Sugar Baby – Part 2

My chiropractor boyfriend and I are waiting for a driver to take us to the movie set of "Eat Pray Love" in Bali. We're sitting outside in the sun and we can smell our morning coffee.

Our coffee arrives – and these blue packages of pseudo sweet arrive with it. It’s really weird to see packages of "Equal" while we’re listening to the river, the sounds of the jungle and brushing ants off my computer. 

The ants aren't touching the Equal...

The coffee is great.

Ninety-two reasons 

Are you looking to get away from the dark side of sugar and think that Equal and NutraSweet are the solutions? You're not alone. What you'll want to know before you tear open those tempting packets is that they both contain aspartame, which has ninety-two (that’s 92!) side effects listed by the FDA. 

When aspartame is ingested, methyl alcohol – one of the primary ingredients of aspartame – is converted into formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a dangerous neurotoxin.

A few side effects from aspartame

Memory loss

Nervous system disorders 

Joint pain

Migraines

Brain lesions

Bloating and 

Alzheimer’s disease

Aspartame is a $1 Billion industry, maybe it's just "too big to be called toxic". In spite of recognizing 92 side effects – did I mention these other side effects: hair loss, blindness and weight gain? – the FDA approved aspartame (without restriction) in 1996.  Who's got your back?

Coal Tar Delight

So you thought you’d switch to Sweet and Low instead? Your prize with this sweetener is the coal-tar compound saccharin. When did coal tar enter the food chain and who put it on our table anyway?  When politics takes over, we get artificial everything and so far, saccharin seems to be the biggest political football sweetener around. Saccharin was originally discovered in 1879, and claims the title of being 300% sweeter than sugar. 

In 1977 the FDA was going to ban saccharin but congress overturned their ruling, requiring only a warning label instead. Canada banned saccharin that same year. One writer stated that 'even when using very high doses on lab rats saccharin was only a low level carcinogen' –  a low level cancer causer. How many of those low level cancer causers do you think the government allows in our foods every day?  Now, it's your choice to eat coal tar products or not, and the government is more than pleased to tell you that it's perfectly safe. Looking at the increased rates of cancer over the last century, I'll take a guess that the low level cancer causers are adding up. By the way, the government has since removed the warning label.

Frankensugar

Advertisers have us loving Splenda – what a lovely name. Splenda is made by chlorinating sugar and changing its chemical structure to get something I call “frankensugar". The manufacturers call this product sucralose. It’s mostly pure... except for the chlorinated molecules, heavy metals, methanol and arsenic. 

According to Tuberose: Some chlorinated molecules serve as the basis for pesticides such as D.D.T., and accumulate in body fat. You would just as soon have a pesticide in your food as sucralose because sucralose (Splenda) is a chlorocarbon... chlorocarbons have long been known for causing organ, genetic, and reproductive damage. It should be no surprise, therefore, that the testing of sucralose reveals that it can cause up to 40 percent shrinkage of the thymus: a gland that is the very foundation of our immune system. Sucralose also causes swelling of the liver and kidneys, and calcification of the kidney.

High Fructose Dreams

There are natural alternatives to refined and chemically altered sugars, but before we get there, here comes High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) my “top of the list” of evil sweeteners, mostly because it is just everywhere.  HFCS entered our food chain in the 1970's, it's a highly processed corn syrup and because it is much sweeter than sugar it saves food manufacturers lots of money. HFCS is a dreamy moneymaker. It’s in everything from cranberry juice, soft drinks and yogurt to energy bars and those workout drinks you buy to help you get lean. 

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The big problem with HFCS is the fructose, a sugar that is found naturally in fruit. The small amounts of fructose found naturally in fruit won't make you fat, and it's digested with natural enzymes and fibers. With HFCS our bodies don't utilize the fructose as a source of energy so we metabolize it as fat. Not at all helpful if you're looking to lean down or show your abs.


It is known that during the 1970's and 1980's that the average American's body weight increased at a rate similar to the food industry's increasing use of HFCS.

HFCS has the ability to shut off our “full signals”.  At least with refined sugar, our bodies tell us when we’ve had enough – like when you can’t even imagine having one more bite of that triple layer chocolate cake, regardless of how much it cost and how much is left on the plate.  

Kiss from the darker side

While I think these sweeteners are depraved, you don't have to be deprived, there are natural sweeteners waiting for you. Frankly, our bodies can digest small (emphasis on small) amounts of just about anything, it's a survival thing we've developed. But why push it? Small amounts add up. When your body is processing toxins, it loses valuable functions to create new and healthy cells. Translation: you age quicker, and get sick easier. 

Artificial sweeteners are highly acid forming. Our bodies maintain a natural PH or acid-alkaline balance. When our PH balance becomes too acidic, our bodies react to survive. To neutralize the acid, our bodies take alkalizing minerals from our reserves. When our reserves are depleted, the neutralizing minerals are taken from our bones and muscles. One more thing; viruses and cancers thrive in acidic environments. 

Know what you're eating and read ingredient labels. Trust yourself. If one of these sweeteners happens to touch your lips, just know what kissed you and get on with conscious eating. Read "Sugar Baby – Part 3" next week for natural sweeteners.

Train your Body, Train your Mind, Tame your Tongue.

Information on this site is not a substitute for consulting a licensed medial professional. You should never begin an exercise or nutritional regime without consulting your physician.