Artificial Sweeteners: Some Bittersweet Facts
By Chef Patti Howard
I just returned from a trip to California, and am (again) shaken by our cultures use of artificial sweeteners. A woman we crossed paths with, who we had not seen for years, (suffers from lupus, kidney infection, diseased liver, arthritis) ordered a 'diet coke' on several occasions during our meal. Now, she is an intelligent woman, makes a great living, would so love to feel better, and still was not aware of aspartames long term health implications, many of which she had named to me earlier in the day. And that is because it is still a closely guarded billion dollar secret.A medical term of 'Artificial Sweeteners': a mix of unnatural chemicals combined in a laboratory that the body cannot process because they are not 'food', or sources of nutrition. They are also referred to as Excitotoxins, because of their ability to cause neurons in the brain to fire haphazardly, killing them and anything in their way, in the process. The bottom line is that these chemicals either accumulate in your vital organs (causing severe damage later), pollute your bloodstream (also causing severe damage later), or mutate cell structure (again, causing severe damage later).
The artificial sweeteners I'm referring to are Splenda™ (sucralose), Aspartame® (Nutra sweet™/Equal™), Acesulfame-K®, Neotame®, Alitame®, Cyclamate. Just think of those pretty little pastel color packets that are available wherever your favorite beverage is sold. I have room to just 'touch' on a couple of these here:Let's look at Splenda™ for a moment. Johnson and Johnson bought the rights to sell (sucralose) Splenda™ in the US in 1998. It contains chlorine, which is a carcinogen, and also (as shown in animal studies) causes inflammation, swelling and calcification of kidneys and liver. According to tests, up to 27-40% is absorbed by our body (organs, bloodstream, cells), and the rest is eliminated, virtually unchanged. Independent tests of Splenda™ show within a short period of time up to 40% shrinkage of the thymus glad, the very foundation of our immune system. OK, I could go into how they make Splenda, with the addition of a list of artificial chemicals added for stability and storage of over 3,000 (and over 50 pages in length), but there simply isn't room here today.
Results of years of Aspartame testing have concluded, well, a long list of results. To name a few; malignant tumors, lymphomas, leukemia's, neuropathy, MS, Parkinson's, dementia, Alzheimer's, kidney and liver disease, weight gain, sexual dysfunction, Lupus, and diabetes. Tests, which were performed by the company that actually makes the sweetener, submitted biased tests to the FDA in the early 1970's which have since been uncovered by the FDA. The FDA still has not issued a ban, let alone a warning, as to the well documented, harmful long term effects of artificial sweeteners.
So, the next time you are in conversation with someone who, while drinking diet cola, or chewing gum, or pouring a pastel package of white chemical into their coffee, you might just begin this conversation.
My personal recommendations for sweeteners are Stevia, raw unprocessed sugar, brown rice syrup, barley malt, date sugar, honey, maple syrup, or molasses. How bad can it be to make a healthier decision when we have all these choices??!!
Use the form below if you would like Chef Patti to supply you with any additional resource materials or help you with recipes to accommodate these sweeteners.
