Yes, that also counts when it comes to calories in artificial sweetener. I know this topic has been covered a million times before. However, every time I go for a coffee with friends I still see them pouring all the fake stuff into their already sugar-laden frappuccinos. Maybe the message isn't sinking in. There's also newer products on the market now that are claiming to be healthier - so after my brother asked last night, 'what about stevia? Isn't that one better for you?' I thought this would be a natural next topic to cover.
The sugar vs artificial sugar topic is a very interesting debate - is it better to have sugar in it's pure form or some derivative of sugar? As you can see from my first post, the right answer is, if you can avoid sugar altogether, power to you - that's the way to go. But after years of conditioning yourself of adding packets of pastel colored sweetener to your coffee, and developing an addiction to the sweet stuff, that's going to be a hard habit to break. I'm going to go through each of the artificial sweeteners and break out what's actually inside of them for you, and you can be the judge of which, if any, is the least of the evils.
Sweet'N Low - Saccharin. The FDA actually tried to ban this back in 1977, but of course that didn't happen since it's still around and suddenly 'safe' today. Comes from a derivative of coal tar derivatives. Causes bladder cancer in rats, but claims to be totally fine for humans. I don't know how easy I find that one to believe. Prior to 2000, saccharin was on the list of chemicals that cause cancer in humans, but the FDA removed it that year. Since the components didn't change, I wonder what did. I bet someone pretty senior at Cumberland.
Aspartame - Equal & Nutrasweet. Equal is made from methanol and converts to formaldehyde when digested. Has been linked to brain tumors. Typing that just made me want to throw up all of the Weight Watchers brownies I ate back in 2005. Want to know how they discovered Equal? In an attempt to make a drug for ulcers back in the 60s.
Splenda - Sucralose. Chlorinated sugar. Read that again please. Sugar with chlorine. Have you ever gone swimming in a pool and decided - hey, the chemicals in this water seem really tasty? Maybe you have. If that's the case, please stop reading my blog because you're too far gone and I can't help you. The carcinogen in the sucralose is also used in pesticides, poisonous gas, plastics and disinfectants. Splenda was actually discovered in a lab when scientists were trying to make insecticides. Would you like one yellow packet of Raid or two?
Stevia - SweetLeaf, Truvia, PureVia. Comes from a plant. That's great - except you're not eating actual stevia plant; you're using a genetically modified processed version. For Truvia, the main component is erythritol, which has been proven to kill fruit flies exposed to the chemical in lab studies. Something that kills bugs is the main sugar substitute in Coca Cola products. Good stuff. Other ingredients in stevia products are glycerine (found in liquid stevia extracts), natural flavors (which, in other words means - ANYTHING. What is a 'natural flavor'? Just say what it is. This is one of the biggest BS things found on a label. Then there's Xylitol, found in Truvia. Xylitol is made by hydrogenating sugar. They use Raney nickel, which is a powdered nickel-aluminum alloy. Heavy medal residue in your coffee. Mmm. The last, and best part - Xylitol comes from GMO corn. So while you're running around buying things that say GMO-free on the label, you're accidentally eating it as a biproduct in your 'natural' sweetener. Oops. There's a lot of other interesting things here about Xylitol - I won't continue on this topic, because hopefully you get the drift. But if you want to learn more, this was a great source: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/xylitol-not-as-sweet-as-its-cracked-up-to-be/
Now one good thing with this one - stevia does lower glucose and insulin levels more than other sweeteners, so this is a better option for diabetics. But overall, as you can see, still not great for you. Plain and simple, our bodies aren't designed to digest these products - any of them. Sugar-free sweeteners can trick the body into a state of hypoglycemia. Stevia is sweet, so your body thinks it's going to be getting sugar. It gets ready for it. Glucose is cleared from the bloodstream. Blood sugars drop, but no sugar actually arrives. Adrenaline & cortisol rise to take sugar from other places like your liver or body tissue... I'm getting too scientific here. I don't even understand what I'm writing. It's just not good what's happening internally when you eat this stuff, let's leave it at that.
Another problem with stevia is these brands are more expensive and not as readily available. When you go to Starbucks, or any restaurant, you'll find regular sugar, and what I call the pastel trifecta - the pink Sweet N'Low, blue Equal and yellow Splenda. Even if this is a better option, it's not there in front of you. It's significantly more expensive (as all things better for you are), and you have to make a conscious effort to carry it around with you to add to your coffee.
There's also the social dilemma; people think you're weird when you pull out your little packet of stevia to add to your coffee. I don't care or mind defending my actions when it comes to food just because I have too many allergies, too many modifications and quite frankly, my health is more important than being a social pariah. But some people don't want to feel weird or difficult, so they'll stick with what everyone else is doing. The consistency of stevia products is a little bit strange too, and still has the problem of being overly sweet and screwing with your taste buds.
I was a huge Truvia fan once I banned all other sweeteners from my diet a few years ago, however now I have half a tub from Costco sitting on my counter that I'll never touch again. If anyone wants some Truvia, it's up for grabs :)
All have been linked with causing migraines, tumors and depression. Many of the studies that have claims that consuming any of these sweeteners in small doses is fine, are funded by the companies who manufacture them. Connect the dots here for yourselves.
The debate comes down to, if sugar is so bad for you then isn't it better to have the fake kind? The truth is, the best things in life aren't free. Taking out the calories and the chemical components of sugar isn't making it healthier. Artificial sweeteners are anywhere from 200-700x sweeter than sugar, causing you to literally never feel full from any of the foods you're eating that contain them. Ever drink a diet soda and feel starving afterwards? You can thank the aspartame for that. Artificial sweeteners also make you lose the taste for less sweet foods. It makes them taste bland and boring, and you need more and more of the fake stuff to taste anything at all. I've actually noticed since cutting out these products how good foods like brussel sprouts taste (don't laugh - they're delicious!)
Another rebuttal I hear, and sorry mom and dad but I'm calling you out on this one because we debate about sweeteners ALL the time - is, if they're so bad for you, why are they everywhere? And that's a great question, I have to say. But I'll tell you why. Because the FDA sucks. They approve these chemical-laden garbage-filled products because the companies behind them have billions of dollars, stamp their feet, make all sorts of threats and demands, and basically stronghold the FDA into giving the stamp of approval. Once it's on the market, the public assumes it's fine, because it's on shelves - how can it be bad for you? Know what else you can find in supermarkets? Cigarettes. Next time you're grocery shopping, think of it this way - whether you put the cigarettes or the Splenda in your cart, both have a chance of giving you cancer. Of course cancer isn't the only negative outcome. Drinking diet drinks increase your risk of getting Type 2 diabetes by 67%. So if you thought your chances of getting adult onset diabetes was lessened by choosing diet soda over regular, you're wrong. The only beverage that truly has zero calories and is HEALTHY is water - anything else contains something that has a negative impact on your body. The most amusing part of all of this? Studies have shown that consuming artificial sweeteners causes weight GAIN. So great that you're cutting the 20 or 30 calories by swapping a pink or blue packet for the real thing, but you should've just eaten the extra calories and spend an extra 2 minutes on the treadmill.
It actually make me really mad that in the 2 years I was in Weight Watchers, these were the foods they were telling me to eat. If you're hungry, have a Weight Watchers meal! Full of chemicals. Snack time? Try a fat free low calorie muffin! Only 140 calories! Because it contains a ton of aspartame. Thirsty? Don't drink your calories. Never drink your calories! That's a mantra that I still have trouble getting past today. If you're thirsty, drink water or diet coke! They actually pushed the diet coke because it 'filled you up more'. I was 23 years old, super impressionable, and really wanted to be skinny. I listened. And my body has been suffering the consequences ever since. I'll end by saying - just make the right choices. Be educated in your decisions. If you want to wean yourself off of sweeteners (and it's NOT EASY. It's something I'm trying to do every day) - just use something natural. Put a tiny bit of agave or raw honey into your coffee/yogurt/baked good. Google paleo recipes, that use great substitutes and let you make healthier versions of cookies and cakes and on and on. What I'm noticing as I'm no longer using Truvia or sugar in my coffee anymore, is I don't even want coffee anymore! I now crave unsweetened green tea. Matcha (more to come on this amazing new discovery later). I still function getting my caffeine from tea, and natural sources like - exercise and sleep - crazy notion, right? But every day I feel myself getting healthier and stronger and know that eventually these chemicals will be gone from my bloodstream. Hopefully they'll be gone from yours too.
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