Pepsi max-aspartame-fasting and Autophagy?

I have recently been drinking a lot of Pepsi max during my fasting stints. Does it help me more than coffee? I really haven't compared well yet so I can't say, but I was wondering if anyone knew or heard/read a study that shows that a product like pepsi max interferes with your fasting/autophagy progress in any way? I understand that caffeine is generally considered beneficial for autophagy and weight loss although I am not too concerned about weight loss right now as I can clearly see it is helping more than anything. I also understand that coffee itself is better than caffeine on its own for autophagy, I am not entirely sure if it is good for ALL forms of autophagy though as I understand that the body has different pathways for autophagy and different body parts start at different times and at different rates. And I would just like to confirm that something like pepsi max won't significantly hinder this process in anyway. I highly doubt the evidence or trials for this in particular exist but I could be wrong I guess. **TL DR Does Pepsi (aspartame is the sweetener) max mess with autophagy?** **Does coffee increase ALL autophagy or only some forms and does it hinder any?**

Answer

https://www.reddit.com/r/FastingScience/comments/ic43zx/if_you_eat_something_its_not_fasting/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

This is the top post of this sub that outlines artificial sweeteners - specifically aspartame - does not break a fast, as it doesn’t elicit a hormonal or glycaemic response in the body. Can someone please elaborate, or refute this?

Answer

This is just a quick study I goggled

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7014832/

The book “why we get sick” by Bikman,“Fast Carb Slow carb” or any of the Jason Fung books will give you many more studies on why you should not be drinking diet sodas with artificial sweeteners. It spikes your insulin. And that’s the exact reason you fast. That’s where all the health benefits come from; from low/ no insulin. I would suspect drinking even a small amount completely voids your fast of any major health benefits but I don’t know that the studies are there yet to prove that.

Answer

From what I know, it depends on the person. To some people it triggers a response in the body, for some it does not.

When I was on a 6 days fast I began drinking Coke Zero and thought it didn’t interfere. It did. I noticed very strong weakness and dizziness, despite supplementing everything necessary, and I couldn’t even walk up some stairs without getting out of breath and getting the worst pain in my legs. I was irritated because I knew I’ve been supplementing, and I never had these kinds of symptoms before. So that left me to conclude that the Coke probably caused a response in my body, which prevented me from entering ketosis. Basically I was starving

But it might as well have been something else, don’t take this as a definite answer. And also, to be fair, I drank 2 liters a day so my guess is that if you drink a little less than that it might be different