Recently a a very good friend of mine and I had a discussion about Stevia... She mentioned to me that it was an "all natural sweetener, that it is 100 times sweeter than sugar and that she used Stevia Drops in her coffee" Well, I said to her, why would you want to consume a man made sugar and why would you want to eat something sweeter than sugar? It just doesn't make sense and it's not healthy for your body.
Recent studies have shown that eating high amounts of low-calorie sweeteners can promote the formation of fat in the body. A portion of the population who is trying to lose weight use artificial sweeteners for this reason. Pretty ironic.
In the 1st part of the study, researchers observed that stem cells exposed to artificial sweeteners showed an increase in the expression of genes that indicate fat production and inflammation. In the 2nd part of the study, researchers found that adults who consumed low-calorie sweeteners experienced an increase in the transportation of glucose into cells as well as an overexpression of genes associated with fat production.
The researchers suspect their findings indicate that low-calorie sweeteners may dysregulate metabolism in a way that boosts the formation of fat. However, they caution that further studies are need before any concrete conclusions can be made about the effects of low-calorie sweeteners on metabolism.
For me personally, I have never used artificial sweeteners. There was a something extremely fake about them and I noticed that they left an after taste when I did try them. I still like to eat desserts made with sugar, honey and maple syrup. However I limit the sugar when I drink anything. In fact many years ago, I stopped adding any sugar to my coffee or tea. If I have a coke in the rare instance, I drink real coke made with cane sugar (its made in Mexico by the way). I don't consume diet, fat free, sugar free, low calorie or no calorie foods. Next time you think about choosing diet over the real deal, check the ingredient list. These are the fakest foods you can eat and are very unhealthy for you. Most importantly they taste bad or they leave an after taste. Why tamper with real FOOD..So next time you are out and about, stay away from the pink, yellow and blue packets.
Source: Endocrine Society, April 2017
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