I'm noticing something.....and I like it. Plus, coffee story Is there a fit2fat theme for Thursdays that I'm unawares? If there isn't an official day, Fit2FatFriday F2FF could work very well. so down to business: there is this fatty in my school club. She and I had to meet for club business. We got coffee. I get iced coffee with sugarfree hazelnut, she got a coffee with milk. I'm thinking at first "oh she's getting something healthier for show" NOPE. She proceeds to dump sugar in her coffee....have you seen sword in the stone? the "say when" part. I'm crying out inside "STAHP!".  MFW https://media.giphy.com/media/yHUiExmU40A4U/giphy.gif I say nothing because in the end it doesn't really surprise me. We work, we both finish our drinks. we're packing up and she says "I'm going to get a refill". I didn't realize you could do that at this coffee shop. This time I speak up "Yeah but all that sugar." She responds in a way that still makes me laugh. "Raw sugar is good for your body. Its healthier than what you're drinking for sure" cue Oh Really? face "really?" "yeah, aspartame is in it and its toxic. If you drink it, it will make you sick." I asked her how many coffees she has a day. "Only one or two" and you drink them like that? "Yeah, but raw sugar is the healthiest sweetener you can have, that or agave." I say "all that sugar that you're having is essentially lay-away for diabetes. Its not healthy to have that much sugar". I suspect she drinks more than she lets on as I've only ever seen her with a coffee in her hand. She gave me death stare and walked out without her refill; success. Here are some papers for those of you who have heard things about artificial sweeteners on the news or other sources, if you're worried about them: http://ajpgi.physiology.org/content/296/4/G735.short (sucralose does not cause a spike in blood sugar, insulin levels, or fuck digestion)  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230009000786 (splenda safe for intended use) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12180494 (even ridiculously high levels of aspartame are safe) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2900484/ (having artificial sweetener as a substitute can help you eat less) but in the spirit of being unbiased, I reviewed papers that associated adverse effects with artificial sweeteners. I think I'll live considering I have artificial sugars like twice a week. (feel free to add your own peer-reviewed publications) https://www.uscupstate.edu/uploadedFiles/Academics/Undergraduate_Research/Symposium/Symposium%202014.pdf#page=147 (if you drink diet drinks uncontrollably, theres no difference in weight gain when compared to regular) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900713002190 (Artificial sweeteners safe, but use sparingly) But despite any questions that arise from the use of artificial sweeteners, we KNOW that sugar is unsafe, especially in the amounts that beeti consume it: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/37/4/950.short Sugar is bad http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h3576.full Sugary drinks are bad http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nep.12343/full Sugary drinks bad for kidneys, incidentally, diet sugar drinks not http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/02February/Pages/Sugar-intake-linked-to-heart-disease-deaths.aspx Sugary drinks bad for heart http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0095309 Sugary drinks even make asians fat The one thing I learned in all of this is that SSB stands for sugar-sweetened beverages; I want it to stand for sugar-sweetened beasts. Nothing else really surprising here. Hope you had fun. http://31.media.tumblr.com/8df2c68f7847223c82d206aad7ad32cc/tumblr_mraiwji1fW1qhcrb0o1_500.gif