Artificial sweeteners: Making you fit? Or sick and fat?
Our world has developed an obsession with weight control and, as a result, has begun replacing high calorie foods with low-fat and non-caloric substitutes. Artificial sweeteners are a widely used solution to this growing problem. Though the intention when using artificial sweeteners is to lose weight, studies have shown that the opposite sometimes occurs (1).
Aspartame is one of the most common artificial sweeteners in use today and is sold under the brand names NutraSweet® and Equal®. It is used in numerous foods and beverages because it is about 200 times sweeter than sugar, so much less of it can be used to give the same level of sweetness with the benefit of reduced calories so is used as the sweetener of choice in Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi and thousands of ‘diet’ foods.
In 1996 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a list of 92 adverse aspartame reactions that included seizures, blindness, obesity; testicular, mammary and brain tumours; sex dysfunction, and death, acquired from 10,000 consumer complaints in the USA.
An interesting study (2) links aspartame to greater glucose intolerance and increased abdominal adiposity(increased fat around the belly)! The irony that so many people who want to lose belly fat turn to diet drinks, thinking they’re doing themselves a favour!
Through clever advertising campaigns the world population was made to believe that aspartame and all the other artificial sweeteners are just simple, harmless, food additives that give you the sweet taste, by help you keep slim, or even shed some extra kilos. However, the sweeteners are actually patented for ‘appetite enhancement’. And these drugs really do what they promise – they make you crave carbohydrates, and thereby make you fat.
In the body, aspartame is broken down into phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol. Methanol in large doses has been known to cause serious birth defects and major developmental disorders including autism and attention deficit disorder in the offspring of aspartame users (3). Ever since the 1950’s when aspartame, MSG and fluoride were being pushed into our youth, the IQ of the average high school graduate has fallen 10 percent. An unlikely coincidence? Maybe... or maybe not.
Many European countries have discontinued the use of artificial sweeteners for good reason. Until the unlikely chance that they will be discontinued for use in our foods in Australia, it is vital for us to protect our health and that of our family members by avoiding ‘diet foods’ where possible and stringently reading the ingredients on the food labels for any harmful artificial sweeteners including aspartame, NutraSweet, Sucralose (Splenda) and saccharin. The next time you see a drink or food that contains any of these artificial sweeteners, remember that there is nothing natural about them at all and the chemicals they contain are not suitable for human consumption. They ironically have the ability to make us fatter and sick - definitely not fitter!
If you would like more information about artificial sweeteners or advice on healthy replacements, contact me through the contact page and let's talk!
In good health,
Deena x
