Ventura Center

The Trouble With Artificial Sweeteners In theory, artificial sweeteners should be a win-win for people who need to lose weight you can continue to eat the sweet foods you love without the added calories of sugar. Unfortunately, sticking with these types of sweeteners often leads to weight gain as evidenced by the large numbers of overweight and obese people who drink diet sodas and eat artificially sweetened foods; furthermore, they can do more harm than good. Theres mounting evidence that these products can severely impact your health. Heres how: Artificial sweeteners may trigger cravings for other sweet foods. Your body looks for nutritional value in everything you eat or drink. It will absorb the nutrients, discard the remainder, and store what it cannot use or eliminate. Chemically laden diet sodas and other artificial sweetenerlaced foods generally lack nutritional value, but what they dont lack are toxins, which will be stored in your fat cells. In addition, when your body is not fed nutrients, it asks again and again for more food, triggering heavy-duty cravings for fattening, sugary foods. This certainly isnt what you expected when you picked up those diet foods and drinks! Artificial sweeteners can mess with your metabolism. Food additives containing excitotoxic chemicals (toxins that damage nerve cells), such as aspartame and MSG, can cause changes to your brain that can increase your risk of developing metabolic syndrome, making it far more likely that you will become obese and have difficulty removing the weight with diet and exercise the result of which may be type-2 diabetes. This risk increases if you began eating these chemical additives at an early age. When you do have a craving for something sweet, I recommend you use an all-natural sweetener. Agave nectar is the same consistency as honey, but with a lower glycemic index. I like to use it on proteins or stir-fries for a sweet glaze. And, of course, my favorite is All Natural SomerSweet. Made from a blend of 100 percent natural sweeteners, including chicory fiber (which aids in healthy digestion), SomerSweet is low on the glycemic index and therefore wont spike your insulin. All Natural SomerSweet measures spoon for spoon like sugar to add to your coffee, or cup for cup to use in your favorite recipes. After extensive testing, we were thrilled with the overall results in our test kitchen. Available in cans or packets, its the perfect way to enjoy sweets in moderation without cheating on the Sexy Forever Plan!