diethealthclub gives a good reason why sugar can be the center of this topic in the first place.
"Eating sugar is an addiction that most of us suffer from. Right from our childhood we are introduced to this addiction and as we grow older, it only grows stronger. When we consume sugar and it is metabolized, it is absorbed directly into the blood stream. This results in a sudden increase in insulin, which is used to absorb the sugar. In addition to this consuming sugar causes your brain to release a chemical known as serotonin. This chemical has the magical effect of making you feel happy and introducing a glow of joy." (diethealthclub.com)
healingdaily describes the grave situation about sugar consumption in Unite States as follows:
The average American consumes an astounding 2-3 pounds of sugar each week, which is not surprising considering that highly refined sugars in the forms of sucrose (table sugar), dextrose (corn sugar), and high-fructose corn syrup are being processed into so many foods such as bread, breakfast cereal, mayonnaise, peanut butter, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, and a plethora of microwave meals.
nancyappleton.com listed
141 Reasons Sugar Ruins Your Health (actually 143!). No need to say, some effects requires extreme conditions. Yet, the side effects of sugar over intake is undeniable.
The obvious effect, combined by over intaking of other types of nutritions, is the sad fact that over 60% American people are overweighted, and 7.8% (an astounding 23.6 million children and adults!) of the population have diabetes. Desperate people then started to look for remedies, the easiest of which is by using artificial sweetener (a.k.a
Sugar substitute).
According to
wikipedia, aritifical sweetener, among "sugar substitute", is a synthetic "food additive that duplicates the effect of sugar in taste, usually with less food energy". Natural sugar substitutes are: Brazzein,Curculin ,Erythritol,Glycyrrhizin,Glycerol,Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, Inulin, Isomalt, Lactitol, Luo han guo, Mabinlin, Maltitol, Maltooligosaccharide, Mannitol, Miraculin, Monatin, Monellin, Pentadin, Sorbitol, Stevia, Tagatose, Thaumatin, Xylitol. On the other hand, artificial sweeteners are: Acesulfame potassium, Alitame, Aspartame, Salt of aspartame-acesulfame, Cyclamate, Dulcin, Glucin, Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, Neotame,P-4000, Saccharin, Sucralose.
Now, the moment of true. What is good about artificial sweetener? And what is bad about it? Further more what has been hidden behind them?
First, in general the good things about artificial sweetener are:
- no calories: an important factor for anybody who is on diet
- no sugar: an important, and even fatal, factor for people with diabetes
In summary, "If used properly, sweeteners may be useful in weight management" (Dr. David Levitsky).
Next, also much less known, little told, are the bad (also mostly controversial) things about artificial sweetener:
- side effects (the bad ones, including the controversial ones)
Many researches have been conducted on all kinds of artificial sweeteners. The effects of them, besides the obvious substitute of sugar, include good ones and (potentially) bad ones. For example, both wikipedia and medicinenet have given the negative side effects of Saccharin, Aspartame, Sucralose. The former also provided negative side effects on Cyclamate, Lead acetate, and the later Acesulfame K, Neotame.
Dr. Janet Starr Hull, the creator of "
Aspartame Detox Program", gave more details about
side effects of aspartame on all parts of human organs including eye, ear, neurologic,chest, skin, endocrine. Psychological/psychiatric, gastrointestinal and metabolic effects are also discussed in her page.
One Woman's Astonishing Experiment With Aspartame reports gross effects on rats. According to
guardian.co.uk, "The Food Standards Agency is launching an investigation into the artificial sweetener aspartame amid claims that some people experience side-effects after consuming the substance."
holisticmed has an article "
Nutrasweet Is Bad For Everyone (Long-Term Use)", which claims that "PR firms for the chemical company "selling" aspartame (i.e., slowing poisoning people),
Monsanto Chemical Company are desparate to rescue their junky product despite the growing evidence of its dangers." Not surprisingly, Mosanto is also the manufacture of
DDT, which closely resembles aspartame in chemical structure.
brianmac mentioned that "Normally the brain identifies sweetness with calories, which is not achieved with artificial sweeteners. For example, when a group of rats drank artificially sweetened fluid the rats began to miss the sweetness calorie connection. The rats consumed more of a sugary and fattening snack than those rats who had been enjoying sweet high calorie drinks. Research suggests that artificial sweeteners may cause the same effect on people, however, that possibility has not been strongly supported".
The conclusion: unless desperately needed, plain and old REAL sugar is the safest!
External links
- Sugar Substitute by wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_sweetener)
- Artifical Sweeteners Sickness - Aspartame Disease An Ignored Epidemic. A collection of opinions by Dr. Julian Whitaker,Dr. Janet Starr Hull, H. J. Roberts, M.D, James Bowen, M.D, Ralph Walton, M.D, Russell L. Blaylock MD etc..
- Artificial Sweeteners by medicinenet (http://www.medicinenet.com/artificial_sweeteners/article.htm)
- Aspartame - Most dangerous of all aritificial sweeteners! by Dr. Janet Starr Hull.
- Side Effects of Artificial Sweeteners by earthclinic (http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/aspartame.html)
- Artificial Sweetener Explodes Internally by Ellison on The People's Chemist
- Aspartame Side-Effects on Diagnose Me
- Artificial Sweetener Side Effects, Health
Hazards | Low Calorie Sweeteners Benefits
- Artificial Sweeteners Information - How Safe Are They? (freediettips)
- Aspartame (NutraSweet) Toxicity Info Center (holisticmed)
- Nutrition - Artificial Sweeteners (brianmac). With information such as ADI, ADI equivalent, cooking applicability etc, and great reference on this topic.
- Side Effects Of Artificial Sweeteners (iloveindia). Information about Aspartame,Saccharin,Acesulfame Potassium,Neotame and Sucralose.
- Sweetener aspartame to be investigated for possible side-effects. (guardian.co.uk)
- Artificial Sweeteners and Fat Substitutes (something-fishy.org). With extensive information and external links on, Saccharin, Aspartame, Sucralose (Splenda) and Olestra (Fat Substitutes).
- Side effects of saccharine - What should I do to avoid saccharine sugars? (diethealthclub.com). With more related topic such as Saccharin Cancer, Artificial Sweeteners Caution Diabetes Patients.
- Sugar's effect on your health. (healingdaily)
- 141 Reasons Sugar Ruins Your Health. (nancyappleton.com)
