The Truth About Artificial Sweeteners

You've probably heard that artificial sweeteners will help you lose weight. After all, when you consume diet beverages and foods, you're eating fewer calories, so that must be true, right?

Wrong!

With the glut of diet foods on the market and the volumes being sold, if they worked, you'd expect that the majority of people would be slim and trim.

However, the opposite is true. Nearly 70% of the population is overweight or obese, and the figure is growing every year. The rate of obesity is even increasing with children.

So, now that you know that artificial sweeteners don't help you lose weight, let's look at some of the popular sugar substitutes and see why they're not a healthy choice.

The manufacturers and the FDA say they're safe. But, let's take a look at the facts.

Aspartame, also known as NutraSweet and Equal, can cause a wide variety of symptoms from headaches, difficulty breathing, speech impairment, chest pain, dizziness, memory loss to seizures, blindness and death. These are just a few of the 92 documented reactions to aspartame.

The symptoms caused by aspartame can mimic the symptoms present in various diseases. Therefore, people suffering from aspartame poisoning can be misdiagnosed with a disease, such as Alzheimer's, epilepsy, severe depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's to name just a few.

Acesulfame-K, or acesulfame-potassium, in some studies has caused cancer in lab animals. It has not been fully tested for safety.

Saccharin, in the past, was listed as a carcinogen. However, due to industry pressure, it was delisted and said to be safe. Yet, there are still scientists who consider saccharin to be a carcinogen.

Sucralose or Splenda is chlorinated sugar. Contrary to manufacturer claims, it is partially absorbed by the body, up to 40% according to the Japanese Food Sanitation Council. Splenda has been shown to shrink the thymus gland, enlarge the liver and kidneys, cause miscarriages and diarrhea in animal studies. It contains small amounts of dangerous contaminants, like heavy metals, methanol and arsenic. Splenda has not been adequately studied for safety. No studies have been done on children or pregnant women.

These are the worst of the artificial sweeteners on the market. But that doesn't mean the others are safe.

Your best choices for sweetening your foods and beverages are organic whole cane sugar, organic maple syrup, raw organic tupelo honey and stevia.

Learn more about food additives.

Find out the real secret to losing weight.

Is Splenda a Healthy Sweetener?

Splenda is chlorinated sugar. It's an artificial sweetener that can actually be made totally from chemicals, without any sugar.

The manufacturer claims that it is not metabolized by the body. However, according to the FDA it is partially absorbed and metabolized by the body, 11-27%. And according to the Japanese Food Council it is 40% absorbed and metabolized.

It's promoted as a safe sweetener with zero calories. However, there have been no long-term human studies on the safety of Splenda, and no studies on its safety for children and pregnant women.

Animal studies have shown Splenda to cause shrunken thymus gland, enlarged liver and kidneys, miscarriage and diarrhea. Small amounts of dangerous contaminants have been detected, such as heavy metals, methanol, arsenic and more.

Those with chlorine allergies may suffer severe reactions to splenda.

Bottom line, although Splenda is not as harmful as aspartame, it is definitely NOT a safe sweetener.

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