hold the diet in my soda

We are led to believe as consumers that diet soda's are a healthy alternative to their sweeter sugar laden cousins. If it's approved by the FDA, then the it must be both safe and healthy. Guess again.

Diet soda is sweetened with artificial sweetener, and depending on the brand of soda, the type of sweetener varies, but not necessarily the hazards to our health.

Splenda

A common sweetener is Splenda. Splenda is made from sucralose, a chemical that was "discovered" by British scientists in 1976 looking to create a new pesticide. Yummy. Part of sucralose's chemical make up is chlorine. Chlorine is safe when used accordingly, but not recommended to be ingested in large doses. A major concern of Splenda is that no long term studies were performed on the harmful side effects of Splenda before it was approved by the FDA. Approximately 110 studies were performed before FDA approval however only two of these studies were performed on humans with the longest study lasting a mere four days.

The short term studies concluded that Splenda causes enlarged livers and kidney's and shrunken thymus glands. Studies also found that Splenda can reduce the amount of good bacteria (probiotics) in the intestines by 50% which can lead to a host of health issues and disease.


Actually a long term study is currently going on, all of us consumers who are buying and using products containing Splenda are the lab rats for determining the dangers of Splenda for the companies manufacturer, McNeil Nutritionals. How cost effective for McNeil.

So despite marketing slogans that claim Splenda is a sugar, it is not, it's an chlorinated artificial sweetener. Not only is it found in soft drinks, but is commonly used in juices, chewing gum, baked goods and much more.


Nutrasweet

Another artificial sweetener is aspartame, AKA Nutrasweet, used in Pepsi products. Aspartame has been in the news for some time and has a villanous reputation for causing a plethora of diseases including cancer and neurological diseases. For sixteen years, the GD Searle Group attempted to get FDA approval for aspartame with no success. In fact, the FDA's own toxicologist, Dr. Adrian Gross testified before congress that:

“without a shadow of a doubt, aspartame can cause brain tumors and brain cancer…”

Even with that, in 1981 a new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hays, was appointed by Donald Rumsfeld and before you know it this proven sweet poison had the coveted FDA approval stamp on it. So what has this deception cost us, the unknowing consumer?

For many years, there has been an increasing number of diseases on the rise, some being previously relatively unheard of. Diseases such as, fibromyalgia, MS, lupus, ADD, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, chronic fatigue, and depression. You see, studies have shown that the toxin, aspartame heads straight for cells within the nervous system and attacks them. Aspartame also likes to interact with a number of other chemical substances, like insulin, antidepressants, vaccines and even other artificial sweeteners, to name a few. Also, aspartame, like it's cousin Splenda, is found in a large variety of other products like dairy, juices, baked goods, candy and so on.

And guess what else? Studies have shown that artificial sweeteners cause us to feel hungry and crave sweets. It is believed that those who regularly use products containing artificial sweeteners actually gain weight as a result. Isn't that defeating the purpose?

What are sugar lovers to do?

The truth is sugar is bad period. Especially large amounts on a regular basis. Some experts agree that plain old sugar is better that chemically produced, artificial sweeteners. It seems to me the real deal is certainly the lesser of two evils. Eating healthier overall will reduce those sugar cravings, once your body becomes more balanced.

There is a natural sweetener called stevia that comes from the stevia plant. It is said to be 300 times sweeter than sugar. It can be found at your local health food store and is considered a dietary supplement and opposed to an artificial sweetener. That even sounds healthier to me.

sources:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/02/10/New-Study-of-Splenda-Reveals-Shocking-Information-About-Potential-Harmful-Effects.aspx

http://www.womentowomen.com/nutritionandweightloss/splenda.aspx

http://www.douglasreport.com/

Milestones

I want to give kudos and a shout out to my BFF, otherwise known as my husband.

He took the BIG STEP and quit smoking. He is on Day 11 and going strong. I am an ex-smoker, having quit almost twelve years ago and even though it's been a minute, I can well remember what it's like taking the BIG STEP. Like many people, it took me several failed attempts before I quit for good. The key to successfully quitting, in my opinion, is you have to be ready and in your mind know you are going to succeed. You can't do it because someone else is nagging you to do it, or giving you an ultimatum. You do it for you.

So my BFF after mentioning hundreds of times that "it's time to quit", but continued to purchase that last pack, casually asked me to pick up a box of "the patches" during my weekly grocery outing. And he quit. Just like that, because he was ready.

If you are a smoker, you too will know when your time has arrived. I truly hope that day comes for you. The health benefits and rewards are endless.

Read more........

The Truth And The Next Big Killer

I just read an article about the dangers of cell phones. Geez, I quit smoking, dramatically changed my diet, take vitamins and supplements, am trying to exercise more and now I have to quit talking on my cell phone? I know this isn't new news, but as time goes on and the cell phone generation gets older, I am certain we will hear about this more and more.

I'm afraid I am a cell phone addict. Now I practice extremely proper cell phone etiquette. Don't get me started, that is a whole other post in itself. No I'm an addict in that my BFF, also known as my husband, travels for his job. He is on the road all the time and we talk......all the time. When he pulls out of the driveway we are often already talking. It's how our relationship began as we lived indifferent states and it has always continued in that manner. So now I'm discovering the potential dangers of cell phone use and am in a stage of denial. Obviously, I don't want our relationship to change, it's what BFF's do. Talk and text. Literally thousands of minutes each month. But I only get one body in my life, so ignoring this subject isn't a good option.

The concern is of course that cellphones send out electromagnetic radiation that can penetrate the brain, thus causing brain cancer. There is debate to this as scientist's say that there have not been enough studies performed to found this as truth. However, an argument to that is there was a time when cigarette smoking was claimed to be safe by scientists. That was prior to performing those valuable studies that incriminated the tobacco companies as well as those same scientists who were often on the payroll. Oh yes, the truth.

Which leads me right to another point and that is, much like the drug companies and tobacco companies, telecommunication companies are making far too much money on cell phones to allow any truth to be told on the dangers. After all there are 3 billion of us using them and that number grows steadily each year.

So where does one obtain this education needed to make a choice about this important health issue? Can we find enough truthful information to make an educated decision? It's a tough question, but like so many other issue's concerning our health and the truth, the responsibility falls to us as individuals.

To begin, you can go to one of my favorite websites about alternative health: Mercola.com or click here to go directly to the article.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go call my BFF to tell him about this concern. Well maybe, I'll write a letter or send up smoke signals.