Mainstream finally getting it?

[Mikhail Piluskin]

So I just read through this article from NBC that points towards artificial sweeteners likely being bad for you.  I haven't had time to do the leg work and look through any of the studies that they are referencing.  I thought it was interesting that the Mainstream may be coming to a realization that many already knew.

 

What are your thoughts on artificial sweeteners?  Do you use any artificial sweeteners?  If you do, does this article sway you in the least to limit/stop you intake?

[AnnleaArtsy]

I never started with the intake so it was always easy for me to turn away and say no thanks. And it just never looks...natural or right to me. So again it was easy to turn down. Basically for me anything that isn't fresh produce or come straight from an animal is just fake and probably not good for you. Eating right and taking care for yourself is so basic and easy but it's the mainstream media that make it confusing. Another example are the smoothie articles that are floating around saying that juices or smoothies are bad for you. First thing that popped into my head was "no shit" Now if you make your own out of kale, fruits or whatever then obviously their good. But if you buy them from the store. Nuh uh. I won't even drink the mama chia drinks every ones excited over. (Sorry went way off the artificial sweetner thing)

[cobaltflash]

I didnt use artificial sweeteners because they creep me out if im going to eat sugar its going to be natural its more delicious anyway. 

[Mikhail Piluskin]

Personally, I abstained for quite some time.  Not for any philosphy about where good food comes from rather, I found the after taste absolutely repellant.  Within the last year or so, I was turned onto Coke Zero and the other Zero products, which seem to mask the awful aftertaste much better (I think they just use more salt).

 

Paleo and the philosophy behind it has given me the tools, knowledge, and fortitude to politely deny someone offering me one of these products.  If I put sugar in anything (coffee, tea, etc.) I have been opting for sugar in the raw, honey, or agave nectar, but that isn't often as of late. 

[Minty Keen]

I use stevia in my green tea (iced green tea in summer!). I get the liquid kind... it comes with an eyedropper style lid. You only need about 3-4 drops to make it sweet. But stevia is a natural sweetener...

 

OH. I also make my own chocolate. Takes 10 minutes, is healthier than any chocolate you'll find in a health food store.

There's a bit of real, Canadian (since that's where I live at) maple syrup in my chocolate. Low glycemic, and suuuper sweet. Just enough to add a little awesome.

[Ceasefire]

I try to avoid anything with artificial sweetners simply because I don't enjoy the taste. It leaves a 'sticky' sweet feeling in the back of my throat which I don't like and makes my stomach cramp up from certain foods. It's either real sugar or nothing for me.

[Sambalina]

I stay away, as many have already said, because of the aftertaste. It really hangs around and is so sickly.

[Waldo]

The idea that zero calorie sweeteners are bad for you is pretty much a bunch of conspiracy theory, fear mongering, sensationalist nonsense. They are the most studied foods/food additives by a very wide margin and have always been found to be perfectly safe.

Believing zero calorie sweeteners are bad for you is pretty much a case of confirmation bias; you want to believe they are bad for you thus seek out and agree with unobjective literature that agrees with that sentiment and discard everything else.

Zero calorie sweeteners have been commonplace for more than 30 years. At some point people just have to accept their existence. One could buy the aspartame gives you cancer hoaxes from the early internet era, but come on, its been 20 years since then, you don't honestly still believe that crap.

And they all aren't "artificial", zero calorie is a more proper term. "Artificial" is just another chemophobe code word a la "processed".

[AnnleaArtsy]

The idea that zero calorie sweeteners are bad for you is pretty much a bunch of conspiracy theory, fear mongering, sensationalist nonsense. They are the most studied foods/food additives by a very wide margin and have always been found to be perfectly safe.

Believing zero calorie sweeteners are bad for you is pretty much a case of confirmation bias; you want to believe they are bad for you thus seek out and agree with unobjective literature that agrees with that sentiment and discard everything else.

Zero calorie sweeteners have been commonplace for more than 30 years. At some point people just have to accept their existence. One could buy the aspartame gives you cancer hoaxes from the early internet era, but come on, its been 20 years since then, you don't honestly still believe that crap.

And they all aren't "artificial", zero calorie is a more proper term. "Artificial" is just another chemophobe code word a la "processed".

But the idea of staying away from sugar majority of the time...any kind of sugar....is STILL healthier then any sugar at all. My way of living 80 percent of the time is unless it has nutrional value that is from the ground or an animal then I just won't put it into my body. That isn't fear or nonsense. It's just a more simple way of living. 

[UltanBoyd]

But the idea of staying away from sugar majority of the time...any kind of sugar....is STILL healthier then any sugar at all. My way of living 80 percent of the time is unless it has nutrional value that is from the ground or an animal then I just won't put it into my body. That isn't fear or nonsense. It's just a more simple way of living. 

True, possibly. However I agree with Waldo it can be easy just to say it's bad because it's artificial. Seeing as cooking things is a chemical process as is fermentation, homogenisation, pasteurisation etc etc

[AnnleaArtsy]

True, possibly. However I agree with Waldo it can be easy just to say it's bad because it's artificial. Seeing as cooking things is a chemical process as is fermentation, homogenisation, pasteurisation etc etc

 

Makes since considering there are people out there who actually follow that raw diet and apparently are in amazing health. I can't bring myself to test that one out...

 

But for me overall it's not just about health or even the studies. It's about simplicity. Less stuff we buy easier it is to eat what we consider healthy. Adding in artificial sweetners, buying things that are packages etc kinda make it more complicated then it needs to be for us. 

[insanity]

I've been noticing more and more that mainstream seems to be moving down a new health path so to speak. Just yesterday I saw an article that was promoting time in the sun.... without sunscreen... I had to do a doubletake...

[Waldo]

But the idea of staying away from sugar majority of the time...any kind of sugar....is STILL healthier then any sugar at all. My way of living 80 percent of the time is unless it has nutrional value that is from the ground or an animal then I just won't put it into my body. That isn't fear or nonsense. It's just a more simple way of living.

It absolutely is not healthier to avoid sugar. If you are diabetic, or lead a couch/chair based existence, chances are you're better off avoiding as much sugar as possible. Sugar is merely carbohydrate. All carbohydrate becomes sugar in the body in relatively short order, our bodies excel at making that conversion. Carbohydrate is one of the 3 MACRO nutrients; macronutrients are the nutrients that actually matter. Carbohydrate is the superior fuel for physical activity by a very wide margin, and the superior fuel for our brains. If you are an active person, you should seek out, not avoid, carbohydrate, including sugar.

[Duality]

It absolutely is not healthier to avoid sugar. If you are diabetic, or lead a couch/chair based existence, chances are you're better off avoiding as much sugar as possible. Sugar is merely carbohydrate. All carbohydrate becomes sugar in the body in relatively short order, our bodies excel at making that conversion. Carbohydrate is one of the 3 MACRO nutrients; macronutrients are the nutrients that actually matter. Carbohydrate is the superior fuel for physical activity by a very wide margin, and the superior fuel for our brains. If you are an active person, you should seek out, not avoid, carbohydrate, including sugar.

qft

[AnnleaArtsy]

It absolutely is not healthier to avoid sugar. If you are diabetic, or lead a couch/chair based existence, chances are you're better off avoiding as much sugar as possible. Sugar is merely carbohydrate. All carbohydrate becomes sugar in the body in relatively short order, our bodies excel at making that conversion. Carbohydrate is one of the 3 MACRO nutrients; macronutrients are the nutrients that actually matter. Carbohydrate is the superior fuel for physical activity by a very wide margin, and the superior fuel for our brains. If you are an active person, you should seek out, not avoid, carbohydrate, including sugar.

Ok but there are healthy sugars out there. I am not talking about avoiding them all together. I am talking about the additional sugar. The sugar that you find in natural sources example..fruit I'm sure is better then what comes in a packet, candy or cake. 

[I-Jo]

You're body has a special sensor that processes proccessed sugar differnetal than natural sugar?

 

meh- sugar is sugar.  I eat ice cream and fruit- I try to keep it down to a dull roar- but I'm under calories- I don't care.

[AnnleaArtsy]

Not necessarily but refined sugar makes me crash if I am not moving 100 percent all the time. Where as if I avoid it most (not all) of the time I just stick to fruit it gives me energy. Either way all I know the more fresh food I eat the better I feel. Just a personal choice Thats all I can go by so I will just leave it with that.