The 5 Worst Artificial Sweeteners

[greygoose]

draxe.com/artificial-sweete...

I know a lot of people turn to artificial sweeteners when they put on weight, thinking it will help. But it really isn't a good idea. And if you have hypo weight, it's just a bad idea - all side-effects and no gain!

[acc1]

I'm surprised to see xylitol on the list - other than the digestive issues it causes for some people, I think it's fine. Compared to the rest it's fairly natural - found in some berries, and the version I've used is extracted from birch bark.

It's also actively good for your teeth, people that use it have fewer cavities by quite a long way, and there's some evidence it may increase bone density.

As for the rest, I try and avoid them, expecially aspartame, which is a headache trigger for me.

[greygoose in reply to acc1]

I Don't know how pêople can even bear the taste! They taste nothing like sugar! So if they taste that bad, they can't be doing any good.

I know nothing about xylitol because I've always avoided all forms of artificial sweetners like the plague. I think the clue is in the name : 'artificial'.

[HEA72]

I'm surprised too to see Xylitol on the list, because it's natural, extracted from birch or corn usually but probably highly processed to get to the stage it does for consumption. Molasses is meant to be the most nutritious of sweetenings and is (so I've read) alkaline forming rather than acid forming, which all other sweetners - natural and artificial are. I don't think molasses has quite the flexibility in approach to adding to food and drink as sugar or honey....

[greygoose in reply to HEA72]

And it doesn't taste as good! lol Yes, I think you're right, it is the processing that makes it bad. Like so many other things, vegetable oils, for example. Nothing wrong with sunflower seeds, but once they've had the proverbial processed out of them, they're fit for nothing! And I often Wonder about Stevia, for the same reason...

[HEA72 in reply to greygoose]

Yes I'm the same about Stevia, I haven't been tempted there. Oh dear re the xylitol, what am I going to sweeten my home-made so called healthy chocolates with now? I was using organic cocoa butter, cocoa powder and adding xylitol to sweeten, worked well. I wonder if molasses will have the same effect?!!!! I agree re the oils situation. I don't use any refined oils anymore, cold pressed organic only. So much so I actually crave my oils at dinner time now, they're so lovely drizzled cold on meals - not a roast dinner though! lol!

[BeccaBurton]

I avoid all sweeteners, they are hugely processed. The only ones that are really ok in my view are pure maple syrup, honey and coconut palm or blossom sugar which have a much lower gi and are not processed to the hilt. I also love a chocolate hit and use raw cacao powder with honey or maple syrup which gives a delicious chocolately flavour!!!

[greygoose in reply to BeccaBurton]

Yes, I use maple syrup - Don't know how pure it is, I just buy what I can get - and coconut flower sugar. But I do use cane sugar for some things. I would never, ever use an artificial sweetner! For one thing, they Don't even taste good!

[langdocienne]

As far as I am concerned, Stevia is the only safe natural one to use, as it is from a plant, it is the ground up leaf. Dr. Mercola always advocates it, and I put a few tabs into my raw organic cacao drink, only with coconut milk, as cows milk, renders all the good things, like one of the highest rated anti-antioxidant foods, on the planet, pretty useless.

Did you know that the anti-oxidant value is listed as 20-40 times higher than blueberries, very high on the orac list, with cloves being the highest, blueberries, are nowhere near them. Also raw organic cacao has a high content of non-heme iron, roughly 9th rated.

[greygoose in reply to langdocienne]

Belladonna is a plant. It's natural but anything but safe. All of it can kill you : roots, stems, leaves and berries.

I have my doubts that stevia is JUST ground up leaves. I Don't doubt it is highly processed, just like sugar. And it's not the plant base that is bad, it's the processing. Any chance we can grow it in our gardens and grind up the leaves ourselves?

[langdocienne in reply to greygoose]

HI greygoose, I only use the pure organic ground up stevia leaves, which are green, not the tablets, or the liquid or the powder. They are not good for you, I totally agree.

[greygoose in reply to langdocienne]

I didn't know you can get just pure ground-up leaves. But that sounds good. How does the taste compare to sugar?

[langdocienne in reply to greygoose]

You really only need a tiny bit, as it can be bitter with too much. I bought it for my Mum, she died a couple of years ago, she was a sugarholic!! Try as I could, she just wouldn't have it, and even tried honey, but she would still complain. She had dementia, on statins, and calcium, didn't die from the dementia, died from an aneurysm, I blame the statins and the calcium, for clogging up the arteries, but what can you do!

[greygoose in reply to langdocienne]

I know how you feel. I have the same struggle with my brother who won't listen to me! He takes calcium, vit D and a vit K blocker!!! But, doctor knows best!

It was the same with my 'boyfriend' who ended up developing prostate cancer on statins. He then said, 'oh, I should have listened too you! But I thought well, she's ill herself, so what does she know!' Pft! You can hardly compare having Hashi's with taking a drug you Don't need. But, like so many others, he blindly trusted his doctor, and came off worse for it! I despair, sometimes, I really do.

[langdocienne in reply to greygoose]

You know what, all of my kids listen to me when it comes to health, I have 7 of them, grown up, but 4 still live with me. Have 2 baby grandchildren, and Millie has a childhood thing, which she will grow out of, it's called Neutropenia, I had diagnosed that, together with the way that they would treat it with colony stimulating granulocytes, not bad for a lay person. We take much more notice of our loved ones, I could go on about rare medical things that my kids had, but it was always the same story, I diagnosed them, and the docs were flabergasted lol!

Why does your brother take a vitamin k blocker, you should really take vit k2 mk 7 together with magnesium l threonate and vit d3(10000 iu) as they work synenergistically,?

Mind it's taken a long time, to get my kids to trust me, they will still go to the docs though, just to make sure, and if the doc tells them to go away, they know what to answer now.

[greygoose in reply to langdocienne]

My three kids are beginning to trust me, started asking questions, at least - although I can't get my daughter off the antibiotic habit! I did manage to get her off diet coke! But my brother just thinks I'm an idiot whatever I say or do, it's not just where health is concerned. lol

He's had some sort of heart problems, couldn't tell you what, and the doctors put him on vit D3, vit B12, warfarin, vit K blockers and calcium several years ago. And have just left him on it. And he just believes his doctors. He said he would question about the K2, but I Don't think he did. And he won't hear a word about magnesium! So... I'm tired of trying now.

[langdocienne]

Isn't it so frustrating, when you know what's good for them. Maybe he would take ceylon cinnamon, it's a natural product, but not the cassia that you buy in the shops. Here's a link about it:-

life-enhancement.com/magazi...

Also look at the benefits of the raw organic cacao, I have it daily 2 tbs, with my green stevia for sweetener, and a pile of coconut milk, not cow's milk, as it prevents the all powerful anti-oxidant effect. Loads on the net about it. Both very relevant to his heart problem, if it's the clogged up arteries, but then you don't know.

As my Mum used to say "strength to your arm"

[greygoose in reply to langdocienne]

Thank you to your mum! lol

He never touches milk, never has, because he was told it was bad for his eczma. Now, he doesn't like it. But he won't take anything I suggest. Can't even have a conversation about it now, just leads to a row.

I'm a bit wary about raw cacao - although not against trying it myself - because I read that it can easily go moldy, and that's a very bad thing. And I can imagine that it can get moldy, having worked in the chocolate industry for a few years. The beans did sometimes arrive moldy if they hadn't been stored properly. So, that rather puts me off.

[langdocienne in reply to greygoose]

The powder is certainly not moldy, I think that we could taste that, and it never lasts long in my house, as one of my daughter's loves it, as much as me!. I get mine in 1kg bags from Sussex wholefoods. It is guaranteed organic, and not heated about 42degrees.

[greygoose in reply to langdocienne]

No, I was thinking more about the beans being moldy when they're ground. I Don't know how much you would taste it. I'll have another look and see. Thank you for mentioning it.

[langdocienne in reply to greygoose]

HI I understood what you meant, but wondered how we would know if they were moldy or not, unless the taste is very different from the freshly ground. I could send an email to Sussex wholefoods asking this, but then can we rely on the validity of their answer!