subject: Artificial Sweeteners: Fattening, Cancerous, Deadly [print this page] My friend Karen has been struggling to lose weight for years. She's tried all sorts of weight loss diets and exercises. Sometimes she loses 4 to 5 lbs in a week only to gain it back the following week. Currently, she's reduced to eating "diet products only" and yet, she is still fat.
This morning she complained of having another terrible headache episode and she called in sick for work. Her health worries me as she struggles desperately to shed some pounds off.
Headaches, fatigue, and even gas are just common minor reactions reported by those who consume artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame1. All three fade when compared to the more serious methanol poisoning, obesity, and cancer, which have all increased in number since the introduction of aspartame in diet food.
Here are the reasons why food and drinks with aspartame should be avoided at all cost:
One) Aspartame turns into poison when it enters the body.
The liver breaks down aspartame into several toxic substances. One of them is the poisonous wood alcohol called methanol. Healthy persons could further break this alcohol down to two less toxic substances. The first is called formaldehyde, the same chemical used to embalm dead people, and the second is formate that causes blindness2.
Some people do not feel ill instantaneously but some are more sensitive to these toxins. Confusion, headaches, and nausea are some symptoms that should not be ignored when they appear right after drinking or eating diet products.
Two). Artificial sweeteners will make you fatter.
When we eat carbohydrate-rich food, the body releases hormones that help breakdown, use, and store the sugar. Two of these hormones are insulin and leptin.
Constant consumption of food high in sugar causes these two substances to be always present in high amounts in the bloodstream. Over time, this constant presence makes the body "resistant", "deaf", or "numb" to the effects of insulin and leptin. The result is weight gain.
It's a shame that no-sugar diet drinks produce the same reaction from the body. Aspartame somehow makes the pancreas release more insulin and fat cells release more leptins, the same effect as when sugar is consumed.
The result is increased food cravings and hunger. This is one reason why people get fatter and fatter even though they try to incorporate no-calorie and low-calorie products in their diet.
Three). Aspartame can lead to cancer.
Certain cancers like lymphoma and leukemia have been observed to increase in rats fed with aspartame at 20 mg/kg body weight. This is far lower than the acceptable daily intake of aspartame in the US, which is 50 mg/kg body weight3.
Aside from lymphoma and leukemia, tumors in the urinary and nervous system were also found in rats who consumed higher amounts of this sweetener3.
Sure, zero-calorie drinks could make one feel less guilty of consuming sugar. But if it's really worth the risk of becoming obese, getting poisoned and developing cancer, you may go ahead and take another sip of that diet coke.
by: Greg Crawford
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