I wrote over 2 years ago on this site about artificial sweeteners and aspartame side effects (see Aspartame Side Effects – Is There A Link?). Now ProHealth has published some information on artificial sweeteners from Dr. Scott Olson, ND, author of Sugarettes: Sugar Addiction and Your Health.
It’s hard to know what to believe because there is so much conflicting information out there on several foods and food additives but artificial sweeteners seem to always get the same “reviews” with diffeerent researchers and doctors reporting that artificial sweeteners are extremely unhealthy and bad for us.
I admit that I am addicted to Diet Pepsi and I have drank diet soda since I was 13 years old so I hate reading thesereports. I have tried many times to give up my diet soda addiction but have been unsuccessful in my attempts. I quit smoking 11 years ago and that habit was easier to break than giving up my Diet Pepsi.
The news put out there on artificial sweeteners has to be especially conflicting for diabetics who don’t have a choice – they have to use artificial sweeteners. What other options do they have?
Dr. Olson says that people start using artificial sweeteners for two reasons: to lose weight and to suppress their sugar addiction. But he claims that artificial sweeteners do neither. In fact, he says artificial sweeteners will make sugar cravings worse.
Artificial sweeteners also deal an additional health-blow by introducing chemicals that either shouldnt be in your body, or that you body has a hard time dealing with.
According to Dr. Olson, the health problems associated with artificial sweeteners like aspartame& saccharine are many and there are many reasons why they should be avoided and these are the reasons why:
- Artificial sweetenersdo nothing to breakan addiction to sweet-tasting foods.
- Artificial sweeteners can cause you to consume more calories than if you werent eating them in the first place. Dr. Olson explains, “The most likely cause of overeating with artificial sweeteners is the bodys insulin response. Your bodys response to a sweet taste in your mouth is to release insulin. When insulin is released, it pushes blood sugar lower. This lowered blood sugar may be the root of the reason why you are more likely to eat more: lower blood sugar means you feel hungry.”
- The side effects of artificial sweeteners include headaches, diarrhea, neurological symptoms just to name a few.
- Many artificial sweeteners have been linked to diseases and are under investigation for different disease connections.
Dr. Olson recommends avoiding sugar but if you are looking for a sugar substitute, choose natural alternatives like Stevia and Xylitol.
Related Links On Aspartame and Artificial Sweeteners On Fighting Fatigue:
- Nutrition’s Role In Treating Chronic Pain
- Aspartame Side Effects – Is There A Link?
- Continuation of Aspartame Toxicity
- Aspartame’s Role In Cancer
Now to make us all a little more confused and crazy, I receive a Nutritional Action Newsletter each month from D.C. (you know – where they are soooooo good at figuring out how to efficiently run our country – egads – and I’m not pointing the finger at either party. This whole debaucle we are in (the ones who do the right thing) trickles down to us.
Anyway, off of my I hate Politicians soapbox and back on to Stevia – It’s now being tested for potential harm equal to Aspartame. Now I’ve really had it. I too used to be a smoker and quit 14 years ago, but I still loved my diet soda, especially out of the dispensers. One of my few vices left in life. My life is not exactly filled with activities which leave me living on the edge. Jumping off the edge is a whole other topic, but man oh man those days come also.
So, now the Stevia’s up for question. It’s like the old egg controversy. First they’re bad for you; now, no they’re good in moderation. My brain feels like scrambled brains as it is with the me/cfs/fm. I don’t need any more confusion on the food front. Oh, I also gave up caffeine in my morning and lunchtime coffee. So enough is enough.
I’m still using the Stevia until proved unsafe to use. I was reading Dr. Tietlebaum’s Chronic Pain 1-2-3 tonight, and he mentioned that Stevia was very bitter; however there are two manufacturers that make better tasting Stevia products. So, maybe I’ll live on the wild side and by the new brands online to try them out. That’s if I have any money that I’ve saved my entire life, remaining in their accounts.
I read your posts all of the time. I’ve been going through a really, really, bad sick time these past few months, only to be told I have to look into additional illnesses to rule out due to a pattern of systemic itching for one year and repeated blood work indicating three criteria for concern. Could be anything from Diabetes to Cancer or whatever else they come up with. I have about as much energy to go through more Doctor’s visits and explanations as a bear waiting to hibernate. It’s not because I’m afraid (for today – that is). I’m just so damn beaten down and wiped out from the main illness that hangs out with me morning, noon and night; 7 days a week.
Glad I got a chance to write tonight. I could identify and feel your legitimate concerns on your post regarding your husband’s upcoming retirement and the instability of our entire enconomy. It’s one thing if we mess up our own lives with poor choices, but to have chest-puffing bigwigs in D.C. doing it for us and we have to live with whatever the wreckage will be is just not fair. But then who said that Life is fair. I know that Scott Peck, the well-penned Author of “The World Less Travelled” says it in the first line of his book. Life is Difficult. The End.
Nancy L.
Do you have any information about the “natural” sweeteners like Stevia? I wonder if we will discover that they too have potentially damaging side effects