Why you should avoid artificial sweeteners
By Lee Kemp The vast amounts of artificial sweeteners going into our everyday food are staggering, and there are some artificial sweeteners that can have a devastating effect on your health. Artificial sweeteners are used almost ubiquitously now in our society as a way of replacing sugar and reducing the caloric content of food.
Despite the initial annoyances one may experience with hav- ing to check all food items prior to consumption, the extra few seconds of reading may truly prove to be beneficial. Below is a guide to the more common sugar substitutes and how they can affect the body:
Sucralose is a very common noncaloric sweetener that is 600 times sweeter than sugar. Because it is noncaloric, products containing it can tout “low” or “no calorie” from consuming the product. To make sucralose, Sucrose or sugar is used with Chlorine in a multi-step chemical process producing something unlike anything found in nature.
The body doesn’t recognize it and sees it as a toxin and tries to rid the body of it. Chlorine is, however, bonded to products found in nature; consider Chlorine is combined with sodium, forming an "ionic bond" to yield table salt. Salt is totally natural and occurs in nature, and Sucralose does not. Sucralose pro- ducers often highlight these irrelevant facts to defend its safety. The creators of Sucralose were trying to create a new insecti- cide knowing the chemistry behind their creation was deadly, but accidentally tasted the Sucralose and found out it was sweet. So they decided to sell it as a sweetener instead. Sucralose is not recognized by the body and therefore is not digested. It is considered a toxin and store in the fat tissues of the body. Think of the toxicity to your body after storing years of this poison. Although approved by the FDA more human studies are needed.
How to avoid Sucralose: avoid Splenda® and products with the ingredient "sucralose." Aspartame is approximately 200 times sweeter than sugar and has little to no calories also allowing claims that it’s a “low calorie” ingestible product. It is composed of 40% aspartic acid, 50% phenylalanine and 10% methanol. Although Aspartame is FDA-approved is has a lengthy list of varied negative side effects. First and foremost, people suffering from the disease phenylketonuria should not consume aspartame, as their body cannot break down the phenylalanine. Even for a person with- out phenylketonuria, ingesting tiny amounts of phenylalanine can be a mental health risk; phenylalanine can concentrate in the brain and excessive levels of it in the brain disrupts sero- tonin levels, leading to emotional disorders. Since its discovery in 1965, controversy has raged over the health risks associated with Aspartame, the sugar substitute. From laboratory testing of the chemical on rats, researchers have discovered that the drug induces brain tumors. On Sept 30, 1980 the Board of Inquiry of the FDA concurred and denied the petition for approval.
In 1981, the newly appointed FDA Commissioner, Arthur Hull 26 USA Wrestler
Hayes, ignored the negative ruling and approved aspartame for dry goods. As recorded in the Congressional Record of 1985, then CEO of Searle Laboratories (the manufacturer of Aspartame) Donald Rumsfeld said that he would "call in his markers" to get aspartame approved. Rumsfeld was on President Reagan's transition team and a day after taking office appointed Hayes. No FDA Commissioner in the previous six- teen years had allowed aspartame on the market. How to avoid aspartame: avoid eating foods (and chewing gums) with aspartame in the ingredient list and avoid artificial sweeteners by the names of NutraSweet, Equal, Sugar Twin, Spoonful and Equal-Measure.
Saccharin is about 300 times sweeter than sugar and is very low in calories. It is the oldest of the artificial sweeteners, hav- ing been created in the end of the 19th century. Saccharin is a sulfonamide, which means it may cause allergic reactions to those who are allergic to sulfa drugs. The substance was eval- uated by the FDA in 1908, during which the regulator proposed a ban on saccharin. This ban was later reversed and Saccharin has continued to be legal and used in the U.S. as an artificial sweetener. In the 1970s, tests done on lab rats found that those administered saccharin had higher rates of bladder cancer than those who were not. Saccharin was proposed to be made unavailable to American consumers, but ended up being labeled for consumers as potentially dangerous and for causing cancer in lab rats.
Despite this knowledge of cancer occurrences, in 2000, the
FDA repealed the warning label requirement for saccharin and in 2001 the FDA reversed their decision on saccharin, declaring it safe for consumption. Finally, in 2010, this substance was removed from the EPA's list of hazardous materials. How to avoid saccharin: avoid Sweet N' Low and food prod-
ucts which contain the ingredient "saccharin." Neotame is 13,000 times sweeter than sugar and is non- caloric. It is composed of aspartame and dimethylbutyl. It is said Continued on page 35
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