#361 - AMA #74: Sugar and sugar substitutes: weight control, metabolic effects, and health trade-offs

Hey, everyone. Welcome to a sneak peek, ask me anything or AMA episode of the Drive podcast. I'm your host, Peter Attia. At the end of this short episode, I'll explain how you can access the AMA episodes in full along with a ton of other membership benefits we've created. Or you can learn more now by going to peterattiamd.com forward /subscribe. So without further delay, here's today's sneak peek of the Ask Me Anything episode. Welcome to Ask Me Anything AMA episode 74. In today's AMA, we're taking a closer look at one of the most common and misunderstood questions we receive: How to evaluate sugar and its substitutes in the context of health. To help answer these questions, we'll walk through a three part framework that reflects the most popular scenarios where sugar substitutes come into play. One, beverages, things like regular soda versus diet soda. Two. Protein supplements, powders and bars which often rely on sweeteners to make them even remotely palatable. And three. Sweet treats, everything from candy to low calorie desserts where the goal is simply to satisfy a sweet craving while minimizing the consumption of sugar and calories. We'll discuss why humans are hardwired to crave sweetness and how that evolutionary advantage now collides with today's food environment. Whether or not sugar is uniquely fattening. The evidence on isocaloric comparisons and sugar's rapid effects on hunger hormones. Fructose versus glucose, drinks versus solids, and natural quote unquote versus refined sugars. Why the timing of your sugar intake matters. What the big three sweeteners, saccharin, aspartame and sucralose, do and don't deliver for weight loss, glycemic control and the microbiome. What makes allulose a standout sweetener and why it is challenging to use in all products. Sugar alcohols, erythritol, xylitol, and sorbitol. Their calorie savings, common GI pitfalls, and xylitol's unique dental benefits, and the long term safety of common sweeteners. Do they raise cancer or heart disease risk? If you're a subscriber and you want to watch the full video of this podcast, you can find it on the show notes page. If you're not a subscriber, you can watch the sneak peek of the video on our YouTube page. So without further delay, I hope you enjoy AMA number 74. Peter, welcome to another AMA. How you doing? Good. Thank you for having me. Yes. Thank you for showing up. Anything interesting going on today? Anything recent going on? Well, I was playing what I thought was the game of my life this morning in chess, and then I made a very tactical blunder and found myself on the receiving end of Checkmate inside of two moves at the hands of my seven year old, which is becoming a constant theme these days. He's probably beating me six out of 10 games, which is simultaneously enjoyable to watch and infuriating to experience. Yeah. I was gonna say for people who have listened a while, read the book, the assumption would be you might …