Artificial Sweeteners – Yes or No?

[AdventureMarc]

I do NOT recommend artificial sweeteners!
Understanding that most people use artificial sweeteners to reduce their daily caloric intake but still get the “sweet taste” in their foods, there are several paths to get to this goal. Most people will define artificial sweeteners as those which are not “natural” and have been scientifically contrived. Saccharine, aspartame, acesulfame-K, sucralose, and neotame usually fall into this category. Other sweeteners that have a negligible caloric load but are considered “natural” are stevia, and sugar alcohols or polyols (erythritol, glycerol, malitol, sorbitol, xylitol).

I have never been comfortable with the use of anything that “fools” your body. Yes, xylitol is natural when compared to aspartame, saccharine, and the like, but it is still processed (as it does not come out of the birch tree as a white, crystalline powder). Xylitol and stevia are probably the lesser of the evils when it comes to artificial sweeteners, but it is still “fooling the body” into thinking that it will be receiving a caloric load. 

Think of it this way: when we taste something sweet, our body prepares to have some calories (energy) enter our system. This preparation begins a series of chemical, enzymatic, and hormonal processes (like an insulin response from the pancreas, liver production of enzymes to begin glycation, etc.). Although most artificial sweeteners will not initiate the insulin response, other chemical and enzymatic responses begin a “cascade” effect in the body. So although a person does not consume the added caloric load with the sweetener (because the body is not getting the calories it expects) at some point later that person will often try to “make up” for the caloric deficit. This is why oftentimes people who are known to consume artificial sweeteners, still consume the same number of total calories per day as those who do not use artificial sweeteners. Their bodies (physiologically) and minds (behavior) will compensate for the “pseudo” calories and, left unchecked, sometimes cause a person to overcompensate for the lack of calories (eat more!!).

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