Aspartame… Bitter Sweet?
Posted by Claudine
I was chatting to one of my Reflexology clients yesterday who happened to mention that her beverage of choice is the popular diet fizzy cola drink. It got me thinking about the adverse publicity surrounding Aspartame – the main sweetening ingredient in most diet fizzy drinks and very popular amongst diabetics.
Now, this lovely lady is a beautiful 58 year old (she looks much younger!) who drinks the diet variety because she doesn’t want to put on weight, not for any health reasons such as diabetes. I cannot discuss her medical conditions because it would be unethical of me to do so, but there are alarm bells in her conditions which, if the reports are correct, could substantially affect her wellbeing.
There are two camps on this… Some say that Aspartame is the next best thing to the Anti-Christ, while others (particularly the manufacturers) will lead you to believe that it is completely safe.
I am not giving an opinion one way or the other as I am not qualified to do so, but I urge you to make up your own minds and carry out your own research on the subject. The main objective for this post is to raise awareness of the potential health risks and it is for you to decide whether you continue to use artificial sweeteners instead of natural.
I saw an interesting programme on TV recently (the name of which escapes me!) which tested the effects of sweetener and sugar on a person’s appetite. Interestingly enough, those using artificial sweeteners were less full than those using natural sugar products and therefore would actually eat more to try to stop their food cravings. Those using sweeteners purely as an aid for weight loss could actually find that they will gain weight by using artificial sweeteners!
So, good luck in your quest to find out the truth… One thing is for sure… I think i’ll stick to sugar!
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