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Beware Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners are food additives that are used as zero-calorie replacements for regular white table
sugar (sucrose). They have been chemically altered in labs to mimic the sweetness of sugars, but they’re
many times sweeter than regular table sugar.
Keep your eyes out for these names on ingredient labels and avoid them:
Aspartame
Equal®, NutraSweet®, others
180 times sweeter
Acelsulfame-K
Sunet®, Sweet One®
200 times sweeter
Neotame
No brand names
7,000-13,000 times sweeter
Saccharin
Sweet’N Low®, Necta Sweet®, others
300 times sweeter
Sucralose
Splenda®
600 times sweeter
According to Harvard School of Public Health, “The human brain responds to sweetness with signals to eat
more. By providing a sweet taste without any calories, however, artificial sweeteners cause us to crave more
sweet foods and drinks, which can add up to excess calories.
Things to Consider When Quitting Artificial Sweeteners
1. Time Span: The longer the time over which you have
been consistently consuming artificial sweeteners,
the more severe the withdrawal process will likely
be compared to someone who has one can of soda
occassionally.
2. Daily Consumption (amount): In the average
carbonated beverage, there is 180 mg of aspartame.
If you drink several of these per day, your aspartame
consumption is likely pretty high. It is thought that if
you consume a lot of aspartame on a daily basis, you
may experience more significant withdrawals than
someone who consumes a very low amount.
3. Individual Body Type: Much of the withdrawal
experience will be based on individual circumstances.
If you are on any other drugs, it may affect your ability
to notice a withdrawal and/or minimize symptoms.
4. Cold Turkey vs. Tapering: Most of the time when
people gradually taper off of a drug or something that
is having an influence on their body, tapering results in
less withdrawal effects. You could conduct a gradual
taper if you think it will help or if you cannot handle
quitting cold turkey.
In any event, it is recommended to make sure your nutrition is balanced, that you are getting
adequate exercise, and are allowing your body to get some extra rest during withdrawal.
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What are Added Sugars?
Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed or
prepared. This does not include naturally occurring sugars such as those in plain milk and fruits. The major
food and beverage sources of added sugars for Americans are: regular soft drinks, energy drinks, and sports
drinks.
When reading ingredient labels on packaged foods, be on the lookout
for all the different names that boil down to being added sugars.
Agave nectar
Barley malt
Brown sugar
Cane juice
Cane syrup
Caramel
Confectioner’s sugar
Corn sweeteners
Crystalline fructose
Dextrose
Ethyl Maltol
Evaporated cane juice
Fructose
Fruit juice concentrate
Galactose
Glucose
Grape Sugar
High fructose corn syrup
Honey
Inverted sugar
Malt syrup
Maltodextrin
Maltose
Maple syrup
Molasses
Raw sugar
Rice syrup
Sucrose
Syrup
Turbinado sugar
The American Heart Association
has created specific guidelines
for added sugars in the diet,
stating that women should have
no more than 25g (6 tsp) per day,
and men no more than 38g (9
tsp) per day. Unfortunately, the
average American is consuming
approximately 82g (19.5 tsp) per
day! This is equivalent to 66lbs
of sugar a year per person. This
far exceeds the guidelines set by
the AHA and can lead to obesity,
Type 2 Diabetes, and heart
disease. Read the label, and if you
see “sugar” or any of the above
listed names then that product
is likely high in added sugar and
should be avoided or consumed
in moderation.
Are some sugars better than others?? Not really. Brown sugar is simply white sugar with molasses added to
it. Natural sweeteners like maple syrup and honey contain extra nutrients and minerals that aren’t found in
white sugar, but they still have the same effects on the body that any other sugar does.
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