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Artificial Sweeteners: Lessons for the Slow Learners

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sucralose side effects

It seemed like, for a brief period, society was finally catching onto the idea that artificial sweeteners, in all amounts and all types, was a bad thing.

Then the moment passed.

I continue to see almost every single gum available in stores with artificial sweeteners (and typically more than one type is used).  And just in the past few weeks I’ve had patients ask me about “medical” weight loss plans that contain sucralose.  And of course diet sodas continue to grace the shelves in every store known to man.

When I ask the distributors about the artificial sweeteners in their products, I ALWAYS get the same answer: “Well it’s just a little bit.”

If it’s just a “little bit” then why is it even in the product?  For taste, of course.  This means that there is enough for your body to recognize the “sweet” in whatever product it’s in.  This is where the problem starts.  You see–we don’t just have taste buds on our tongues–we also have them in the small intestine in cells called the L cells.  When the L cells taste sweet, even VERY small amounts, it sends a signal to the rest of the body that calories are on their way.

But alas!  It is just a trick we play on our intestinal L cells when we use artificial sweeteners.  No calories are on their way.  Over time, we begin to disassociate our sense of taste from our body’s reaction to sweet.  This is a disastrous outcome, especially in our children, in whom artificial sweeteners should not even be kept in the same room.

And they are everywhere.  Think you’re doing good by avoiding diet soda?  How about that pack of gum in your pocket or purse?  I’m betting that it’s got multiple types of artificial sweeteners.  Ask for lemonade at a restaurant?  There’s a chance that it’s sugar free and the waiter failed to mention it.

You need to extra vigilant about reading labels to make sure you’re avoiding artificial sweeteners.  Anything less is going to have consequences to your health.

Every time I present a research study on the topic of the lie-that-is-artificial-sweeteners-to-manage-weight, I wonder just how much accumulated research it’s going to take for society to wake up and kick these chemicals to the curb.

Maybe this particular study will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.  In it, researchers looked at four different drink options  and how they each related to the risk of prediabetes in a large group of 1868 people free from prediabetes at the beginning of the study.  Sugar sweetened beverages, artificial sweetened beverages, natural fruit juices and bottled juices were compared.   Here’s what they found over the course of 3.24 years:

  • When compared to those who consume less than one serving per week, those who had more than 5 servings/wk of bottle fruit juices were 14% more likely to be diagnosed with prediabetes.
  • Natural fruit juices increased the risk by 30%.
  • Sugar sweetened beverages increased the risk by 43%.
  • And artificial sweeteners? Almost double the risk of prediabetes at 74%.

There are a few pretty darn important take home messages from this study.

First, even if you think drinking fruit juice is a good idea for your health, it’s NOT.  In this study, rather than being good for participants, it actually increased the risk of prediabetes.  We should never drink our calories.  There will never be as many nutrients per calorie in a fruit juice than there will be in the fruit whole.  Period.

Second, rather than protecting against diabetes, artificial sweeteners dramatically increased the risk.  Totally the opposite of what society has been led to believe for years now.  It is now clearly at the point where no one can rightfully claim that the use of artificial sweeteners have any place in the diets of humans.

Very Common Chemical Dangerous in Pregnancy

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I have always been and will always remain staunchly against artificial sweeteners.  In ANY amount.

They have become so ubiquitous and so accepted in society today that no one questions their safety.  However, an increasing number of animal and human studies continue to find that these compounds increase the risk of weight gain and diabetes–exactly what people take them to avoid.

I do not care if it is one simple piece of gum per day with aspartame or sucralose.  How little does it take for our bodies to alter our response to sweetness?

If you can’t answer that question with certainty, then the only acceptable answer is NONE.  In this particular study we find that diet sodas actually contribute to preterm birth.  Just one per day increases your risk 38%.  Four per day jumps that risk to 78%.  Bottom line is that these chemicals  are not safe in ANY amounts.

Artificial Sweeteners–WHY Are They Still Around?

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artificial sweeteners and diabetes
Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/wyscan/

Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?  Why did the chicken cross the road?  Why are we still using artificial sweeteners?

All timeless questions that never seem to have the right answer.  Artificial sweeteners were initially used with the premise of cutting calorie intake and fighting off weight gain and diabetes.

They were never designed to actually improve the taste of food, candies and snacks.  Think about it–did you actually LIKE the taste of artificial sweeteners right off the bat?  Most that I’ve talked to say it’s a taste you have to get used to.  Why would you continue to take in a chemical that you have to “get used to” unless you believed there was some positive benefit to your health?

The belief that the use of artificial sweeteners was good for your health was continually promoted by doctors, massive marketing campaigns by the chemical companies that produce them and national organizations like the American Diabetic Association.  The brainwashing went on for decades and still continues.

It was so powerful that, despite mounting evidence that these chemicals PROMOTE the very things they were supposed to protect (diabetes and obesity), artificial sweeteners are still found everywhere you turn.

And the manufacturers have been getting very sneaky at putting them in products.  Terms like “low sugar,” “low carb” or “zero calories” can be your first clue.  But sometimes the approach is way more devious.  You may see on the front of the container for some drink that it is advertised as “no artificial flavors” and think that it’s ok.  But buried in the ingredient label, however, is that sneaky little sucralose chemical.  All of the wording on these products is very, very carefully chosen to deceive you.

So why the Rant?  Because there is yet another article looking into how artificial sweeteners contribute to obesity and diabetes.  In this particular article, researchers looked at the effects of artificial sweeteners on the gut bacteria in mice.  Here’s what they found:

  • Artificial sweeteners creates prediabetes by making changes to the types of gut bacteria as well as the way they function.
  • These artificial sweetener changes are blocked by antibiotic treatment.
  • Once the artificial sweeteners change the gut bacteria, transferring the bacteria  into another mouse will lead to prediabetes.
  • The researchers identified these same changes to the gut bacteria and risk of diabetes in humans.

This is not the first study to link changes in gut bacteria to artificial sweetener use.  Combine this with mounting evidence that gut bacteria may play a critical role in the development of obesity and diabetes and you’ve got a time bomb ticking.  Our kids are being fed artificial sweeteners like candy (pun intended) and parents, in general, are oblivious to the dangers posed by their use.

Even more subtle is the exposure of our kids to artificial sweeteners by well-meaning parents who don’t diligently label shop.  Do you realize that almost every gum in your typical grocery stores’ checkout counter has artificial sweeteners?  Do you know that most mints have these chemicals in the ingredient labels?  Have you checked out your “weight loss drink” lately?  Many of the most popular ones (even ones offered in doctors’ offices) contain artificial sweeteners.  Your protein drink?  I’ll bet it’s got artificial sweeteners.

With all of this said, I will end this article with the same question I began it with…”Why are we still using artificial sweeteners???”

 

Sucralose Side Effects: Worse if You’re a Bat

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Despite having an eBook out on the evils of artificial sweeteners, I still get pushback from many that I talk to.

Maybe that’s because society has slowly introduced a variety of artificial sweeteners over the years, putting them into more and more products consumed by the unwary public.  We were in Cancun recently and my son wanted some yogurt and granola.  However, even the “plain” yogurt had sucralose in it.  Should we be surprised that Mexico has now passed the US as the most obese country on the planet?

Good luck finding gum without multiple artificial sweeteners in it.  Some restaurants only carry “light” lemonade and do not inform customers of this unless asked.   We have “sugar free” energy drinks, which is technically not even possible since the body’s ultimate source of fuel is sugar.  We give our toddlers diet coke without a second thought.

All of this acceptance is fueled by our desire to satisfy our craving for sweet, reinforced by the belief that it will help to keep us from gaining weight.  The reality is a far cry from the belief.

This particular study adds additional research to the links between artificial sweeteners, weight gain and diabetes.  This mouse study looked at what artificial sweeteners (referred to as non-nutritive sweeteners, or NNS) did to risk factors for diabetes.  Specifically, researchers compared the effects of sucrose (table sugar) to artificial sweeteners.  Here’s what they found:

  1. The sucrose increased blood sugar, body fat and body weight.
  2. NNS, on the other hand, did not increase blood sugar levels.
  3. But, NNS increased insulin levels and body fat (neither a good thing).
  4. Worse with NNS, in the fat cells, leptin and triglycerides levels increased.
  5. If this wasn’t bad enough, a compound called UCP-1 in brown fat was lower with NNS.

What does this last little tidbit mean?

Well, brown fat is a type of fat that we use to generate heat by burning calories.  And only burning calories.  Basically, brown fat burns calories like a furnace.  Infants and bats have brown fat, but we’ve always thought that brown fat disappears as we age.  Recent research supports the idea that adults DO have brown fat.  A tissue that helps you burn calories.  Sounds like a dream weight loss program.

And artificial sweeteners shut it down.  Does this sound like something that’s going to help avoid diabetes and obesity?  Absolutely not.

So the next time you move to pick up that diet Coke or chomp on that Juicy Fruit, purchase that Medifast “medical” food from your doctor, realize that these products WILL make you fatter and increase your risk for diabetes.  There is no longer any room to deny this fact.

 

Depression Risk Factors: Watch Out For This Hidden Cause

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I’ve covered many of the risk factors for depression over the years in this blog.  Of course, top of the list of powerful tools to manage depression is exercise, but I understand that when you’re depressed, getting the motivation to exercise is just short of impossible.  That is why making the right lifestyle choices becomes critical to lower your risk of depression in the first place.  Or, once you’re there, there are simple changes you can make to begin to turn your brain health around.

I have covered simple, natural approaches to depression in a prior article that can be read by clicking here.  These are simple changes you can make that do not require the motivation that exercise does.  That same article covered the long list of potential side effects associated with antidepressant use as well.

Despite all of this, as with everything else, prevention is key.  This includes all the same lifestyle choicees that you need to adhere to in order to lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.  My recommendations can be found by clicking  here.  It makes sense, though–treat your body right and your brain health will follow.  And at least you don’t need to remember a different lifestyle list for each disease you want to prevent.  Makes it much easier, right?

So what hidden factor are we talking about in this particular article?  Before we go any further, I do need to clarify something.  This study has not been published in a peer reviewed journal (yet).  Rather, it is a presentation of a completed study that will be given during the 2013 annual American Academy of Neurology meeting.  It was also a study looking at seniors, not the general population.  However, since a senior’s brain works pretty much the same as everone else’s brain (albeit with maybe a little more clutter), I feel that making the jump to everyone else is not a big one.

Diet beverages. 

No regular reader of this blog will have any doubt that I absolutely despise the use of any form of artificial sweeteners and the bulk of the research suggests that they do nothing good and contribute to diabetes and weight gain.  But despite the research, society is firmly entrenched in the use of these substances.  So much so that the newest USDA recommendations for food in schools allows diet sodas to be sold in high schools.

Here are the summaries of the findings of a review of 263,295 adults, aged 50-70,  (that’s a lot, in case you were wondering):

  1. 4 cans or cups of sweetened soft drinks each day had a 30% increase in risk of depression.
  2. The increased risk with diet soda was 31%.
  3. Regular soda was 22% (yes-diet soda was worse for your brain than regular).
  4. Diet iced tea upped risk 25%.
  5. Fruit punch was implicated as well at 38% increased risk.
  6. Diet fruit punch ramped up risk a massive 51%.
  7. Regular fruit punch “only” increased risk 8%.
  8. Overall, aspartame (Nutrisweet) showed a 36% increase risk of depression (Tweet this).
  9. On the other hand, 4 cups of coffee daily lowered risk 9%.

Clearly, artificially sweeteners are NOT good for the brain.  Period.  And don’t think that, because you use Splenda instead of Nutrisweet, that you are safe.  Don’t count on it.

If you do still consume artificial sweeteners (consider your gum, your drinks, even your mouthwash), would you like to share why??  Inquiring minds want to know…

HIGH USAGE OF SUCRALOSE MAY LEAD TO DNA DAMAGE – (11-03-03)

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Comet assay w/ mouse organs: results with 39 currently used food additives

Sucralose in this study showed DNA damage. Now, in total, many other studies have not shown this finding with sucralose.

I do bring this study up to demonstrate that we do not yet know enough about this compound for me to recommend it to patients. For now I recommend avoiding it (and most likely this recommendation will stay…) just as with aspartame. The concern is that this sweetener is being used in more and more foods.

Recently heard a commercial for “no sugar added” Ovaltine or something like that. Well–the “no sugar added” was a codeword for sucralose (Splenda). Remember that anytime we try to come up with a compound to avoid the lifestyle changes that we know we need to make (olestra, aspartame, “carb blockers”…) the results are usually less than perfect.

Entrez-PubMed.

Read entire article here

SIDE EFFECTS OF MSG ON HUMAN HEALTH – (06-27-05)

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MSG in standard & high-fiber diets: metabolic syndrome and oxidative stress in rats

While is a rat study, it has far reaching ramifications.  Read the conclusions.  MSG lead to overfeeding and increased oxidative stress.  MSG, aspartame/Nutrisweet and Splenda are believed to affect the appetite control system–the body thinks it’s getting nutrition but nothing comes so it slowly keeps asking for more.

I guess this would account for the increased risk of obesity with drinking diet soft drinks.  While this appeared in the mainstream media for a day or so, don’t expect to see too much more of it–that kind of news would bankrupt the diet soft drink industry.

Read entire article here

WILL SPLENDA AND NUTRISWEET MAKE ME FAT?

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If you follow common sense and the research, this answer is a definite yes. Unfortunately as a society these compounds are in everything and we still promote them for weight loss (bad idea) diabetes (worse idea).

Think about it–if they are in everything shouldn’t we be getting skinnier and less diabetic?

The research has consistently shown that these compounds are not good for us and this article is just the latest to add to the pile. This particular study is a few years old.  It is an animal study that begins to demonstrate  just how artificial sweeteners can affect our appetite and metabolism. Basically, we have taste buds on our tongues as well as the first part of our intestines.

 These taste buds signal to the rest of your body that nutrients and calories are on their way so you can prepare. The problem with artificial sweeteners is that this message still goes out to the body, but the body is left looking around saying “Where’s the beef?” (actually would be glucose, but couldn’t pass on the 80’s Wendy’s reference).  So it resets our appetite in an attempt to get the nutrients it thought it was going to get. Bottom line is that artificial sweeteners are OFF the list.  Period.

What foods and drinks do you currently eat, drink or chew that have some type of artificial sweeteners?