Researchers recently investigated sucralose (Splenda) to see if it could reduce hunger and keep blood sugar steady. They found that it could not.
The researchers hoped to find that sucralose could cause the intestine to produce a hormone that reduces blood sugar and decreases appetite, which prior study had indicated might be a possibility. But the effect did not occur when it was ingested orally — hunger remained the same and the blood sugar remained the same.
According to FYI Living:
“Worse, other research has shown that artificial sweeteners might contribute to weight gain … [when the] sweet taste is not accompanied by the calories (energy) our brain expects it to be, the complex systems our bodies have to regulate energy balance may be thrown off kilter. The result is that a diet high in artificial sweeteners may possibly, over time, cause people to seek out more calories from other sources”.
Sources:
FYI Living March 10, 2011
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition April 2011; 65(4):508-13
Avoiding sugar is a crucial component of a healthy lifestyle, but, instead of consuming a naturally low-sugar diet based on whole foods, some people are still trying to have their cake and eat it too.
Unfortunately, the belief that artificial sweeteners can allow you to have the best of both worlds is simply not based in reality. It’s a carefully orchestrated deception. So if you’re still consuming artificially sweetened foods, snacks and beverages because you think it’ll help you manage your weight, please understand that you’ve been sorely misled.
In reality, “diet” foods and drinks ruin your body’s ability to count calories, thus boosting your inclination to overindulge. This effect appears to be true for all artificial sweeteners.
Unfortunately, most public health agencies and nutritionists in the United States still recommend these toxic artificial sweeteners as acceptable and even preferred alternatives to sugar, which is at best confusing and at worst seriously damaging the health of those who listen to this well-intentioned but foolish advice.
Artificial Sweeteners INCREASE Your Risk of Obesity
Contrary to popular belief, research has shown that artificial sweeteners can stimulate your appetite, increase carbohydrate cravings, and stimulate fat storage and weight gain. In fact, diet sodas may actually double your risk of obesity!
How’s that for being misled?
Studies have repeatedly shown that consuming artificial sweeteners may be ruining your ability to control your food intake and body weight. For example, I have listed the results of six studies on aspartame that found it increases hunger and body weight on my Aspartame Studies page, and research on other artificial sweeteners have come to the same conclusion.
It’s thought that consuming artificial sweeteners breaks the inherent connection between a sweet taste and a high-calorie food, thereby changing your body’s ability to regulate your intake of calories. The end result is that by consuming artificially sweetened foods and beverages, you end up gaining more body fat than if you were to eat the same foods sweetened with regular sugar!
But weight gain isn’t the only health-harming side effect of these man-made chemical sweeteners.
Splenda Destroys Your Gut Flora
Different artificial sweeteners have been found to wreak havoc in a number of different ways. Aspartame, for example, has a long list of studies indicating its harmful effects, ranging from brain damage to pre-term delivery.
Splenda (sucralose) has been found to be particularly damaging to your intestines.
A study published in 2008 found that Splenda:
- Reduces the amount of good bacteria in your intestines by 50 percent
- Increases the pH level in your intestines, and
- Affects a glycoprotein in your body that can have crucial health effects, particularly if you’re on certain medications like chemotherapy, or treatments for AIDS and certain heart conditions
They also found unmistakable evidence that Splenda is absorbed by fat, contrary to previous claims.
In response to this study, James Turner, chairman of the national consumer education group Citizens for Health issued the following statement:
“The report makes it clear that the artificial sweetener Splenda and its key component sucralose pose a threat to the people who consume the product. Hundreds of consumers have complained to us about side effects from using Splenda and this study … confirms that the chemicals in the little yellow package should carry a big red warning label.”
I agree. It’s truly disturbing that Splenda can destroy up to 50 percent of your healthy intestinal bacteria, as these bacteria are absolutely vital for supporting your general health! Many people are already deficient in healthy bacteria due to consuming too many highly processed foods. This is why a high quality probiotic is one of the very few supplements I highly recommend for most, if not all, people.
Believe me, if you continually destroy up to half of your gut flora by regularly consuming Splenda, then poor health is virtually guaranteed!
Splenda has Never Been Proven Safe for Human Consumption
Splenda was approved by the FDA as a tabletop- and general-purpose sweetener in processed foods in 1998. The FDA claims the approval was based on more than 110 animal and human safety studies. However, what they don’t specify was that out of these 110 studies, only two were human studies, consisting of a combined total of 36 people, of which only 23 people actually ingested sucralose.
Additionally, the longest of these two human trials lasted only four days and looked at sucralose in relation to tooth decay, not human tolerance!
The remainder of those 110-plus “safety studies” were done on animals, and they actually revealed plenty of problems, such as:
- Decreased red blood cells — sign of anemia — at levels above 1,500 mg/kg/day
- Increased male infertility by interfering with sperm production and vitality, as well as brain lesions at higher doses
- Enlarged and calcified kidneys (McNeil stated this is often seen with poorly absorbed substances and was of no toxicological significance. The FDA Final Rule agreed that these are findings that are common in aged female rats and are not significant.)
- Spontaneous abortions in nearly half the rabbit population given sucralose, compared to zero aborted pregnancies in the control group
- A 23 percent death rate in rabbits, compared to a 6 percent death rate in the control group
Common Side Effects of Splenda
The web site www.truthaboutsplenda.com lists a variety of consumer complaints from Splenda consumption, such as:
| Gastrointestinal problems |
Blurred vision |
| Migraines |
Allergic reactions |
| Seizures |
Blood sugar increases |
| Dizziness |
Weight gain |
If you have ever suffered any side effects from taking Splenda or any artificially sweetened product, I strongly recommend reporting it to the FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator in your area.
Splenda—”Made from Sugar” But More Similar to DDT…
That’s right.
The catchy slogan “Made from sugar so it tastes like sugar” has fooled many, but chemically, Splenda is actually more similar to DDT than sugar.
Sucralose starts off with a sugar molecule, yes, but that’s where the similarity ends. (A sucrose molecule is a disaccharide that contains two single sugars bound together, i.e. glucose and fructose.) Then, in a five-step patented process, three chlorine molecules are added to that sucrose (sugar) molecule.
This process converts the sugar molecule to a fructo-galactose molecule.
This type of sugar molecule does not occur in nature, and therefore your body does not possess the ability to properly metabolize it. As a result of this “unique” biochemical make-up, McNeil Nutritionals makes its claim that Splenda is not digested or metabolized by the body, hence it has zero calories.
But, if you look at the research, you will find that an average of 15 percent of sucralose IS in fact absorbed into your digestive system, and ultimately is stored in your body. To reach the average number of 15 percent means that some people absorb more and some people absorb less, depending on your biochemical makeup.
If you are healthy and your digestive system works well, you may be at HIGHER risk for breaking down this product in your stomach and intestines, so for you the adverse reactions may be more acutely felt.
How to Kick the Artificial Sweetener Habit
Sweet cravings are very common for the simple reason that sugar is as addictive as cocaine. Unfortunately, switching to artificial sweeteners will neither reduce these cravings nor increase your satiety. On the contrary, as discussed above, you’re likely making matters worse.
Your body also craves sweets when you’re denying it the fuel it needs. Sugar (and grain carbs) is very quick fuel and can give your body a boost when it’s running low. Again, using artificial sweeteners does not trick your body into thinking it has had its fill; rather it wants more sweets because it didn’t get the energy boost with that sweet taste!
Interestingly, nutrition- and fitness expert Ori Hofmekler recently shared a fascinating benefit of caffeine that can be helpful here. If you like coffee, drinking organic black coffee (meaning without sugar or milk) can help eliminate sugar cravings because the caffeine is an opioid receptor antagonist.
As you may know, sugar binds to the same opioid receptors as cocaine and other addictive substances. But once an opioid receptor antagonist occupies that receptor, it prohibits you from becoming addicted to something else. Therefore, caffeine may attenuate the addictive impact of sugar.
There are a few caveats to using this strategy however, including:
- Only drink organic coffee (as it’s one of the most pesticide-heavy crops there are)
- Drink it black, sans sugar/artificial sweeteners or milk
- Only drink coffee in the morning, prior to exercise
- Limit your consumption to one or two cups
I highly recommend addressing the emotional component of your food cravings, using a tool such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). It’s one of the most profoundly effective tools I’ve ever used or researched to help overcome food cravings and reach dietary success.
Turbo Tapping is particularly useful if you’re addicted to soda. It’s an extremely effective and simple tool to get rid of your addiction in a short period of time.
Some food additives are worse than others. Food Matters suggests these as the top ones to avoid:
1. Artificial Sweeteners
Aspartame, also known as NutraSweet and Equal, is believed to be carcinogenic and accounts for more reports of adverse reactions than all other foods and food additives combined.
The artificial sweetener Acesulfame-K has been linked to kidney tumors. All artificial sweeteners are bad news.
2. High Fructose Corn Syrup
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) increases your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels and contributes to the development of diabetes.
3. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
MSG is used as a flavor enhancer. It is an excitotoxin, a substance that overexcites cells to the point of damage or death.
4. Trans Fat
Numerous studies show that trans fat increases LDL cholesterol levels and increases your risk of heart attacks, heart disease and strokes.
5. Common Food Dyes
Artificial colorings may contribute to behavioral problems in children and lead to a significant reduction in IQ.
6. Sodium Sulphite
This is a preservative used in processed foods. People who are sulfite sensitive can experience headaches, breathing problems, and rashes. In severe cases, sulfites can actually cause death.
7. Sodium Nitrate/Sodium Nitrite
This common preservative has been linked to various types of cancer.
8. BHA and BHT
Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydrozyttoluene (BHT) are preservatives that affect the neurological system of your brain, alter behavior and have the potential to cause cancer.
9. Sulphur Dioxide
Sulphur additives are toxic and in the U.S., they have been prohibited in raw fruit and vegetables. Adverse reactions include bronchial problems, low blood pressure, and anaphylactic shock.
10. Potassium Bromate
This additive is used to increase volume in some breads. It is known to cause cancer in animals, and even small amounts can create problems for humans.
Sources:
- Food Matters November 24, 2010
- Dr. Mercola | December 17 2010
If you’ve ever read the ingredients lists on packaged foods, you know that there’s a lot more in food these days than in generations past. Virtually every processed food now contains a laundry list of preservatives, colorings, flavorings, emulsifiers and more — and unless you’re shopping at a natural specialty store, gone are the days when a loaf of bread contained just a few ingredients.
A food additive refers to virtually any substance added to a food, but according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) definition, a food additive is “any substance the intended use of which results or may reasonably be expected to result — directly or indirectly — in its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of any food.”
There are currently more than 3,000 food additives added to foods in the United States; ideally, you should steer clear of all or most of these, but if you’re just getting started the 10 listed above are an excellent starting point of additives to remove from your diet as soon as possible.
What are You Really Eating?
When you purchase a package of cheese, you expect it to contain milk and salt … bread you’d expect to contain flour, yeast, etc., and when you pick up a can of beans, you may think it only contains beans.
In reality, cheese is commonly laced with preservatives and colorings. Bread contains high fructose corn syrup, preservatives and sometimes trans fats. And even canned beans typically contain a slew of additives including corn syrup, coloring and other sweeteners, along with being packaged in a can that probably leaches BPA from its lining.
The fact is, if you’re like most Americans who spend 90 percent of their food budget on processed foods, you’re eating your share of these additives and then some … which is concerning when you begin to look into their potential effect on your health:
- Cancer: Additives linked to cancer — BHA/BHT, propyl gallate, trans fats, aspartame, blue 1,2, Yellow 6, potassium bromate and more — are in countless products from baked goods and chewing gum to chicken soup base, cereal, luncheon meats, vegetable oils and potato chips. If you eat a highly processed food diet, you are therefore potentially exposing yourself to cancer-causing toxins at every meal.
- Hormone disrupters: An analysis published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology found 31 potential estrogen-mimicking food additives during their research.
These include propyl gallate, a preservative used to prevent fats and oils from spoiling, and 4-hexylresorcinol, which is used to prevent discoloration in shrimp and other shellfish.
Chemicals with estrogen-like effects, known as xenoestrogens, have been linked to a range of human health problems, including reduced sperm counts and increased risk of breast cancer.
- Behavior Problems: A carefully designed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the journal The Lancet concluded that a variety of common food dyes, and the preservative sodium benzoate — found in many soft drinks, fruit juices and salad dressings — cause some children to become measurably more hyperactive and distractible.
- Lower IQ: The Lancet study mentioned above also found that the E-numbered food dyes (such as tartrazine (E102), ponceau 4R (E124), sunset yellow (E110), carmoisine (E122), quinoline yellow (E104) and allura red AC (E129) do as much damage to children’s brains as lead in gasoline, resulting in a significant reduction in IQ.
Processed Foods Depend on Additives
When foods are processed not only are valuable nutrients lost and fibers removed, but the texture, natural variation and flavors are lost also. After processing, what’s actually left behind is a bland, uninteresting “pseudo-food” that most people would find entirely unappetizing.
So at this point, food manufacturers must add back in the nutrients, flavor, color and texture to processed foods in order to make them palatable, and this is why they become loaded with food additives. Most commonly, additives are included to:
- Slow spoilage
- Prevent fats and oils from becoming rancid or developing an off-flavor
- Prevent cut fruits from turning brown
- Fortify or enrich the food with synthetic vitamins and minerals (which are lost during processing)
- Improve taste, texture and appearance
When reading product packages, here’s a breakdown of some of the most common food additives to watch out for:
- Preservatives (sodium benzoate, sodium nitrite, potassium sorbate, BHA, BHT, etc.): Found in fruit sauces and jellies, beverages, baked goods, cured meats, oils and margarines, cereals, dressings, snack foods, fruits and vegetables
- Sweeteners and artificial sweeteners (fructose, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium (acesulfame-K), etc.): Beverages, baked goods, confections, table-top sugar, substitutes, many processed foods
- Artificial colors (FD&C Blue Nos. 1 and 2, FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Red Nos. 3 and 40, FD&C Yellow Nos. 5 and 6, Orange B, Citrus Red No. 2, etc.): Many processed foods (candies, snack foods, margarine, cheese, soft drinks, jams/jellies, gelatins, pudding and pie fillings)
- Artificial flavors: Pudding and pie fillings, gelatin dessert mixes, cake mixes, salad dressings, candies, soft drinks, ice cream, BBQ sauce, etc.
- Flavor enhancers (monosodium glutamate (MSG), hydrolyzed soy protein, autolyzed yeast extract, etc.): Many processed foods
The Simplest Way to Avoid Food Additives?
Ditch processed foods.
You might already know that 90 percent of the money Americans spend on food is for processed foods so there is massive room for improvement in this area for most of us.
Swapping your processed food diet for one that focuses on real, whole foods may seem like a radical idea, but it’s a necessity if you value your health.
And when you put the history of food into perspective, it’s actually the processed foods that are “radical” and “new.” People have thrived on vegetables, meats, eggs, fruits and other whole foods for centuries, while processed foods were only recently invented.
It’s easy to forget that the processed, packaged foods and fast food restaurants of today are actually a radical change in terms of the history of food production. The frozen food business didn’t begin until the mid-1920s when the General Seafoods Company set up shop and began selling crudely frozen fish fillets, and fast food restaurants didn’t get a foot hold until after World War II.
TV dinners didn’t even come around until the 1950s … before that it was a home-cooked meal or no meal at all.
If you want to eat healthy, I suggest you follow the 1950s (and before) model and spend quality time in the kitchen (yourself, a family member or someone you hire) preparing high-quality meals for yourself and your family.
If you rely on processed inexpensive foods you will simply exchange convenience and short-term cash savings for long-term health miseries.
When it comes to staying healthy, avoiding processed foods and replacing them with fresh, whole foods is the “secret” you’ve been looking for.
With childhood obesity reaching epidemic levels, learning how to make better food choices is essential. One way to help children avoid empty, extra calories in the home is to stop buying high calorie drinks. We all know to be wary of soda, but did you know that even beverages advertised as “healthy alternatives” to soda often have just as much sugar? Dr. Joseph Mercola recently published some information on his website (www.mercola.com) about sugary beverages. The entire article can be found on his website:
One 16-ounce can of Rockstar Energy Drink contains the same amount of sugar as half a dozen Krispy Kreme Original Glazed donuts.
Energy drinks aren’t the only culprits. The calorie and sugar content of flavored water and even juice often surprises people. Snapple Agave Melon Antioxidant Water, for example, has the equivalent sugar of two Good Humor Chocolate Eclair Bars.
ABC News reports:
“While experts say sugary beverages have a large impact on unhealthy diets that put people at risk for diabetes, it also may be the easiest change to make. ‘I would say 80 percent of the success we have in changing diets is taking away these sugar drinks,’ said Dr. Joel Zonszein, professor of Clinical Medicine”.
Staying away from sugary beverages is an excellent step towards raising healthier children.
Most of us know that foods like doughnuts, ice cream, cakes and cookies are high in processed sugars. These items should be eaten sparingly (if at all) since eating too much sugar contributes to obesity and diabetes. What many of us don’t know is that a vast array of modern processed foods actually contain more sugar than any of the dessert items listed above.
The following is a list of some commonly eaten foods and their sugar content.
(Taken from www.mercola.com)
- Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut — 10 grams
- Ben & Jerry’s vanilla ice cream — 16 grams
- Starbucks caffè latte grande (16 oz) — 17 grams
- Subway 6″ sweet onion teriyaki chicken sandwich — 17 grams
- Yoplait original yogurt — 27 grams
- Vitamin Water (20 oz bottle) — 33 g
- Oscar Mayer Lunchables crackers, turkey & American cheese — 36 grams
- Coca-Cola Classic 12 oz can — 39 grams
- California Pizza Kitchen Thai chicken salad — 45 g
- Jamba Juice blackberry bliss 16 oz — 49 g
- Odwalla SuperFood 450 ml bottle — 50 g
- Starbucks caffe vanilla frappuccino grande (16 oz) — 58 g
According to Dr. Mercola:
“This outrageously excessive sugar consumption has caused people’s appetite regulation system to go awry. Leptin, the hormone responsible for satiety, isn’t working properly anymore in a majority of people.
It has now become clear that limiting sugar – and fructose in particular — in your diet is a key to longevity for a number of reasons.
For example, according to Dr. Richard Johnson, author of The Sugar Fix, about 25 percent of all Americans consume over ½ a pound of added sugars a day, and this statistic dovetails nicely with the statistics showing that one in four Americans is either pre-diabetic or has type 2 diabetes.
Diabetics have, on average, a reduced lifespan of about 15 years.”
To read the rest of Dr. Mercola’s article and learn more about the devastating effects processed sugar, please follow the link below.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/15/shocking-sugar-content-of-common-food-products.aspx
Our bodies require so many nutrients to function optimally that filling our daily diet with empty calories will gaurantee nutritional deficiencies. Unfortunately, this hasn’t stopped junk food manufacturers from filling their foods with both refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup. What’s worse, the industry behind these foods has launched expensive ad campaigns claiming their priducts are “natural” and “harmless.” Dr. Mercola recently wrote an excellent article regarding the true dangers of consuming sugar and high fructose corn syrup. An excerpt from teh article can be found below. To read the entire article, just follow the link below.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/23/nutrition-experts-battle-industry-groups-over-sugar.aspx
“There’s a heated debate going on over the health risks of consuming too much sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and other caloric sweeteners.
On one side are leading nutrition experts, who believe that these sweeteners add empty calories to people’s diets and promote weight gain.
Emerging scientific research indicates that consuming too much of these sweeteners may increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and other health problems.
On the other side are industry groups representing sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). They claim that their products are natural and don’t cause weight gain or health problems. And they have launched advertising and marketing campaigns to spread this idea.
The American Heart Association is on the nutrition experts’ side. The group recently issued a scientific statement saying that high intake of added sugars is implicated in many poor health conditions, including obesity, high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease and stroke.” – www.mercola.com
Many of us know that consuming large amounts of processed sugar is very detrimental to our health. Not only does it add many empty calories to our food, it can cause insulin resistance and lead to diabetes. The way many people avoid sugar is by comsuming food with artificial sweeteners. Unfortunately, artificial sweeteners are not healthier than sugar. In fact, they can be just as harmful as processed sugar. One of the most commonly used artifical sweetener is Aspartame. Dr. Mercola took to this blog recently to address some of the very real health risks associated with Aspartame. The entire article can be found at www.mercola.com but we’ve included an excerpt below. So, the next time you’re trying to decide between regualr soda or diet just say no to both and grab a glass of water!
“Aspartame producer Ajinomoto is launching a new initiative that will rebrand the sweetener as “AminoSweet”.
Aspartame is used in many foods and beverages marketed as low calorie or sugar-free. However, its reputation has been clouded somewhat by studies that have investigated reports of ill effects.
Just to remind you, the side effects of aspartame can include:
- Headache
- Change in vision
- Convulsions and seizures
- Hallucination
- Nausea and vomiting
- Joint pain
It can cause many, many other problems as well.” – www.mercola.com
Do you know the difference between butter and margarine?
Both have the same amount of calories.
Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams; compared to 5 grams for margarine.
Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.
Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few and only because they are added!
Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.
Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years.
Margarine is very high in trans fatty acids.
Triples the risk of coronary heart disease.
Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).
Increases the risk of cancers up to five times.
Lowers quality of breast milk.
Decreases immune response.
Decreases insulin response.
Margarine is but one molecule away from being plastic and and shares 27 ingredients with paint.
Pass the REAL BUTTER PLEASE!
