By Sarah A LoBisco, ND
On my homepage, I discussed the recent downgrade of Splenda’s safety issued by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CPSI). CPSI changed this artificial sweeteners rating from “safe” to “caution” due to various inclusion studies on its health risk (http://dr-lobisco.com/the-danger-of-the-artificial-sweet-tooth-the-trump-on-weight-loss/).
I want to reiterate the importance of biochemical individuality and sensitivity among individuals as you read further. I also want you to stay aware that this information is meant to empower you with choices. It is not meant as a tactic to scare your brain to produces stress hormones with all their negative effects.
That being said, let’s continue on about some facts on Splenda. I will also provide other alternatives to help people stay at an optimal, healthy, vibrant, weight.
The Splenda-Weight Connection
Splenda is synthetically connected to chloride ions, making it difficult for the body to process. According to Dr. Mercola, your body does not have an enzyme to break this chemical down. He cites other examples of toxic compounds that are synthetic and covalently bound to chloride compounds:
• DDT
• PCBs
• Agent Orange
Although, it is claimed to be non-caloric, some studies indicate about 15% of Splenda is actually absorbed. The result of this response in some can be inflammation from toxic byproducts. This can make the body store fat in order to sequester these substances in order to help protect you.
Artificial sweeteners can also lead to weight gain by tricking the brain to not feel satisfied. This is due to their inability to signal the release of satiating hormones. This will leave the person craving more French fries with their diet soft drink. (Read more on ShareCare: http://www.sharecare.com/question/artificial-sweeteners-gain-weight).
Artificial Sweetener Blues-What to Do?
Here are three dietary suggestions to try if you feel addicted to artificial sweeteners:
1. Try elimination or decrease consumption of these chemicals for a few weeks.
You can then reintroduce them and see if symptoms return. If so, you may be sensitive.
(Note: Full elimination from the diet is ideal in order to see the most effect).
2. Sugar can be addictive and make you want it over healthy foods that would satisfy you; therefore, eat whole foods that don’t trick your biochemistry. They contain powerful phytonutrients that speak tender lovin’ words to your cells.
For example, sometimes cravings for sugar are actually a cry out that from the body that an energy deficiency of minerals or protein is occurring. It can also be an indication of yeast of sugar sensitivity.
Check out this study:
Conclusions: In this study, premenopausal overweight and obese women assigned to follow the Atkins diet, which had the lowest carbohydrate intake, lost more weight and experienced more favorable overall metabolic effects at 12 months than women assigned to follow the Zone, Ornish, or LEARN diets. While questions remain about the long-term effects and mechanisms, a low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat diet may be considered a feasible alternative recommendation for weight loss. Clinical Trial registry: clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00079573
Already eating Paleo-like and can’t drop the pounds?
Maybe food sensitivities or digestive power needs to be assessed.
Maybe you are more of a carbohydrate burner?!
This study is meant to make you realize different diets for deficiencies due to different people’s needs produce the best results.
3. Have fun
The Power of Pleasure
Marc David, founder of the Institute of the Psychology of Eating, discusses several studies in the article listed below. These studies report on how those who eat the exact meal, with the exact amount of calories, who eat with pleasure, had greater absorption and more favorable lipid profiles!
He explains this below:
Losing weight by limiting pleasure is like trying to stop smoking by not breathing.
We can never increase the body’s metabolic capacity by limiting what is essential to life.
The key to pleasure’s powerful effect in balancing your appetite is that it promotes a physiologic relaxation response. The times we overeat most are when we’re anxious, stressed, or unaware. A relaxed, pleasured eater has natural control. A stressed eater produces more circulating cortisol – our main stress hormone. What’s amazing is that cortisol desensitizes us to pleasure. When you’re in fight or flight response and trying to escape the hungry wolf, you don’t want your brain to be in a “feel good” mode and get sidetracked looking for chocolate. All of you needs to be focused on survival.
The Conclusion I’ve come to:
Use your own body as reference to what you should put on to power up your fork. Integrate this feedback with the empowerment of information into your mind and follow your heart!
Sources:
Mercola, J. CSPI Downgrades Splenda From “Safe” to “Caution”. Mercola.com. June 26, 2013. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/06/26/cspi-downgrades-splenda.aspx
Christopher D. Gardner, PhD; Alexandre Kiazand, MD; Sofiya Alhassan, PhD; Soowon Kim, PhD; Randall S. Stafford, MD, PhD; Raymond R. Balise, PhD; Helena C . Kraemer, PhD; Abby C. King, PhD. Comparison of the Atkins, Zone, Ornish and LEARN Diets for Change in Weight and Related Risk Factors Among Overweight Premenopausal Women The A to Z Weight Loss Study: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2007;297:969-977
David, M. The Metabolic Power of Pleasure. GreenMedInfo.com. June 14, 2013. http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/metabolic-power-pleasure?utm_source=GreenMedInfo+Weekly&utm_campaign=21c608d047-Greenmedinfo&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_62bb7ef31e-21c608d047-86825417
