Dangers of Artificial Ingredients 

New studies show that eating artificially prepared food so far out of its natural state can accumulate into various, harmful health effects. Avoiding the easy draw of tasty snack foods, fast meals and desserts is not easy, but doing so may reduce chronic conditions and elongate your life.

Don’t be fooled by the innocent assumption that occasional poor diet choices with long lists of artificial ingredients are considered a “treat” when they should be a danger. Eat clean, unprocessed foods for better mental and physical health.

Fight Fat with Less Fake Sweet

Reducing your artificial sweetener intake may help shed some unwanted pounds.

A new study reveals that the community of microorganisms in your stomach and abdominal area, often referred to as “the gut,” are vulnerable to damage by artificial sweeteners. This is a concern because the gut is the main location for your immune system which is believed to work with the brain to run the body. This is called the gut-brain connection. Some researchers theorize that when the gut-brain connection is disrupted, symptoms can arise. One is obesity.

The New York Times reported that,

“…large population studies suggest that frequent consumption of artificial sweeteners may be linked with unanticipated consequences, including weight gain.”

Artificial sweeteners contain no calories, but the constant, increasingly sweet bombardment on your tongue heightens the taste buds so much that it tricks the brain into eating sweeter foods. This becomes a cycle that is difficult to break as processed sugars and artificial sweeteners have been linked to creating an addiction that is similar to brain binders that crave heroin. The result is an obesity epidemic that is not being addressed at the front lines, namely regulating the poisonous effects of processed sugar and artificial sweeteners.

In a study by researchers at the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, it was concluded that,

“…artificial sweeteners, precisely because they are sweet, encourage sugar craving and sugar dependence. Repeated exposure trains flavor preference. [] Un-sweetening the world’s diet may be the key to reversing the obesity epidemic.”

Accumulated Effects

Weight gain is one possible negative affect from consuming artificial sweeteners, but it seems that as each study emerges, more evidence is pointing to the dangers of elongated accumulation. This is the built up result of continued consumption of artificial sweeteners now being linked to various detrimentally effects, including cancer.

The same NY Times article stated,

“A large study that followed a diverse group of 6,814 Americans ages 45 to 84 for at least five years found that those who drank diet soda at least once a day were at 67 percent greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes than those who didn’t consume diet drinks, regardless of whether they gained weight or not, and at 36 percent greater risk of metabolic syndrome, which can be a precursor to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.”

Over time, the consumption of artificial sweeteners could systematically embed a variety of toxic, disease causing compounds throughout your body.

Some Sweeteners to Avoid

Avoiding artificial sweeteners and eating naturally sweet foods are the only way you can re-train your taste buds to shun overly sweet substitutes.

Diabetes Daily reports of various artificial sweeteners and why to avoid them:

• Aspartame – Contains phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol that have been liked to side effects which include: Headaches, fibromyalgia, anxiety, memory loss, arthritis, abdominal pain, nausea, depression, heart palpitations, irritable bowel syndrome, seizures, neurological disorders, vision problems, brain tumors and weight gain.
• Acesulfame-K – This is potassium salt containing methylene chloride, a known carcinogen. Long term exposure to methylene chloride can cause nausea, headaches, mood problems, impairment of the liver and kidneys, problems with eyesight and possibly cancer.
• Sucralose – A synthetic additive created by chlorinating sugar. Manufacturers say the chlorine in sucralose is no different from that in table salt. Reported side effects include: head and muscle aches, stomach cramps and diarrhea, bladder issues, skin irritation, dizziness and inflammation.
• Saccharin – This is a sulfa-based sweetener with the primary ingredient benzoic sulfimide. May cause nausea, diarrhea, skin problems or other allergy-related symptoms. Early studies of saccharin showed bladder cancer in rats.

Reading labels and finding substitutes is an easy trade-off for what the alternative could be when you consume artificial sweeteners. Over time you just may wonder how you could have put repeated amounts of aspartame, saccharin and other synthetic foods into your body.