Recently in an attempt to deal with a slump in sales a well-known
soft drinks manufacturer rolled out a massive advertising campaign. The
irony of this advertising campaign was the fact that it promoted their
no-or-low calorie artificial sweetener drinks as weight loss, safe
alternatives when in truth some of the most serious health problems;
skyrocketing obesity, diabetes, various neurological or behavioral
problems... are due to the affects of these soft drinks.
In other
words, there is no real evidence out there to show that no-or-low
calorie artificial sweetener soft drinks cause weight loss. On the
contrary studies have debunked this claim and shown weight gain.
For
example, there was a study carried out showing that low-calorie
artificial sweeteners aspartame and saccharin in yogurt caused weight
gain in rats compared to the sucrose (sugar) alternative. The
low-calorie group had extra chow (food) in their diet during this 12
week experiment to equal the same calories as the sugar group. Other
similar studies have supported this, some involved humans.
In
light of the above there are 2 important points to get here which at
least in part highlights the flaws in the well-known soft drinks
manufacturer's claim.
1. Calorie counting is flawed because all
calories are not equal: It is the quality of calories that counts not
the number. The reason why a person puts on weight is not really due to a
lack of exercise and too many calories. No, it's because they eat poor
quality calories. Don't fall for those meaningless 'low calorie'
advertising slogans.
2. Further evidence has shown that artificial
sweeteners don't actually fool the body into thinking it has been given
the real thing: In fact they increase appetite, especially for
carbohydrates and promote fat storage.
Sweetened drinks
With
extremely high sugar content real sweetened soft drinks is another
product to avoid. Refined sugar such as the genetically engineered high
fructose corn syrup present in some soft drinks is metabolic poison and
indeed contributes to the obesity epidemic that has swept the western
world nations. For example, USA children weigh 40% more today than 25
years ago and increased consumption of sugary soft drinks have been
linked to this. Quite an eye-opener wouldn't you say? And what about the
ill-health related to obesity such as cardiovascular disease and
diabetes..?
Beware of artificial sweeteners and their harmful effects
Firstly,
aspartame has received some serious questioning over the years as to
how it was ever approved by the approval body for foods and medicines,
the FDA, for public consumption. Contrary to the soft drinks
manufacturer claiming that aspartame is safe, there have been a number
of studies showing it is harmful.
In fruits and vegetables the
naturally occurring methanol remains bonded to pectin when ingested and
is therefore remains harmless. In the case of aspartame, when ingested
and broken down the methanol component is non-bonded and is potentially
harmful.
Aspartame and ill health
The reported ill health
effects of aspartame are based on methanol poisoning. Symptoms include
memory loss, dizzy spells, giddiness, weariness, digestive disorders,
visual disturbances and behavioral problems... Unfortunately doctors are
not that familiar with the affects of aspartame poisoning and the
problem is worsened by the fact that these symptoms mimic several other
well known conditions.
In conclusion
Calorie counting is
meaningless because it's the quality of food that really counts. Quality
food with its good calories is the answer to effective dieting and
weight control.
The soft drink manufacturer's campaign with its
deceptive advertising clouds the contrary that low-calorie artificial
sweetener soft drinks do not help with weight loss nor are they safe.
The evidence in fact shows that they cause weight gain the artificial
sweeteners may produce a range of illnesses.
Real sugared soft drinks have made a significant contribution to the obesity epidemic.
The
solution is to not only stop taking these drinks but to also eliminate
all food containing artificial sweeteners to avoid weight gain and the
potential ill health effects. Don't unwittingly let yourself be some
laboratory guinea pig...