6 Reasons to Avoid Artificial Sweeteners

With obesity continuing to skyrocket each year, doctors are now estimating that this is the first time in history that our children will have a shorter average life span than their parents. Think on that for a minute...

There is no doubt that one of the main culprits to this epidemic is the increasing amount of sugar in our diets! In fact, the average person in 1850 living in the US would only consume 1 pound of sugar each year compared to today's average American who eats 150 pounds of sugar a year!! WOWZA!! 

While this insane increase in sugar consumption is largely to blame for our current health crisis, many conventional medical and nutritional practitioners have overlooked the role artificial sweeteners play as a potential driver for this epidemic. 

So in this week's What's That?! Wednesday post we discuss the dangers of artificial sweeteners and give you six very good reasons to completely remove them from your diet.

Strong evidence, from numerous studies, shows that artificial sweeteners are highly addictive chemicals (not real food) that rewire your brain chemistry, decrease your metabolism, and make it very, very difficult to lose weight and burn fat. Some of these studies show that these sweeteners can increase your risk for weight gain, pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease as much as regular sugar. So while manufacturers love to position these products as "guilt-free", "healthy" alternatives, the reality is they are doing more damage to your health and your weight management than you know!

6 Reasons to Avoid Artificial Sweeteners:

1. Artificial sweeteners are highly addictive! In fact, a study done in 2007 on rats showed that when given the choice between artificial sweetener and cocaine, the rats always chose the artificial sweetener! They even did this same test with rats that were previously programmed to be cocaine addicts and they still picked the artificial sweetener over the cocaine. (1) So, if you are someone that drinks diet sodas and finds this habit hard to kick, you are right - it is addictive stuff! 
   
   
2. Artificial sweeteners actually increase cravings for sugar & carbs! These sweeteners actually trick your taste buds into thinking your body is receiving sugar. Two important things happen at this time, first dopamine, a neurotransmitter that stimulates "happiness & reward", is released (there is that addictive component) and secondly a hormone called leptin is released which is a hormone that regulates your appetite and cravings. The problem here is that your body gets the "message" that you've received sugar, but when no sugar or calories come, leptin stays activated and it's message is "feed me...I'm hungry". This is where you experience increased cravings for carbs and sugar especially.(2, 3)
   
   
3. Artificial sweeteners decrease your metabolism, making it difficult to lose weight and burn fat. These sweeteners can often be 100-1000 times more sweet than real sugar which plays yet another "trick" on your body. When your brain gets a signal that there is a lot of sugar on board, insulin is released to clear the "sugar" from your bloodstream. When you consume artificial sweeteners or sugar each day, this not only contributes to insulin resistance which we will discuss below, but it also tells your metabolism to "store fat" instead of "burn fat". One study showed that rats who were fed artificial sweeteners put on 14% more body fat within a 2 week period! Yikes...these hormonal miscommunications all contribute to a decrease in metabolism and makes it very, very difficult to lose weight and keep it off! (3, 4, 5)
   
   
4. Artificial sweeteners increase you risk of obesity, pre-diabetes and diabetes. A large study done over 14 years including over 67,000 women participants showed that women who drank only 1 diet soda a week had a 33% increased risk for type 2 diabetes.(5) If that's not enough to convince you, a very cool study published recently in 2014 showed that there is a direct correlation between consuming artificial sweeteners and developing elevated blood sugar levels.  In this study those people who were regular users of these artificial sweeteners showed elevated levels of HbA1C, which is a long-term measure of blood sugar, compared to those who never or very rarely used artificial sweeteners. This same study also had 7 non-users begin using artificial sweeteners every day for 7 days. In just one week, 4 of the 7 had significant disturbances in their blood glucose levels and a few of them became "pre-diabetic" within just a few days! (4)
   
   
5. Artificial sweeteners adversely affect your "gut microbiome" which can lead to chronic inflammation. In the same study referenced above, researchers were clearly able to point towards the changes in the gut microbiota as the "mechanism" for the glucose disturbances. The data shows that artificial sweeteners killed some of the good gut bacteria and allowed the "bad gut bacteria" to proliferate. These bad gut bacteria can alter increase cravings for hunger and clearly alter your body's ability to maintain a healthy blood glucose level. (4). These same bacteria can also increase digestive distress like constipation, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and nausea. Plus since over 2/3 of our immune system resides in the gut, when the gut microbiome gets altered negatively in this way, so does the immune system's ability to respond swiftly and accurately to invaders and toxins. Numerous studies now clearly show that this disturbed gut microbiota are also the reason for the increase in food sensitives and autoimmune diseases like fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, MS, Hashimoto's, lupus, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and many more.
   
   
6. Artificial sweeteners put you at a greater risk for certain types of cancer. We also know that some of these chemical sweeteners have ban banned from being used in other countries. Canada banned sacharin "sweet and low" in 1977, because of the strong evidence between artificial sweetener consumption and an increased risk for cancer. (6) In fact the FDA used to require a "warning label" on foods that contained sachrin but of course the deep pockets of the food industry were able to lobby for this to be reversed. Damn them!

Artificial sweeteners can be found in over 8,000 food products currently on the market in the US alone, so we highly recommend that you read labels very closely for these ingredients. The biggest culprits include: diet sodas, chewing gum, low-fat and sugar free yogurts, sugar or fat free coffee creamers, low-fat and sugar free diet foods of any kind including "fat free" or "low calorie" salad dressings, condiments, snacks, and sweets.

The names of these sweeteners include: Aspartame, Equal, Nutra-Sweet, sucralose, Splenda,  sacharin, Sweet & Low, sugar alcohol, glycerin, maltitol, sorbitol, and xylitol just to name a few popular ones. For a much more complete list of artificial sweetener names, click here. 

Lastly, most important thing you can do is to avoid processed and packaged foods and eat a diet of real foods with plenty of fresh produce. It is also helpful to purge your pantry, fridge, and freezer to get rid of these temptations in your house. Remember, you have to treat this like it is...an addiction!

If you need some more, clean, low-carb and naturally sugar-free recipes infused into your weekly eating plan, check out our new eBook, 10 Day Sugar Detox! It has over 30 real food recipes that are delicious and easy to make and will help you decrease the amount of sugar, hidden sugars, and artificial sweeteners in your diet! It also comes with 2 (5-day) meal plans with a "make-ahead" plans and grocery shopping lists to save you valuable time and energy! This eBook can help you boost your metabolism, get rid of sugar cravings, and lose some weight!

You may also find our blog,10 Tips to Get Rid of Sugar Cravings, helpful as you make this transition. Plus, in the next edition of What's That?! Wednesdays, we will give you a breakdown on the different sugar sources from real food, which are the best choices, and which to avoid! Stay tuned friends...

In good health,
​Billie

References:
1. PLOS ONE, Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward, 2007
2. Physiology & Behavior, 1988 & 1990
3. Journal of Biology & Medicine, 2010
4. Nature, 2014
5. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2013
6. Schwartz, GR. Aspartame & Breast Cancer & Other Cancers, 1999

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