W. Your brain needs it. Your heart needs it. Your skin needs it. Your kidneys need it. Niagara Falls. Remember what I called your kidneys. Niagara Falls. You don't want your urine to be concentrated. You want it to be filtered out, pee out all of your garbage, your toxins. Your lungs need water. So many people have trouble with their lungs. They're dehydrated. 90% of every headache is dehydration. I know there's hormones involved and things like that, too. I understand all that. But generally, if you could take a med that would get rid of 90% of all headaches in the world, you'd go, "Holy moly. What kind of a discovery is that?"
Well, that's what water does, but you need to drink the right amount of water. It's two liters. Not less, some more. If you're sweating, you work out at a gym. You might need that extra water, and only water’s water, guys. Coffee's not water. Juice is not water. Fruits are not water. There's water in them. You like watermelon. Well, good for you. "Doc, it's water melon." I know there's lots of water in it, but it's no substitute for you drinking water. It takes a complete different route to your body. And I'm not saying this bad for you. I'm not. What I'm saying is, your body needs that. It does not need diet pop, or soda. It doesn't. It's chemicals. It affects your insulin. The biggest problem in the world is not a virus. It's insulin. It's food.
Well, imagine a fake sugar is going to elevate your insulin, not your blood sugar. Somebody on the weekend, I was answering the question because they had all the symptoms of diabetes, all of them, but their doctor said they weren't a diabetic because their blood work. I said, "Well, I don't know how many times I've got to teach this, but I will teach it and teach it and teach it. Blood sugar for most people is the last thing to go wrong. Don't wait for your blood sugar to go wrong." Your body is so smart. It's so fearfully and wonderfully made, your body will do everything it can to keep you away from having blood sugar in your bloodstream. I've taught you this over and over and over again. But I don't mind telling you again. Blood sugar, as Tony Jr says, is a lagging indicator. It's a lagging indicator. Meaning it's one of the last things to happen. You were a diabetic sometimes years ahead of time before getting the diagnosis, except the fact that, and I often tell you this, see this forehand here, okay? Written across my forehead is diabetic. Now my blood sugars are good, but I don't fool myself. I know I have a tremendous weakness for insulin. Most people do.
Again, I bring you back to a study that I brought to you, the CDC. This is 2015, I think. 88% of the population have trouble with what they call metabolic syndrome. That means 88% of North Americans have trouble with insulin. Their blood sugar is higher than it should be, but it's still within normal limits. I don't care. And you know, I brought to you a week or two, a goal. We talked about A1C, your hemoglobin A1C and how they're looking at that much more seriously and seeing anything above 4.8. Nah, you're starting to get into trouble with insulin. I like that, because it's better that you know. Isn't it, guys? We don't deceive ourselves and don't pat ourselves on the back. "I'm not a diabetic. I'm in good shape, doc." I don't know. I beg to differ. You do not get away with a bad diet, guys. You don't get away with it.
And part of a bad diet is drinking diet soda or these fizzy drinks or whatever. "Doc, there's no sugar in it." Okay. That's good. And sugar's worse. I agree with that. It's worse. I remember years ago, this is back 25, 30 years ago. Somebody was saying, "I'd rather have the Pepsi, because at least it's natural." Do you think Pepsi's natural? Do you think Pepsi has natural sugar in it? Don't fool yourself with that nonsense either. Okay? Because Pepsi and Coca-Cola and Mountain Dew and all those drinks have Frankenstein sugar. Okay. High fructose corn syrup. That is the worst sugar in the universe, is that stuff. "Ah, you know what? I'd rather have natural," then they talk about Pepsi? That's natural? But I mean, are you kidding me?
So look, again, back to The Reset. You need to get yourself used to drinking water. I'm on your side. First thing that I will tell you, it's not easy to do that, but it gets easier. Okay? Because, when you form a new habit, I've told you about my history of drinking coffee. I started drinking coffee when I was young. Percolated coffee, the smell. I was talking to a young lady the other day and she had me laughing. She said, "Doc, I can't stand the smell of coffee." I said, "What planet do you come from? What? You can't stand the smell of coffee? What's the matter with you?"
Anyway, it just shows you right? Put your thumb up and you see the fingerprint on it. We're all different. Oh, but there are some people that are very unique. But guys, my mamaya, my grandma, my mom at home, percolated coffee. Even when I was a kid, but I needed four sugars to drink it when I was 14 or so, I needed four sugars and cream or milk and I couldn't drink it just black. Come on. But I remembered this is unreal. Okay, guys? I'm telling you, I went and now we're talking 19, probably '69. When I was in grade 13. I'll never forget it, because I watched my dad get rid of sugar. And you know what? For me, no more sugar in my coffee.
And I remember making a decision. I said, "No, I got to stop having sugar in my coffee." Can I tell you guys, since 1969, I've never had one chocolate bar, not one. Do I miss them? No. Do I miss sugar in my coffee? No. It gets easier because as you form habits, of course you understand that, right? It may be very difficult because you really liked the taste of diet soda. I didn't say it was going to be easy, but it gets easier, but it doesn't happen in one week. It doesn't happen in two weeks. It happens at the end. This is human psychology, human behavior. It takes three weeks to form a habit. And the fourth week on The Reset, there's a reason I go to four weeks. One of them is habits, but it takes that long to change the cells so that you lose complete resistance to insulin. Your body auto-corrects. Amazing. But these are things that are doable. Doable. Switching. Have your coffee, guys. Have your real vitamin C. I'll never give you anything like The Reset without coffee on it. Okay?
But isn't that interesting about diet soda? Three things... seems to affect your insulin, makes you more insulin resistant, it affects your microbiome, especially at the epithelium layer, that little layer that makes up your gut blood barrier. And then it feeds bad bacteria. As bad as sugar? Probably not, but don't feed the bears, guys. Don't feed the bears. Okay? So you can do this. You can do this, and thousands have. They've gotten off that wagon and they formed some really, really good habits.
Okay, so couple of questions, and maybe I’ll answer them that I missed on Friday. So sorry about that. I do that. Let me just answer them right now. Nancy was asking about, "Should flaxseed be ground or left hole?" Well, look, I've got a theory on this and I think I'm right. Okay? I know that 99% of all the gurus will tell you to grind the flaxseed. Look, if you want to do that, go for it. But you have a human grinder. It's called your stomach. Okay? Look, some of you don't have enough acidity in your stomach. So you want to fix that or you might want to grind your flaxseed. Why do I like flaxseed? By the way again, like no other seed. You don't hear me talking about chia seeds. You don't hear me talking about, ah, I don't mind hemp seeds. I don't. Don't smoke them. Okay? But they're not flax seeds, and flax seeds I even allow on The Reset. Now, look, if you have trouble with diverticulosis or whatever, then give your gut a break and don't use them.
But the reason I like them more than anything else, it's just science, guys. You know what it is? Flax seeds have lignans, and lignans decrease your estrogen. One of the biggest problems in society today is insulin. It's a growth hormone. And the second one is estrogen. It's a growth hormone, and men that gives prostate cancer. Women, it gives breast cancer, gives ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, fibroids, estrogen dominance is a huge, huge, huge problem in our society today. And one of the ways to help is to eat lignans. And there's nothing that's got a hundred times more lignans, there's nothing better than flaxseed. I'm sorry for the people that don't like what I say, I'm just telling you, that's what they're made of. So when you get on the internet and said, well, flaxseed will elevate your estrogen. My word, where did they get that? Okay. It's the opposite. So I like them. Okay. I really do.
Now, Mary Claire, "What is the best way to protect against a blood clot?" Well, vitamin W is the best. You want to thin your blood out naturally? You want it so it's not so gluey? See one of the things your body screams, I wish we had a little bulb on top of our hand that would go water, water, add water. We don't. But it's so important to your 60,000 miles blood vessels, your blood. Your circulatory system are rivers and streams, little tributaries. You know what I'm talking about? To your brain, to your toes, your eyeballs, everything needs water, your blood needs to move. And if you're dehydrated, it's one of the biggest problems in heart disease, insulin, and a lack of H2O. And unfortunately it's so dismissed, it's so dismissed in modern medicine. And if you're on any medication, I don't care what it is, from thyroid to high blood pressure, you are constantly dehydrated by medication.
It's a modern day phenomenon, more than any other time in our history because of medication. And because of all the substitutes for water. If you go to any medical school, any medical school, they won't teach you to drink water. They'll teach you to drink fluids. Not the same, guys. "You need to drink more fluids." No, you don't. You need to drink more water. Now of course, vitamin C, coffee? Yes. Okay, you know me. No, but think about it, guys. Like that is such an important concept. It's so important for your health. You're not sick. You're dehydrated. That's making you sick. I'm telling you. Okay.
Guys, thanks for watching as usual. A couple of housekeeping things. Get your friends. If they can't join us live, I understand. A lot of people can join us live. Share this with them. And if they are not a member of the Martin Clinic Facebook group, tell them how to join or get them to join. You can get your friends and family to do that. Tell them about The Doctor Is In podcast so you can sign up on your smart device. Okay. You're smart, and you have a device? You have a smart device. Okay, guys, we love you dearly. And I mean that, and we appreciate you. You have no idea. Okay? Talk to you soon.
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