SACCHARINE, ASPARTAME, SUCRALOSE, OH MY!

You probably know that I’m not a fan of artificial sweeteners-they just don’t seem to be the great weight-loss promoters they had hoped to be. I’d much rather you reduce your sugar intake naturally whenever possible, which can mean a long process of slowly adjusting your taste buds to less and less added sugar.

You can also switch to natural sweeteners like raw honey, pure maple syrup or dates as a healthier option to refined sugar. If you are trying to lose weight though and are trying to reduce your caloric intake you may prefer Stevia.  This powdered leaf of the Stevia plant, is the most healthy and natural of the 0-calorie sweeteners.

You probably know the negative health effects of eating too much sugar, especially “added sugars” like in soft drinks, candy, baked goods, and many processed cereals and junk food, just to name a few.  Added sugar is hiding just about everywhere in the grocery store.

Even when it doesn’t actually say “sugar” on the ingredient list, names like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or most other names ending in “ose” usually mean there is sugar in the food. If any of these are in the top 5 ingredients you should know it contains mostly sugar and you should try to choose something else- preferably something healthier with ingredients you are familiar with. Ingesting refined sugar spikes your blood sugar and insulin, and increases your risk for a whole host of issues.

Not too long ago, one of the food industry’s responses to the demand for lower-calorie foods that still tasted sweet was artificial sweeteners. The idea behind them is that you can still get the sweetness, without the calories; like when you have a diet soda versus a regular one. Theoretically, this was going to help people lose or maintain a healthy body weight, and hopefully not increase anyone’s risk of heart disease, diabetes, or obesity.

But, it doesn’t always work out the way we think it will…in fact there is even something called the Snackwell Phenomenon which studied this concept. You can read more about that in this article, https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-sad-history-of-trans-fatty-acids-1745838.

Sugar substitutes fall into several categories, but what they all have in common is that they have a sweet taste and fewer calories than plain sugar.

Specifically, artificial sweeteners are synthetic chemicals and using a tiny bit tastes very sweet. These include the pink one, aka Sweet & Low made with Saccharin; the blue one, aka NutraSweet & Equal, made with Aspartame; and the yellow one, aka Splenda made of Sucralose.

Negative health effects from artificial sweeteners are cited all over the place, and while many studies show effects, others don’t. Cancer? Maybe yes, maybe no. Heart disease? Maybe yes, maybe no. Some studies even point to Neurotoxins…It is true that much of the research has been on animals, which may or may not translate to people. Are you willing to take that risk?  I’m not.

Ironically enough, one study found that people who tend to drink diet sodas have double the risk of gaining weight than those who didn’t. And another study has shown an increased risk for metabolic syndrome and diabetes for those who consume diet drinks every day.

There are so many ideas out there to try to explain how artificial sweeteners affect our bodies. Some possibilities are that perhaps it’s because the sweeteners change the way food tastes or perhaps artificial sweeteners increase our cravings for more (real) sweets?

Another more scientific reason may be that the sweet taste of these sweeteners signals our body to release insulin to lower our blood sugar; but, because we didn’t actually ingest sugar, our blood sugar levels get too low, to the point where we get sugar cravings. It’s also possible that this “tricks” our brains into thinking we have ingested sugar and causes this spike in glucose and insulin.

I highly recommend reducing your sugar intake, so you naturally re-train your palate and start enjoying the taste of real food that isn’t overly sweet.  This way you’re reducing your intake of added sugar, as well as not needing to replace it with artificial sweeteners.

Understand that added sugar is not good for you, but the solution may not be to replace them all with artificial sweeteners. You may try having ½ teaspoon less of sugar in your hot morning drink. Recipes rarely need as much sugar as they call for so try reducing a ¼ cup of the sugar called for in some recipes. And you can try diluting your kids’ juices with water.

If you are trying to lose weight and are conscious of your calorie intake you may not want to use natural sweeteners like raw honey or pure maple syrup. Stevia is a zero-calorie, zero-fats, zero-cholesterol, zero-sodium, and zero-sugars sweetener which also has no glycemic index and therefore doesn’t raise blood sugar at all and may be the alternative you are looking for.

Yours In Good Health 

Wholey Fit Nutrition, LLC
www.wholeyfitnutrition.com
info@wholeyfitnutrition.com