More On Artficial Sweeteners

I have been reading more on artificial sweeteners from a number of sources and the news does not get any better or more reassuring that you are okay to continue eating foods containing these.

The top (4) artificial sweeteners on the hit list are:

1. Aspartame which contains phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol:

What is methanol?

Also known as methyl alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, methanol is a type of alcohol with the formula CH3OH (often written as MeOH). It’s the simplest alcohol, and at room temperature, forms a clear and highly flammable solution with a characteristic sweet smell.

Ingestion of large amounts of methanol is extremely dangerous, as it’s converted to toxic compounds including formic acid and formate salts. These can affect the central nervous system and cause blindness, coma or even death. As a consequence, this alcohol is frequently used as a denaturant additive for synthetic ethanol, to prevent people from drinking industrial grade ethanol.

What is phenylalanine? It is an amino acid however it can cause major problems IF:

Turns out that one in 15,000 people in the world has a genetic disorder calledPhenylketonuria. Their body can’t metabolize phenylalanine. As it builds up in the body, it causes all sorts of bad things to happen, such as mental retardation, seizures, and other brain damage.

Here is a list of known side effects that I am sure is on every one's Christmas wish list...NOT!

Headaches, memory loss, arthritis, anxiety, memory loss, abdominal pain, depression, heart palpitations. weight gain, possible brain tumor, irritable bowel syndrome, vision problems and last but not least nausea.

Ready for more good news about ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS?

2. Aceslulfame-K - It is a potassium salt containing methylene which is a know carcinogen!

3. Sucralose - it is a synthetic additive created by chlorinating sugar. The chemical structure is listed as very similar to the structure of the now BANNED pesticide DDT

4. SACCHARIN - Primary ingredient is "Benzoic Sulfimide" Early studies showed this product caused bladder cancer in rats.

WHAT ABOUT SMART SAFE ALTERNATIVES?

I use Stevia in the raw. Everything I read indicates it is safe for human consumption. It takes very little of it to add sweetness to what ever you are drinking and/or eating.

STAY away from items labeled as DIET, LOW calorie etc. especially soft drinks Coke and Pepsi etc. MOST of the diet and low calorie foods on your grocer shelves are laden with one or another form of artificial sweeteners.

God Bless,

Dan

Artificial Sweeteners In The NEWS

Lately I have been reading several articles indicating that artificial sweeteners have been shown to elevate glucose levels and actually contribute to type 2 Diabetes. What a HOOT! Those of us in days gone by thought we were being smart and making healthy choices by using by using artificial sweeteners and choosing foods labeled (DIET) etc. were actually setting the stage for impaired glucose metabolism and contributing to becoming a diabetic. Does it make you angry? It should.

Take a look:

Almost every restaurant table has a little cup that is filled with Sweet and Low, Splenda, Equal Saccharin etc. etc. Apparently these types of sweeteners are not only unhealthy for you in general, they can be worse than eating the sugar they are marketed as a substitute for.

In a preliminary study published recently in the Journal Nature, artificial sweeteners are being scrutinized. In several experiments involving both mice and a small group of people, researchers from the Weizman Institute of Science in Israel found that artificial sweeteners appear to disrupt the flora of bacteria residing in intestines, leading to a rise in blood sugar levels. Mice fed aspartame, saccharin and Sucralose experienced changes in their gut microbiome and also were placed at a higher risk of developing glucose intolerance, which is a precursor to diabetes.

Even the act of transplanting bacteria found in mice feces into a different group of mice, these mice also developed blood sugar changes even though the animals had never been fed artificial sweeteners.

Another test was done involving seven volunteers who normally abstained from eating any artificial sweeteners and found that when they ate regular doses of saccharin for a week, four of the seven developed elevated blood sugar levels. They also studied but bacteria in 400 people, and found that those who use artificial sweeteners regularly had different gut bacteria that those who didn't consume them.

What type of foods and drinks contain artificial sweeteners? A LOT MORE THAN YOU MIGHT THINK! Here are a few examples:

Darn near everything in your grocery store marked diet, or fat free or sugar free or 1/2 the calories of our regular brand etc. ALL of the diet colas and soft drinks and most carbonated drinks labeled as ZERO calories etc. Beware of many baked goods labeled sugar free as well as they likely contain one form or another of artificial sweetener. Jello sugar free, fat free pudding list one of the ingredients as ASPARTAME.

When I found out about this recently, I instantly thought of all those diet Cokes and Pepsi's I drank during the years I owned my own insurance agency I thought, GEE WHIZ, this has to be better for you than a regular cola with anywhere from 25 to 70 grams of sugar in it.

In some respects I guess it was, but altering one's glucose metabolism and contributing to type 2 diabetes wasn't one of them.

SEE my articles on "Interstitial Fluid" and PH and soft drinks.

Perhaps this is why God intended for us to eat fruits and vegetables and protein and to READ LABELS ON EVERYTHING YOU EAT.

God Bless,

Dan

FURTHER READING:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2014/09/18/artificial-sweeteners-increase-risk-diabetes/F3lgKZR0cA9ntkSPv70qfO/story.html