Special Report: How Artificial Sweeteners Will Make You Fat! By Joel Kaye, MA www.rightbraindiet.com
Studies are now showing that people who use artificial sweeteners can actually gain more weight than people who use refined sugar. A recent Purdue University study compared two sets of rats: those fed liquid spiked with saccharin, others fed liquid sweetened with natural sugar. When both groups were later given a sugary snack, the rats accustomed to artificial sweeteners ate more. "Our bodies have ways of judging how many calories a food has from how it tastes, and artificial sweeteners may mess up that natural regulating process," says Susan Swithers, PhD, associate professor of psychological sciences at Purdue and one of the study's lead authors. In simpler terms, the brain exists solely on sugar. When you consume artificial sweeteners the brain thinks sugar has entered the body and is looking towards it for energy. The sugar however, is not there, so the brain wants the sugar but cannot have it. As a result, the brain starts telling the body to eat more so it can receive the sugar for energy. The sweet taste, from the artificial sweeteners, immediately raises sugar concentration in the blood before the food has a chance to be digested. Your body thinks that eventually, it will receive all the sugar it needs for energy from the food you just
swallowed. When the sweet food is real, the body will eventually get back the sugar it just used. If the food is not it will not get back the sugar used. When artificial sweeteners are fooling your body, it reacts rather vindictively: it forces you to want more sweet food until it gets its needed nutrients. Thus one will eat more after consuming the artificial sweeteners. One thing that always interested me was someone who would order a Big Mac with large fries and a diet soda. How truly concerned is this person about their health? The benefit in this case is awarded to McDonald s because consuming the artificial sweetener in the diet soda, the person will want more food because the brain is looking for the sugar that is not there. What a great alliance! Also, the caffeine in the diet soda is addictive so the person will want more caffeine soda along with the artificial sweetener. Is it any wonder why people are so unhealthy today? There is new research, which shows a correlation that ingesting artificial sweeteners will actually stimulate hunger. The fact is artificial sweeteners can get you fat. A Purdue University study found that artificial sweeteners disrupt the body s ability to count calories. Choosing a diet soft drink over a regular, sugar-packed beverage may not be the best
way to fight obesity, according to new research from Purdue University. The researchers also said this doesn't mean you should grab a regularly sweetened soft drink instead. Professor Davidson from Purdue s Department Of Psychological Sciences found that artificial sweeteners might disrupt the body's natural ability to "count" calories based on foods' sweetness. This discovery may explain why increasing numbers of people in the United States lack the natural ability to regulate food intake and body weight. Swithers, a developmental psycho biologist states, "Incidence of overweight and obesity has also increased markedly during this period." Our hypothesis is the experience with these foods interferes with the natural ability of the body to use sweet taste and viscosity to gauge caloric content of foods and beverages. When you substitute artificial sweetener for real sugar, however, the body learns it can no longer use its sense of taste to gauge calories. So, the body may be fooled into thinking a product sweetened with sugar has no calories and, therefore, people overeat." In another study by Davidison, rats that were fed artificial sweeteners were less able to compensate for the calories contained in the snack and ate more than the rats that ate sugar. "This suggests that experience with the inconsistent relationship reduced the natural ability of the rats to use sweet taste to judge the caloric content of the snack," Swithers also said.
In a nutshell, drinking and eating artificial sweeteners damages the body s ability to recognize sugars in junk foods. The end result is that you don t realize how much sugar your consuming in high caloric, empty calorie foods. Research at Purdue University, Indiana, showed that people learn from childhood that sweet tastes signal-fattening food. But this ability to distinguish foods that are high in calories can be disrupted when they consume low-calorie sweet foods, such as diet drink. An article written by Nancy Markle states MONSANTO, the creator of aspartame, knows how deadly it is. They fund the American Diabetes Association, American Dietetic Association, Congress, and the Conference of the American College of Physicians. The New York Times, on November 15, 1996, ran an article on how the American Dietetic Association takes money from the food industry to endorse their products. Therefore, they cannot criticize any additives or tell about their link to MONSANTO. To test the role of fake sugars, researchers studied rats trained for ten days to drink either sugar water or water sweetened with saccharin. After those ten days, the rats were then given a highcalorie treat, followed by all the lab chow they wanted. The "diet
drink" rats lost control, and ate three times as much as the sugar group. A recent scientific study has found that artificial sweeteners may actually sabotage your diet by making you crave more calories. "You adapt your taste buds to that sort of taste so you get used to that and you crave it and you have to maintain getting that sugar intake," says clinical dietitian and diabetes educator Regina Dick. She says the study doesn't suggest something in the artificial sweeteners are causing the weight gain, but that they may feed your addiction to sweets, causing you to eat more. In an article by Marion Hauser, M.S., R.D. states from 1960 to l976, there was virtually no change in the number of Americans who were overweight. However, from the mid 80 s to present, this number has more than doubled to 54 percent! This coincides with the massive infusion of non-caloric chemical sweeteners and sugar-free "diet" foods that are eaten by close to three-quarters of the adult population. We are convinced that continued acceptance of the most popular of these artificial sweeteners, aspartame, plays a significant role in our current weight problems. We have seen that aspartame accomplishes far from helping us lose weight. We see patients who actually gain weight! Aspartame has been shown to increase appetite, especially cravings for sweets. Many products contain artificial sweeteners, including toothpaste, breath mints,
chewing gum, laxatives, and children s vitamins, along with the diet food and beverages. In 1992, the FDA approved aspartame for use in malt beverages, breakfast cereals, and refrigerated puddings and fillings. In 1993 the FDA approved aspartame for use in hard and soft candies, non-alcoholic favored beverages, tea beverages, fruit juices and concentrates, baked goods and baking mixes, frostings, toppings and fillings for baked goods. What is the US Congress doing to protect the consumer from the dangers of aspartame? Nothing. What is the US Administration doing to protect the consumer from the dangers of aspartame? Nothing. Aspartame consumption is not only a problem in the United States. It is being sold in over 70 countries throughout the world.
ASPARTAME CAN BE FOUND IN: - Instant breakfasts - breath mints - cereals - sugar-free chewing gum - cocoa mixes - coffee beverages - frozen desserts - gelatin desserts - juice beverages - laxatives - multivitamins - milk drinks - pharmaceuticals and supplements - shake mixes - soft drinks - tabletop sweeteners - tea beverages - instant teas and coffees - topping mixes - wine coolers
- yogurt Aspartame has also been found in products where it is not listed on the label so you should be extra cautious. Remember, if you eat all natural whole foods, you won t have to worry about being deceived by misleading labels. -Joel Kaye Joel Kaye holds a Masters Degree in Physical Health Education and he is currently teaching classes at the prestigious New York University's Coles Sports Center On Weight Management, Nutrition And Exercise And Cancer Wellness. To learn how to achieve optimal health, visit: www.rightbraindiet.com