Artificial Sweeteners

i dont eat any fake sugar




Trying to keep your weight down and trying to be healthy can be totally different things. There was a time in my life when I believed that sugar-free foods and drinks were actually good for me. I was drinking sugar-free Red Bulls and dumping Splenda into my morning coffee like my life depended on it. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I considered myself healthy then.

I always heard negative things about artificial sweeteners in passing, but dodged conversations about it and pretended like I didn't hear or read anything knocking the merit of the products. What can I say? I was addicted to caffeine and totally uninterested in ditching my habit. (And who doesn't love a low-calorie caffeine fix?)

But after learning a thing or two about artificial sweeteners, I've left my sugar-free energy drink toting days behind me.

Some facts about artificial sweeteners that made me change my mind:

1. They are chemicals or natural compounds that replace the sweetness of sugar, without all of the calories. But sometimes the label 'sugar-free' masks calories present in the food or drink. Of course you can always read the product's label, but believe it or not, there are a whole lot of people out there who think that sugar-free or fat-free means low-calorie. On top of that, there are some recent studies that have shown that artificial sweeteners can actually increase your appetite. And then there are sugar-free products with ingredients that can raise your blood sugar dramatically—like the white flour in sugar-free cookies. All in all, 'sugar-free' doesn't always mean 'diet-friendly'.

2. Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal, NatraSweet, Canderel, Spoonfuls, DiabetiSweet) is a common chemical sweetener with possible side effects that sound like they're out of a horror movie. From hallucinations to seizures to brain tumors, it is hardly worth consuming for the sake of saved calories.

3. Sucralose (Otherwise known as Splenda, my past-sweetener of choice), is scary. Recent research suggests that Splenda can enlarge both the liver and kidneys and shrink the thymus glands. Sucralose breaks down into small amounts of dichlorofructose, which has not been tested adequately tested in humans. Splenda reportedly can cause skin rashes, panic, diarrhea, headaches, bladder issues, stomach pain, and those side effects don't even sum it up.

Think this sounds bad? Do some further research. Most artificial sweeteners on store shelves are accompanied by numerous side-effect stories. (Some recent studies suggest they cause cancer. Should something as serious as cancer really be overlooked?) Research also suggests that they actually cause overeating among consumers.

In addition to all of this, consider the waste involved in the industry of artificially sweetening. Ever stepped into a coffee shop and noticed a mound of sugar substitute packets building on the counter or in the trash? We've been wasting one of our most precious resources for the sake of a sweetener that can harm our bodies and prevent weight loss. It sounds unfathomable, but true nonetheless.

What you can do instead to get your sugar fix:

Turn to natural sweeteners for your drinks and food alike. Honey, organic maple syrup, molasses, date sugar, brown rice syrup, and stevia are just a few natural sweeteners you can turn to. Not only will they wreak less havoc on your body, but your support of these sweeteners instead will, eventually, help to slow the production of toxic artificial sweeteners--which are significantly less delicious in my opinion anyway.
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Artificial sweeteners have unfair rep. They are blamed by overweight people for their weight gain or lack of weight loss. The fact is, people need to be accountable for what they put into their mouth in terms of overall nutrition, not whether they've taken a packet of sweetener. If you want to put some in your tea or coffee or oats, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing so. You won't get sick, you won't get cancer and you certainly won't get fat.

That said, I would not recommend diet sodas in place of plain water. But if you want to drink one, then go for it. Just don't go consuming 20+ cans a day. Some people do claim to have headaches when taking aspartame, but I don't know if there is any data to suggest that there is a causal link between consuming aspartame and experiencing headaches.

Aspartame Not Linked to Cancer
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1797853/

- Saccharin
...there is no clear evidence that saccharin causes cancer in humans, saccharin was delisted in 2000 from the U.S. National Toxicology Program’s Report on Carcinogens...
- Aspartame
...Subsequently, NCI examined human data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study of over half a million retirees. Increasing consumption of aspartame-containing beverages was not associated with the development of lymphoma, leukemia, or brain cancer (2).
- Acesulfame potassium, Sucralose, and Neotame
...Before approving these sweeteners, the FDA reviewed more than 100 safety studies that were conducted on each sweetener, including studies to assess cancer risk. The results of these studies showed no evidence that these sweeteners cause cancer or pose any other threat to human health.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/artificial-sweeteners

Does aspartame cause cancer?
...But studies in people can sometimes be hard to interpret, because there may be other factors affecting the results that are hard to account for.
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/aspartame

Studies on the effects of aspartame on memory and oxidative stress in brain of mice.
Abdel-Salam OM, Salem NA, El-Shamarka ME, Hussein JS, Ahmed NA, El-Nagar ME.

Conclusions : These findings suggest impaired memory performance and increased brain oxidative stress by repeated aspartame administration. The impaired memory performance is likely to involve increased oxidative stress as well as decreased brain glucose availability.

Direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain
P Humphries1,2 , E Pretorius1 and H Naude´ 1


Conclusion
It was seen that aspartame disturbs amino acid metabolism, protein structure and metabolism, integrity of nucleic acids,
neuronal function, endocrine balances and changes in the brain concentrations of catecholamines. It was also reported
that aspartame and its breakdown products cause nerves to fire excessively, which indirectly causes a very high rate of
neuron depolarization. The energy systems for certain required enzyme reactions become compromised, thus indirectly leading to the inability of enzymes to function optimally. TheATP stores in the cells are depleted, indicating that low concentrations of glucose are present in the cells, and this in turn will indirectly decrease the synthesis of acetylcholine, glutamate and GABA. The intracellular calcium uptake has been altered, thus the functioning of glutamate as an excitatory neurotransmitter is inhibited.
Mitochondria are damaged, which could lead to apoptosis of cells and infertility in men and also a lowered rate of oxidative metabolism are present, thus lowering concentrations ofthe transmitters glutamate and production of GABA.

The cellular walls are destroyed;thus,the cells (endothelium of the capillaries) are more permeable, leading to a compromised BBB. Thus, overall oxidative stress and neurodegeneration are present. From all the adverse effects caused by this product, it is
suggested that serious further testing and research be undertaken to eliminate any and all controversies surrounding this product.

Effects of aspartame metabolites on astrocytes and neurons.
Karol Rycerz, Jadwiga Elżbieta Jaworska-Adamu

Conclusions
This article analyses the direct and indirect role of astrocytes participating in the toxic effects of metabo- lites of aspartame. These glial cells modulate BBB by functional changes in endothelial neutral amino acid transporters. As a result of consuming aspartame, phenylalanine shows a significant affinity for the NAAT transporters in the BBB blocking access for the essen- tial amino acids necessary to the synthesis of dopa- mine and serotonin in the CNS. Astrocytes may play an indirect role in this process.
Aspartate present in excess as a metabolite of aspartame is neurotoxic and it is a substrate for glu- tamate. This amino acid acting on neuronal mGluR receptors and NMDA receptors leads to hyperexcita- bility of cells, free radicals release, oxidative stress and neuronal degeneration. Initially astrocytes are the pro- tectors of neurons and later, with an excess of gluta-
Folia Neuropathologica 2013; 51/1
15
Karol Rycerz, Jadwiga Elżbieta Jaworska-Adamu
mate in the extracellular space, they are activated and release toxic substances intensifying neurodegener- ation.
The methanol, contained in aspartame, is insuffi- cient to bring about alterations in the CNS.
Astrocytes are the source of cancers such as astro- cytoma caused by the carcinogenic effect of diketo- piperazine.
Further research of aspartame’s impact on the mor- phology and function of astrocytes and neurons is nec- essary to be carried out.

FDA has not permitted the use of whole-leaf Stevia or crude Stevia extracts because these substances have not been approved for use as a food additive. FDA does not consider their use in food to be GRAS in light of reports in the literature that raise concerns about the use of these substances

It is no coincidence that the FDA Chairman who stood in the way of aspartame's approval was removed from office the day Ronald Reagan took office. His replacement (Dr. Arthur Hill Hayes) was in part planted there by Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of G.D. Searle (aspartame is produced by G.D. Searle Company), in order to allegedly get a friendly rubber stamp on aspartame's approval.

But even with a friendly new FDA Chairman in place, the agency still rejected aspartame for approval by a 3-2 margin. What reprehensible, bordering on criminal action did Chairman Hayes do next? He added a sixth member to the approval board, who voted in favor of aspartame. Then, with a 3-3 tie on the issue, Chairman Hayes himself broke the deadlock with his own vote of approval for aspartame.

So he packed the board and then used his own vote as a tie-breaker. All apparently perfectly legal ...

And one of Hayes' last acts in office before he left the FDA in1983 amid accusations that he was accepting corporate gifts for political favors, was to approve aspartame for use in beverages. Does this sound to you like a man-made synthetic chemical that should have never been allowed into the world's food supply?

Aspartame turns into formaldehyde in the body. The day I found that out, I quit ALL artificial sweeteners cold turkey. The thought alone is revolting, and now I get headaches or feel really sick when I have anything with them, which says a lot.

Both the 2008 and 2013 actually referenced this site:



http://www.wnho.net/



Seems legit.