I got an email from Dr. Al Sears about artificial sweeteners. Here’s part of it:
When your drink contains aspartame, sucralose, or any other artificial sweetener, you over-stimulate your sweetness receptors. It changes the way you think about the way things should taste.
You crave high-intensity sweetness. And naturally sweet foods like fruit don’t taste as good to you. Vegetables lose their appeal, because they’re not sweet.
Your gut has sweetness receptors, too. It’s all ready to absorb nutrients, so you get a surge in hormones, like insulin. But when the calories don’t arrive, your body tells your brain to go out and get them.
Your appetite increases, and you get cravings that cause you to overeat. What’s worse, you turn to high-carbohydrate foods and sweets to make up the calorie void.
But now, the insulin you’ve poured into your blood tells your body to turn whatever you do eat into fat.
I read one study of almost 2,600 people. Those who drank diet sodas had a 47 percent higher body mass index (BMI) than those who didn’t, and their risk of obesity was doubled.
He goes on to recommend fruity solutions as well as honey and raw, whole sugar.
All of that stuff about how the sweetness affects us has me wondering if maybe stevia isn’t such a good idea, either.
References:
Sansom, W. New analysis suggests ‘diet soda paradox’ – less sugar, more weight. Univ Tex SA Health Sci Ctr. June, 2005.