Are Artificial Sweeteners Safe for Those With Type 2 Diabetes?
Artificial sweeteners are popular with diabetics because they make food taste sweet without raising blood sugar levels.
The problem is that artificial sweeteners are NOT really all that safe for those with type 2 diabetes.
Artificial sweeteners have been identified as possible factors in raising population obesity levels by making the consumer take up more calories later, because it confuses the brain and body responses about sugary substances and calories – associating sweet foods with less calories.
All artificial sweeteners can have negative effects on the body and are considered toxic chemicals by holistic nutritionists.
A major American controlled study on 80,000 women showed that those who regularly use artificial sweeteners put on more weight per year than those who do not use them. What is even more surprising is the finding that, with the widespread use of sweeteners, the consumption of ordinary sugar and sugary foods has increased, too. In other words, the more artificial sweeteners you consume, the more food urges you have, thereby fulfilling their patent as an “appetite enhancement”.
Let us examine some popular artificial sweeteners
1. Sorbitol
This sweetener is produced industrially from hydrogen and glucose (corn sugar). Studies over the past fifteen years have proven that sorbitol can cause gastrointestinal symptoms ranging from mild discomfort to severe diarrhea, when adults consume between 10 and 50 grams of the additive. Children, because of their small size, may be affected by even smaller amounts.
Consuming a single pack of gum or mints can cause bloating, flatulence, stomach pains and diarrhea in people who are sensitive to it.
Click here to read some of the numerous complaints that the FDA has received regarding sorbitol.
2. Splenda
Splenda is an artificial sweetener. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number (additive code) E955. It is now also supplied by a variety of manufacturers and brands.
Splenda is used in products such as candy, breakfast bars and soft drinks. Sucralose mixed with maltodextrin and dextrose (both made from corn) as a filler is sold internationally by McNeil Nutritionals under the Splenda brand name. In the United States and Canada, this blend is increasingly found in restaurants, including McDonalds and Starbucks, in yellow packets, in contrast to the pink packets commonly used by saccharin sweeteners and the blue packets used by those containing aspartame; though in Canada yellow packets are also associated with the Sugar Twin brand of cyclamate sweetener.
Splenda is approximately 600 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar), twice as sweet as saccharin, and four times as sweet as aspartame.
Unlike aspartame, it is stable under heat and over a broad range of pH conditions and can be used in baking or in products that require a longer shelf life.
Since its introduction in 1999, Splenda has overtaken Equal in the $1.5 billion artificial sweetener market, holding a 62% market share. According to market research firm IRI, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, Splenda sold $212 million in 2006 in the U.S. while Equal sold $48.7 million.
Splenda is manufactured by the selective chlorination of sucrose, in which three of the hydroxyl groups are replaced with chlorine atoms to produce sucralose. An alternative pathway is to selectively chlorinate raffinose
To create Splenda, the three hydroxide groups, which are a basic part of the simple sugar sucrose, are replaced with three chlorine atoms, “with a bit of modification,”
“It interacts with the taste receptors on the tongue more efficiently than sucrose to generate sweetness. Splenda is about 600 times sweeter than sugar.
The big problem is that sucralose or Splenda is a chlorinated hydrocarbon like DDT. These are normally classified as insecticides.
Research submitted to the [Food and Drug Administration] shows that Splenda shrinks the thymus gland 40 percent and enlarges the liver and kidneys.” It can cause diarrhea and loss of antioxidants in some people.
To learn more on the health hazards of Splenda read Sweet Deception: Why Splenda, NutraSweet, and the FDA May Be Hazardous to Your Health
Most people believe that sucralose (Splenda) is a perfectly safe artificial sweetener. Big business and the FDA have fostered that dangerous misconception. The truth is Splenda is by no means safe; and the same is true for many of the other artificial sweeteners being marketed today. Dr. Joseph Mercola—supported by extensive studies and research—exposes the fact that Splenda actually contributes to a host of serious diseases.
The fact is that the safety of Splenda for diabetics is inconclusive according to the research documents submitted to the FDA. And we must never forget to listen to the people with diabetes who use Splenda. Many have noted blood sugar spikes after using products with Splenda.
Sweet Deception will lay out how the FDA really works for big food companies and should not be trusted when it comes to your health.
Health experts advise that excessive energy intake in any form leads to weight gain. Consumers should consider the total calorie content of the diet and should avoid over consumption of all foods including those containing sugar alcohols.
Do not eat too many sugar alcohols because they can have a laxative effect. Incompletely absorbed sugar alcohols are fermented by bacteria in the large intestine, which can produce gas, bloating, and diarrhea.
Read more at http://caloriecount.about.com/sugar-alcohols-safe-diabetics-q2871#ixzz0FjNLeBTB&B.
3. Aspartame
Aspartame, known to the public as NutraSweet, Equal, and Spoonful, has been the subject of controversy since it first became an ingredient in food products in 1981. In 1985, Americans used 800 million pounds of Aspartame, with an average intake of 5.8 pounds per person. They consumed more than 20 billion cans of aspartame-sweetened soft drinks in 2008 alone.
According to the U.S FDA Aspartame is completely safe for use in food products.
After reviewing scientific studies, FDA determined in 1981 that aspartame was safe for use in foods. In 1987, the General Accounting Office investigated the process surrounding FDA’s approval of aspartame and confirmed the agency had acted properly. However, FDA has continued to review complaints alleging adverse reactions to products containing aspartame. To date, FDA has not determined any consistent pattern of symptoms that can be attributed to the use of aspartame, nor is the agency aware of any recent studies that clearly show safety problems.
On the other hand, many medical researchers suspect that there may be a link between aspartame and an increase in brain cancer. Click here to read more on the real facts of the safety of Aspartame.
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