Artificial Sweeteners: What is the problem?

Artificial sweeteners come in many forms. Aspartame, saccharine, sucralose, to name a few.

So why are you having artificial sweeteners and is it good for you?

Many people believe that reducing the consumption of “sugar” or “sugary” things is good for health.

Of course, your intention was to reduce calories, sugar just being one form of calories.

Which is where artificial sweeteners come in. The promise of the ideal. Sweetness without the calories. Aspartame for example, is two hundred times sweeter than sugar without the calories. The perfect outcome.

Or is it?

Reducing a form of food to reduce weight might easily be one of the most basic mistakes we make as human beings.

It ticks the right boxes. It makes you believe that you have made your sacrifice. You have taken the bull by the horn and demonstrated intent.

But your aim is not to reduce a form of food. It is to reduce the total calories you consume per day. Everyday!

Thats not all. Remember the two-hundred times more sugar?

When sugar goes into your body, it triggers an insulin response. Your body produces insulin to digest the sugar. More sugar would mean more insulin.

So scientists put this to test. In a study [see here] of the effects of artificial sweeteners, they examined over 10,000 people to see if there was an adverse effect on cardiovascular health.

The study found that people who consumed artificial sweeteners were more likely to suffer from a hardening of the arteries increasing the risk of heart related diseases.

So at best, you were trading one problem, weight, for a bigger problem.

But that is human nature. We pay attention to what is around us. We see what is being shown. We pick things that look attractive. Things that glitter and shine.

Even if that is an artificial sweetener, wrapped in language that makes it sound like the perfect cure.

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