The Sweet Truth
1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting and
the Artificial Sweetener Controversy
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Introduction:
A co-worker with a copy of my book noted that before and after pictures would be nice. I'm a bit adverse to my picture in the media, but I did share a picture from my cell phone of me just before beginning my low-carb regimen: I was a blob at 244 pounds!
Several years later and I'm still low-carb regimen trim at about 176 pounds! I'm also still feasting on up to eight delicious meals each day. Please read on to learn more!
This blog – based upon the
However, let's not be like the individual who stated on a local news station that his resolution for the new year was to eat more healthfully (at which point he promptly chomped into a big, sugary doughnut that he had hidden behind his back)!
The article you are currently reading provides the research supported, common sense basis for the use of certain artificial sweeteners in establishing and maintaining a fat-burning metabolism (the mechanism by which we lose weight without going hungry in the LCR). Whether seeking to shed unwanted pounds, to manage diabetes, or to improve health and vitality, the issue of sweeteners is a critical factor.
A co-worker with a copy of my book noted that before and after pictures would be nice. I'm a bit adverse to my picture in the media, but I did share a picture from my cell phone of me just before beginning my low-carb regimen: I was a blob at 244 pounds!
Several years later and I'm still low-carb regimen trim at about 176 pounds! I'm also still feasting on up to eight delicious meals each day. Please read on to learn more!
This blog – based upon the
1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting
book can easily, deliciously – and without hunger – help you fulfill a promise to lose weight that you may have made to yourself!However, let's not be like the individual who stated on a local news station that his resolution for the new year was to eat more healthfully (at which point he promptly chomped into a big, sugary doughnut that he had hidden behind his back)!
The article you are currently reading provides the research supported, common sense basis for the use of certain artificial sweeteners in establishing and maintaining a fat-burning metabolism (the mechanism by which we lose weight without going hungry in the LCR). Whether seeking to shed unwanted pounds, to manage diabetes, or to improve health and vitality, the issue of sweeteners is a critical factor.
As noted throughout the 1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting book – as well as throughout this blog – establishing an ongoing fat-burning metabolism through a properly functioning blood sugar metabolism is a key to weight-loss without dieting.
In addition, establishing and maintaining a fat-burning metabolism is a key to overcoming insulin resistance – a precursor to adult onset diabetes and certain forms of heart disease and cancer (as well as numerous other maladies).
Beyond this, the ongoing gradual development of insulin resistance – as a result of the trend of consuming increasingly high carb, high glycemic foods – is the apparent cause of the epidemic of bulging waistlines. This ongoing process creates a population where two thirds of adults and one third of children are either overweight or obese. Fortunately, it may be the most preventable health issue of our day.
In line with this, the appropriate understanding of sweeteners is key to successful nutrition, weight loss and maintenance, and a foundation for truly remarkable food preparation!
We begin our investigation with first – the repeating history that plagues dietary practices, second – some key facts about sugar, third – an overview of other sweeteners, and last – the conclusion regarding sweeteners and the 1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting lifestyle.
We begin our investigation with first – the repeating history that plagues dietary practices, second – some key facts about sugar, third – an overview of other sweeteners, and last – the conclusion regarding sweeteners and the 1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting lifestyle.
I. Repeating History
What can history tell us about our present crisis?
The adage that "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it" applies well to the controversy surrounding sugar substitutes. A point in case may be seen in food trends pertaining to both eggs and butter.
Eggs were originally prized for their excellent nutritional value: They are the standard for protein intake. Similarly, butter was valued – not only for its delicious flavor – but as a rich source of calcium and healthful fat.
2. The Food Pyramid
Then the ill-conceived 1990's Food Pyramid became the standard.
According to Wikipedia: "The first food pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974.[1][2][3] The most widely known food pyramid was introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture in the year 1992, was updated in 2005, and then replaced in 2011.[4]
According to Wikipedia: "The first food pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974.[1][2][3] The most widely known food pyramid was introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture in the year 1992, was updated in 2005, and then replaced in 2011.[4]
In concert with the American Food Pyramid, nutritionists argued that heart disease was connected to elevated lipid (fat and cholesterol) levels that – it was reasoned – came about from eating the healthful fat and cholesterol rich foods that had been the bedrock of traditional diets.
As a result people avoided eggs, butter and other healthful fat rich foods. These were replaced with the high carb, low fat, modest protein approach of the 1992 food pyramid.
3. Fast Food Marketing
Fast food marketing jumped on and – in some cases – drove the bandwagon of high carb, high sugar and salt junk food. The historical pattern of people preparing their own nutritious and more natural foods was replaced by the convenience and marketed imagery of fast and convenient high carb, high glycemic "foods." Junk food companies capitalized on the addictive taste combination of salt, sugar and trans (commercially modified) fats (as opposed to healthful, natural fats). Even companies marketing canned vegetables noted this addictive trend and added sugar and salt to vegetables such as green beans in order to make them more appealing to the American, increasingly carb-addicted palate.
The result, now, is a nation of people – and a growing worldwide population – so addicted to high carb, high glycemic foods that the average overweight/obese American would rather die (literally) than give up his/her junk food addiction.
4. The role of insulin resistance
Fortunately, many have come to recognize the inadvisability of the 1990's food pyramid and a backlash of more natural, more healthful eating plans has ensued.
Among these -- in my opinion -- the Low Carb Regimen (LCR) presented in the 1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting book may offer the most promise (please refer to the book to find out why!).
Interestingly – as low-carb, high protein, high healthful fat dieting grows in popularity among those determined to overcome their overweight/obese lifestyles – eggs and butter have made dramatic comebacks. However – in place of controversy over eggs and butter – we now have hype and hysteria regarding sweeteners. Let's look at these with an appropriate use of research and common sense. Let's also keep in mind that various components of the food industry have huge investments at stake and are driving much of the controversy.
We should also be aware that the health food market is a growing economic force and that it is driven by countless companies, books, products and individuals with varying motivations (most of it for profit and/or notoriety). As a result, the controversy over sweeteners surfaces as an area where those seeking to eat healthfully are frequently encouraged "to swallow a camel in order to strain out a gnat."
By this I mean that the need to reduce carb intake can be facilitated by the appropriate use of sweeteners other than sugar. However, there are some who discourage those seeking to reduce their daily carb counts with questionable concerns regarding other sweeteners.
Among these -- in my opinion -- the Low Carb Regimen (LCR) presented in the 1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting book may offer the most promise (please refer to the book to find out why!).
Interestingly – as low-carb, high protein, high healthful fat dieting grows in popularity among those determined to overcome their overweight/obese lifestyles – eggs and butter have made dramatic comebacks. However – in place of controversy over eggs and butter – we now have hype and hysteria regarding sweeteners. Let's look at these with an appropriate use of research and common sense. Let's also keep in mind that various components of the food industry have huge investments at stake and are driving much of the controversy.
We should also be aware that the health food market is a growing economic force and that it is driven by countless companies, books, products and individuals with varying motivations (most of it for profit and/or notoriety). As a result, the controversy over sweeteners surfaces as an area where those seeking to eat healthfully are frequently encouraged "to swallow a camel in order to strain out a gnat."
By this I mean that the need to reduce carb intake can be facilitated by the appropriate use of sweeteners other than sugar. However, there are some who discourage those seeking to reduce their daily carb counts with questionable concerns regarding other sweeteners.
II. The Truth About Sugar
Let's begin, then, with the truth regarding the world's number one sweetener: sugar.
1. Granulated Sugar (aka: surcralose)
Sugar is normally made from sugar cane and/or sugar beets.
It is – as Doctor Weston Price would have described it – a partitioned food. This means that it is separated from its natural plant structures and only a concentrated portion of the original food is consumed.
In order to produce the refined sugar available in grocery stores, the original sugar crystals are bleached with sulfur dioxide and blended into a syrup that is further refined by washing with phosphoric acid and calcium hydroxide. Most who consume refined sugar are unaware of the unnatural process by which it is produced.
2. Refined Sugar's Impact
This unnatural process concentrates sugar into a substance whose effect upon metabolism is the nightmare of parents and teachers worldwide: Sugar causes metabolic energy levels to vacillate well above and below median levels for hours after consumption.
Further, sugar requires an immediate insulin response.
Over time this can lead to insulin resistance, a prediabetic condition that is a harbinger of diabetes, heart disease, certain forms of cancer and numerous other maladies. More to the point of this article, insulin resistance is the likely culprit in the growing epidemic of overweight and obese individuals.
3. Sugar in the World Market
Most are unaware that eighty percent of the world's sugar comes from sugar cane. In turn, sugar cane production is driven by the insatiable sweet tooth created by the increasingly high carb, high glycemic binging that passes for nutrition in America and much of the rest of the world. Sugar beet production accounts for most of the rest of sugar production.
As a result of ongoing increases in demand, sugar cane is the world's most cultivated crop.
Please think about this: One of the most nutritionally empty and destructive foods is the world's number one crop!
4. A Dramatic Increase in Consumption
The average American of two hundred years ago consumed only about two pounds of sugar per year. Today this consumption rate has increased seventy-five fold to about 152 pounds of sugar per year.
This means that the average American consumes about three pounds of sugar per week. This equates to about 42.5 teaspoons of sugar per day. Since one teaspoon of sugar is 4.2 grams of carbohydrate, the daily carb count for the average American – just from sugar – is 178.5 grams of carbohydrate!
Keep in mind that the 178.5 grams of carbs is only from daily sugar ingestion and does not include the carb counts from breads, potatoes and other high carb foods liberally consumed in the American diet. As a result the average American is typically consuming hundreds of grams of carbs each and every day.
The result – as clearly presented in the articles of this blog and especially in
It is – as Doctor Weston Price would have described it – a partitioned food. This means that it is separated from its natural plant structures and only a concentrated portion of the original food is consumed.
In order to produce the refined sugar available in grocery stores, the original sugar crystals are bleached with sulfur dioxide and blended into a syrup that is further refined by washing with phosphoric acid and calcium hydroxide. Most who consume refined sugar are unaware of the unnatural process by which it is produced.
2. Refined Sugar's Impact
This unnatural process concentrates sugar into a substance whose effect upon metabolism is the nightmare of parents and teachers worldwide: Sugar causes metabolic energy levels to vacillate well above and below median levels for hours after consumption.
Further, sugar requires an immediate insulin response.
Over time this can lead to insulin resistance, a prediabetic condition that is a harbinger of diabetes, heart disease, certain forms of cancer and numerous other maladies. More to the point of this article, insulin resistance is the likely culprit in the growing epidemic of overweight and obese individuals.
3. Sugar in the World Market
Most are unaware that eighty percent of the world's sugar comes from sugar cane. In turn, sugar cane production is driven by the insatiable sweet tooth created by the increasingly high carb, high glycemic binging that passes for nutrition in America and much of the rest of the world. Sugar beet production accounts for most of the rest of sugar production.
As a result of ongoing increases in demand, sugar cane is the world's most cultivated crop.
Please think about this: One of the most nutritionally empty and destructive foods is the world's number one crop!
4. A Dramatic Increase in Consumption
The average American of two hundred years ago consumed only about two pounds of sugar per year. Today this consumption rate has increased seventy-five fold to about 152 pounds of sugar per year.
This means that the average American consumes about three pounds of sugar per week. This equates to about 42.5 teaspoons of sugar per day. Since one teaspoon of sugar is 4.2 grams of carbohydrate, the daily carb count for the average American – just from sugar – is 178.5 grams of carbohydrate!
Keep in mind that the 178.5 grams of carbs is only from daily sugar ingestion and does not include the carb counts from breads, potatoes and other high carb foods liberally consumed in the American diet. As a result the average American is typically consuming hundreds of grams of carbs each and every day.
The result – as clearly presented in the articles of this blog and especially in
1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting
– is the epidemic of overweight and obese men, women and children in America.III. The Other Sweeteners
1. How Sweeteners Are Measured
Sugar is considered the baseline for measuring the sweetness of other products. See the following North Carolina State University table for additional information.
Some sweeteners are hundreds of times sweeter by volume than sugar. As a result, smaller portions of these sweeteners are used. In some instances, fillers are added to these other sweeteners so that their volumes more closely align with sugar.
Some sweeteners are hundreds of times sweeter by volume than sugar. As a result, smaller portions of these sweeteners are used. In some instances, fillers are added to these other sweeteners so that their volumes more closely align with sugar.
2. Saccharin
According to Wikipedia:
Saccharin[2] is an artificial sweetener. The basic substance, benzoic sulfilimine, has effectively no food energy and is much sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. It is used to sweeten products such as drinks, candies, cookies, medicines, and toothpaste.
Research demonstrated that test animals subjected to excessive quantities of saccharin developed higher instances of certain forms of cancer. This trend has not been confirmed in humans, however.
Word of this research was quickly disseminated and saccharin is avoided by many.
Word of this research was quickly disseminated and saccharin is avoided by many.
3. NutraSweet
Nutrasweet is the brand name of aspartame marketed by the Nutrasweet corporation. Aspartame was approved by the FDA in 1981 but has been the subject of public concerns regarding its possible connection to numerous maladies.
4. Splenda
According to Wikipedia:
Splenda /ˈsplɛndə/ is the commercial name and registered trade mark of a sucralose-based artificial sweetener derived from sugar,[1][2]
Further, Splenda's molecule includes added hydrogen bonds that -- according to some -- are undesirable.
5. Stevia
Stevia is made directly from a plant and is considered by many to be the most natural of sweeteners. It is available in both liquid and granulated forms and is the sweetening ingredient recommended for recipes in the 1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting book.
6. Xylitol
According to Wikipedia:
Xylitol is categorized as a polyalcohol or sugar alcohol (alditol), has applications in hygiene and nutraceutical formulations and products.
Although xylitol lists a significant carb count, it is argued that these carbs are not normally absorbed and so consequently do not add to net carb burden. In addition, xylitol is detrimental to many forms of bacteria. As a result, it is frequently found in dental products and chewing gums.
7. The Bottom Line for Sweeteners
The design of the human body makes it clear that we are not engineered for a constant metabolic bath of insulin in response to habitual consumption of high carb, high glycemic foods. It is a bit like an infamous bit of research in which test animals were allowed to initiate actions that created pleasurable -- but eventually harmful -- responses in their bodies. Interestingly, the female subjects ultimately stopped pursuing destructive pleasure; the research demonstrated that the male subjects would continue in their pursuit of pleasure even if it led to their own destruction.
This bares similarities to the carbohydrate addictive eating patterns now prevalent. Although clearly destructive, many simply choose to continue binging with high carb, high glycemic foods. However, this inability to shut down the urge to consume destructive high glycemic foods is not limited to males: The majority of women -- along with the majority of men and an increasing percentage of children -- seem unable to stop their addictive over eating of high carb foods.
On the other hand – when insulin resistance is appropriately dealt with through the low-carb eating regimen detailed in the 1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting book – a fat-burning metabolism is promoted. The result is that energy may be significantly obtained from fat rather than from carbohydrates and weight-loss is promoted.
The design of the human body makes it clear that we are not engineered for a constant metabolic bath of insulin in response to habitual consumption of high carb, high glycemic foods. It is a bit like an infamous bit of research in which test animals were allowed to initiate actions that created pleasurable -- but eventually harmful -- responses in their bodies. Interestingly, the female subjects ultimately stopped pursuing destructive pleasure; the research demonstrated that the male subjects would continue in their pursuit of pleasure even if it led to their own destruction.
This bares similarities to the carbohydrate addictive eating patterns now prevalent. Although clearly destructive, many simply choose to continue binging with high carb, high glycemic foods. However, this inability to shut down the urge to consume destructive high glycemic foods is not limited to males: The majority of women -- along with the majority of men and an increasing percentage of children -- seem unable to stop their addictive over eating of high carb foods.
On the other hand – when insulin resistance is appropriately dealt with through the low-carb eating regimen detailed in the 1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting book – a fat-burning metabolism is promoted. The result is that energy may be significantly obtained from fat rather than from carbohydrates and weight-loss is promoted.
Conclusion:
As clearly presented in the 1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting book, Stevia is an excellent selection when an artificial sweetener is required. Readers should be aware, however, that there are those in the low-carb and paleo regimens who approach sweeteners with a religious passion.
My advice is to smile sweetly and nod with understanding when you are accosted by well-meaning "only my sweetener is good" individuals. There are differences -- as noted above -- in sweeteners. However -- as noted in 1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting, Stevia is an excellent choice.
1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting is a simple, enjoyable, easily adopted, step-by-step lifestyle change that aids your body in losing weight without dieting while -- at the same time -- overcoming dietary patterns that lead to insulin resistance. Through the approach there are no pains from hunger, no fad diets, no "magic" pills, no paraphernalia, no unrealistic exercise regimens or embarrassing weigh-ins.
1 to 5 Weight-Loss without Dieting delightfully deals with these issues by presenting simple, step-by-step instruction on how to feast continually and lose weight at the same time!
The detailed information needed to lose weight is available worldwide through Amazon. US buyers will find the low price of $1.99 (or, $9.89, if you prefer the printed rather than the Kindle version)!
(By the way, you don't need a Kindle to use the Kindle version: A free app is automatically available from Amazon that will enable your cell phone, computer or tablet to display Kindle books.)
Sound good?
You owe it to yourself to read this book!
