Posted on 07/18/2009 7:54:31 AM PDT by Publius804
Sugar Substitutes: Healthy or Deadly?
"Why do things taste so good? I'm telling you why, NutraSweet is why…" So went the song in a 1990 television advertisement.
The video backed it up with images of family fun, male bonding, and cute kids - all consuming or presumably on the verge of drinking a diet soda. Sweeteners like aspartame would usher in an era of thin and happy.
Barry Sears, the biochemist who came up with the Zone diet, says it's not that simple.
"We now know data from Harvard Medical School in children who consume diet sodas gain weight," Sears told CBN News. "Well, how can that be? There are you know, no calories."
Increase Obesity?
Sears is far from alone in noting that more and more research shows that this empty sweetness makes the body expect food. When it doesn't arrive, you actually get hungrier. He explains in simple terms that the more sugar-free soft drinks you drink, the fatter you become.
And not only may artificial sweeteners - found in a staggering number of grocery products - increase obesity, but many experts say they're bad for you in other ways. That could be demonstrated in your own kitchen by pouring an aspartame-based diet soda into a hot pan.
The heat simulates what your body does when you consume aspartame - breaking it down into toxic formaldehyde. But don't try this as it could give you a migraine.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbn.com ...
I blame Big Sugar!
The most interesting story about diets that I have heard involves the Shangri-La diet. I first read about it in Freakanomics. It was a diet devised by a guy who used himself as a lab subject and tried hundreds of different diet approaches, none of which worked without significant sacrifice. He devised a theory that says all humans have a internal thermostat that determines when your body attempts to stockpile energy or not. He figured out a way to trick this calorie retention signal and loose weight.
Lots of links there.
You’re off the hook! Can’t someone else make lunch, though? :)
Nope. If I die, the byos will starve.
They can trigger seizures in people with a seizure disorder.
I figure if they can do that, then they are not good for you. Now, no one in my family will have the artificial sweetners.
Regular sugar doesn’t mess with your brain. You just have to limit consumption. My kids just drink more water instead of soda.
LOL! Do their future wives a favour and teach them to cook. :)
That is so important. The point is that water is better on the pocket book and better for your body. We don’t have any fake sugar in our house. We have also stopped buying low-fat, low-cal, fat-free, reduced-cal, etc. The list of ingredients in these products is alarming! We buy the real thing and limit the amount that we eat. We definitly feel better for it.
No more water for me...
Many who suffer from autoimmune illnesses have changed their diets and found that they feel much better without any preservatives, additives or chemicals in their diet. Those additives may not react with *your* body chemistry and/or may not affect *your* autoimmune disease, but in many they do. Unfortunately, autoimmune illness doesn’t get the time and attention it deserves because, IMO, it’s mostly females who are afflicted.
Those who travel abroad in some countries have found that they eat a lot more but actually lose weight. The difference? The food is natural and freshly prepared.
I am just waiting for someone to come up with a reason for my being fat that fits. It couldn’t possibly be the reason my daughter gives - that I have no willpower. In the new America, isn’t it my right to be a victim? Can I sue? I’m 20 pounds overweight, I want my disability check!-—JM
I want to see the control group of children that remained stable at 38 pounds because they didn't drink diet sodas.
Hubby is a diabetic, so we switched from sugar to Splenda. I found that the Splenda caused me to have way to much intestinal discomfort. So I switched to the natural sweetner Ribana aka Stevia. One packet is equal to two tsp. of sugar and I love it! Hubby does too. Haven’t tried cooking with it, only as a sweetner in coffee and cereal.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha. “Food” is the smiley face name placed on assemblages of chemicals. Our bodies are chemical machines that live on chemicals, any one of which, in the right amount, would kill you.
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OK, so you’re a scientist who takes every word literally and I’m not. Got me there - hahahahahaha!
So would I. The article is full of assumptions and anecdotal evidence but no statistics. Fat people drink diet soda and assuming that it is the soda that makes them fat is a real stretch.
Frankly, I never drink for example diet sodas with sugar substitutes because I think they are basically chemicals and unhealthier even moreso than real sugar. I never have sugar substitutes and I never use them. I can understand people with diabetes staying away from sugar. But it is my belief that the chemicals in sugar substitutes may cause cancer and other health problems. I much prefer natural foods whenever possible.
Bill and Tom can cook. The little boys (4 of them, 7-and-under) in the kitchen is a nightmare!
Substitutes: Deadly
I’ll bet!
Sounds nice! We have most of those, plus some peppers, in a little garden outside our kitchen door. Earlier in the year, we would let the dragons graze out there, but now there are fireflies, which are poisonous.
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