In
the quest for weight loss, America has engaged in a love affair with sugar
substitutes. Unfortunately, it's been a one sided, abusive relationship,
with the American consumer the victim.
Not only has long-term research shown each
sugar substitute to be a health risk, it has also proven that consumers who
use sugar substitutes GAIN weight instead of losing it.
Here are some of the types of sugar
substitutes currently on the market:
Aspartame (Nutrasweet,
Equal)
Aspartame, marketed as such brands as
Nutrasweet, Equal, Spoonful and Equal-Measure, first appeared in the U.S. in
1981, when the U.S. obesity rate was 46%. Today, the rate is 63%. Clearly,
aspartame has not been effective in helping to reduce the overall weight of
U.S. citizens. Most experts now believe it has negative impact on weight
loss.
Along with the rising obesity rates,
mounting questions about its effectiveness and its safety continue to plague
the food additive. Some of the unwanted side effects include:
1. increased hunger and cravings
2. lowered serotonin which causes
depression and/or mood swings
3. the release of insulin in proportions
to the sweetness of the food eaten, usually more than needed by the body
4. with overproduction of insulin, fat
cells grow faster
5. increased thirst because aspartame
dehydrates the body
6. impaired sleep
Artificial sweeteners can also change your
perception of what is sweet and alter the amounts of sugar it takes to
satisfy you. Studies have proven that people who use artificial sweeteners
consume MORE sugar than those who do not.
In addition to the damage cravings can
cause (both emotionally and physically), dehydration is a major cause of
weight gain. With greater thirst, many people just consume more soda laden
with more chemicals.
It is also easy to confuse thirst and
hunger and many people eat when they are actually thirsty. Do you crave
something cold and sweet, like ice cream? It's probably not hunger – it's
thirst talking to you.
Widespread Use/Widespread
Adverse Reactions
According to a 1998 survey by the Calorie
Control Counsel, 144 million American adults regularly consume sugar-free,
artificially sweetened foods every day.
If 1% of aspartame users have adverse
reactions, that is over 1 million problems. The FDA has admitted that
3/4 of all its non-drug complaints are for the unwanted ill
effects from aspartame use.
Some of the complaints include the
following:
The chemical breakdown for aspartame is 40%
aspartate, 50% phenylalanine and 10% methanol, a deadly poison (wood
alcohol). The Environmental Protection Agency defines safe consumption as
no more than 7.8 milligrams per day of this dangerous substance. A
one-liter beverage, sweetened with aspartame, contains about 56 milligrams
of wood alcohol, or eight times the EPA limit!
In addition, aspartame is metabolized by
the body into carcinogins or cancer-causing agents and kills brain cells
every time it is ingested.
Aspartame stayed on the market for many
years despite widely varying research results:
In 74 studies sponsored by aspartame
manufacturers, all 74
(100%) claimed that no problems were found
with aspartame.
83 out of 84 independent reports
found problems.
The aspartame industry-sponsored studies are usually the ones the American
public sees cited in news and television reports.
The Hasty,
Desperate Leap to Sucralose (Splenda)
Today, lawsuits are proliferating against
the manufacturers of aspartame and, as a result, food and beverage
manufacturers are making a hasty leap to a new product, sucralose, also
known as Splenda.
Sucralose is made from bonding sugar
(sucrose) to chlorine.
That statement of fact should be all it
takes to throw anything containing splenda out the window!
Chlorine?
·
Yes, the same chemical used
in bleach!
·
The same chemical you've been
warned against ingesting for 50 or 60 years!
·
The same chemical that is
classified as a PESTICIDE!
·
The same chemical many
municipalities are banning from swimming pools!
·
The same chemical linked to
breast cancer in women (who does 90% of the cleaning, often using cleansers
containing chlorine?).
Canada is making moves to ban it, even for
household cleaning use, but the FDA backed the ingestion of it for over 20
years.
Isn't it odd that big money makers like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, although they
are still claiming aspartame is safe, switched to Splenda for their products
in such an amazingly swift time?
As of 2005, only six human trials have been conducted on
Splenda and only two of the trials were completed and
published before the FDA approved sucralose for human
consumption. The two published trials had a grand total of 36 total
human subjects.
36 people sure doesn't sound like a large study, but wait -- it gets worse
-- only 23 total were actually given Splenda for testing and the longest use
lasted only four days and looked at Splenda in relation to
tooth decay, not human tolerance. Is that conclusive enough to be putting
it in your body?
McNeil Nutritionals, manufacturer of Splenda, has claimed Splenda has
endured some of the most rigorous testing to date for any food additive.
They claim that over 100 studies have been conducted on Splenda. What they
don't say is that most of the studies are on animals.
There have been no long-term human toxicity
studies published until after the
FDA approved Splenda for human consumption. Following FDA approval, a human
toxicity trial was conducted, but lasted only three months, hardly the
length of time most Splenda users plan to consume sucralose. No studies have
ever been done on children or pregnant women.
No matter what, the sparse human studies
show that 15% of Splenda is not excreted by the body. Where
is that chemical compound going in the body and what is the body doing with
it? Considering that Splenda bears more chemical similarity to DDT than it
does to sugar, are you willing to bet your health on this data? Remember
that fat soluble substances, such as DDT, can remain in your fat for decades
and devastate your health.
Because Splenda is a food additive, not
a drug, the number of studies required to receive FDA approval is
substantially less than a drug. And that means the American public's health
is less important than money in the pockets of big corporations.
In addition, Splenda
is supposed to work because it can't be digested by the body. Which means
it can't give you energy. What does your body do when it eats something
sweet, which it knows should give you energy (at least momentarily), and it
doesn't get that jolt of fuel?
It keeps you hungry!
Other early reports of
panic attacks, paranoia, limb numbness, gastrointestinal distress and "fake"
heart attacks don't bode well for the newest sugar substitute.
There is now serious
concern that some people do absorb Splenda just like sugar and
even further concern that people using it will adjust to it, allowing
absorption. That means you're basically ingesting sugar. This is
especially bad news for diabetics who count on it not affecting their blood
sugar levels.
The first lawsuits are
for false advertising, because the slogan "good for you because it's made
from real sugar" is deceptive to the public. Stay tuned. Further
lawsuits are imminent.
Neotame
This is a new
derivative of the same ingredients in aspartame, reformulated in an attempt
to make the product harder to break down by the body. It's rare in the
market.
Sugar Alcohols
Examples: Sorbitol,
xylitol, mannitol, maltitol, lactitol, isomalt, erythritol
These are made by
bonding hydrogen to sugars. Some are supposedly calorie-free (erythritol
which is not supposed to be absorbed by the body) and some have 3/4 the
calories of sugar (no big help if you're a calorie-counter).
These compounds are,
however, laxatives. They can seriously affect digestion, causing bloating,
cramping, diarrhea, flatulence, and intestinal distress.
Tagatose
Marketed as naturlose,
tagatose is manufactured from lactose (milk sugar) and has the same laxative
reactions as sugar alcohols noted above.
Acesulfame
The body can't
metabolize the synthetic chemical acesulfame, but no definitive studies
exist (one study was suspended because the rats involved were so drastically
sick), which should indicate that it should not be on the market at all.
Acesulfame is found in non-sugar ice creams, gum and many protein mixes for
high-protein shakes (yes, the ones touted for weight loss!).
Stevia
Stevia is a natural
substance, extracted from a shrub grown in South America, that is not
absorbable by the body.
Many nutritionists and
naturapathic doctors swear by Stevia. The FDA, which has bent over
backwards to include chemical sweeteners, mysteriously lagged in its
acceptance of Stevia. It was approved for use in food only recently,
in 2009, and therefore there are few reports about reactions to it.
Some people have reported an increase in acidity and acid reflux when using
it.
No doubt this story
will develop in the next few years.
Is
Losing Weight Without Artificial Sweeteners Possible?
In a cruel and ironic twist, aspartame actually caused weight gain.
Phenylalanine and aspartate, found in aspartame, stimulate the release of
insulin. Rapid, strong spikes in insulin remove all glucose from the
blood-stream and store it as fat. This can result in hypoglycemia and sugar
cravings.
83
(out of 84) independent reports found:
Research shows
Aspartame actually stimulates appetite and brings on a craving for
carbohydrates and sugary foods. In 1986, The American Cancer Society
documented the fact that persons using artificial sweeteners gain more
weight than those who avoid them.
When a diet drink is
ingested with a meal, aspartame causes the brain to cease production of
serotonin, therefore the feeling of fullness is greatly delayed and the body
continues to give out hunger signals.
In
a recent study, a control group switching to an aspartame-free diet resulted
in an average weight loss of 19 pounds in one year!
The only thing better
than losing that much weight is the fact that most people who cut aspartame
from their diets report a huge lift in their spirits. In my own practice,
ALL of my clients who give up aspartame report relief from a low-level
depression they did not even recognize was present in their lives.
Feel better! Guard
your health! There is nothing more important than your health and
well-being and aspartame may not be enhancing your health.
Tips for Eliminating
Artificial Sweeteners
1. Cut back slowly.
If you add it to food and drinks, cut your portions in half, then cut back
to one quarter of your normal serving. If you drink 3 sodas a day, cut back
to two for a week, then go to one for a week, then one-half.
2. Pay attention to
your sense of sweet. It may change drastically. When you crave something
sweet, allow yourself to eat a very small portion of whatever you are
craving (provided it has no Nutrasweet in it) paying absolute attention to
what you are eating. Eat slowly and savor it.
3. Read food labels.
Aspartame is "hidden" in many foods, especially yogurt, low calorie jams,
salad dressings, candy, breath
mints, cereals, sugar-free chewing gum, cocoa mixes, coffee beverages,
instant breakfasts, frozen desserts and shake mixes.
4. Recognize that it
may take 60 days to rid your body of the effects of artificial sweeteners.
Some users of Splenda have reported it took a year to feel normal again!
|
Important!
Never give your
children artificial sweeteners. Children do not have the same blood
brain barrier development as adults and toxic substances can have
negative effects on their nervous systems. Aspartame may be a factor
in ADD, hyperactivity, mental retardation and various other
neurological problems in children and is an ingredient in many
children's medicines!
More importantly,
never use aspartame if you are pregnant or nursing. |
References
ASPARTAME (NUTRASWEET): IS IT SAFE?;
by Dr. H.J. Roberts; Philadelphia, PA; 1989; Charles Press.
SWEETNER DEAREST:
BITTERSWEET VIGNETTES ABOUT ASPARTAME (NUTRASWEET);
by Dr. H.J. Roberts; West Palm Beach, FL; 1992; Sunshine Sentinel Press.
EXCITOTOXINS: THE
TASTE THAT KILLS;
by Russell L. Blaylock; Sante Fe, NM; 1994; Health Press.
DEADLY DECEPTION –
THE STORY OF ASPARTAME;
edited by Mary Nash Stoddard; 1987; the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network.
SWEET NOTHINGS –
NOT ALL SWEETENERS ARE EQUAL;
by David Schardt, Nutrition Action, The Center for Science in the Public
Interest, May 2004.
