SUGAR

Sweets are the comfort food of choice for most of us. We're biologically predisposed to seek out sugar. The purer and simpler the sugar source, the faster it gets into the bloodstream. Table sugar (sucrose) is a simple carbohydrate that is quickly and easily metabolized in our bodies directly into blood sugar (glucose), which fuels our brain and muscles.

Eating sugar shoots our blood sugar levels up and triggers a spike in the hormone insulin, which is used by our cells to absorb (and store) the sugar. If there are no other nutrients to sustain our blood sugar level, though, it crashes quite quickly, and we soon crave another hit. (This is how sugar addiction works.)

Sugar, Sugar Everywhere
Refined sugar is now available everywhere and in virtually everything. Consumers now get sugar in forms like dextrose (sucrose), fructose, "crystalline fructose", "cane extract", fruit juice concentrate, maltodextrin, corn syrup, "crystalline fructose", "cane extract", honey, other syrups, and many more. The reason for all these names is the confusion they create: they don't want you to think you are eating sugar just because you're thirsty (which is, if you think about it, a ridiculous thing to do).

Note: Sugar alcohols—e.g., sorbitol, maltitol, erythritol, etc.—contain fewer calories than sugar but they are not calorie-free, and they have their own problems. See below.

Sugared sodas are the most common form of sugar that most people ingest. One 12 ounce cola soda contains about 11 teaspoons of sugar (and then there's the caffeine, which is a whole other story). It's the sugar that gives you an initial rush of 'energy', but the effect is typically brief. Insulin soon lowers the blood sugar level, causing a significant drop in energy and endurance.

Note: Drinking more than one sugared soda a day raises your risk of serious weight gain by approximately 80%.

Health Effects of Sugar
Refined sugar contains no fiber, no minerals, no proteins, no fats, no enzymes—only empty calories. What happens when you eat this emptiness? Your body must borrow vital nutrients from healthy cells to metabolize the incomplete food. Vitamins and minerals are taken from various parts of the body. Many times, so much calcium is used to neutralize the effects of sugar that the bones can become less dense (osteoporotic) as a result.

What happens to our metabolisms as a result of all that ingested sugar? For one thing, we become addicted to these cheap, easy calories. We binge, then we crash, then binge again. And we often throw in caffeine to pump us up even more. Of course, it all ends badly. In the end, everybody crashes, every time. Repeated cycles of this will cause chronic fatigue that never seems to end, as well as a host of other potential health problems (see below).

When we look at the huge increase in sugar consumption this past century, we see that its timeline is matched by the epidemic increase in metabolic diseases. According to the US Department of Agriculture, the average American ingests about 150 pounds of caloric sweeteners each year. That's 46 teaspoons for every man, woman and child, every single day. The USDA recommends no more than an average of 10 teaspoons per day for healthy adults, which many already consider too high.

How bad can it be? Excessive sugar consumption has been linked to all of the following health problems. Note: this is not a comprehensive list.

• abdominal bloating and cramping
• aggression, excessive (especially in children)
• appendicitis
• arthritis
• asthma
• cancer
• cataracts
• chronic fatigue
• constipation
• decreased growth hormone levels
• depression
• diabetes
• difficult concentrating
• fluid retention
• gallstones
• headaches, including migraines
• heart disease
• hemorrhoids
• hypoglycemia
• immune system changes
• indigestion
• inflammation
• inflammatory bowel disease
• insomnia
• irritability
• learning disorders in children
• memory loss
• mineral deficiencies
• mood swings
• multiple sclerosis
• obesity
• osteoporosis
• panic attacks
• PMS
• premature aging
• seizures
• serum triglyceride and/or cholesterol levels, elevated
• skin rashes
• systolic blood pressure, elevated
• tooth decay
• toxemia during pregnancy
• yeast overgrowth/infections

ASPARTAME

When the makers of aspartame (brand names NutraSweet®*, Equal®*) were seeking FDA approval, they were told to test the product to ascertain whether or not it would be safe for mass consumption. They did so, with reportedly disastrous results. Early testing showed that rats fed aspartame developed tumors. Even the rats that were being fed what were considered "low levels" of this artificial sweetener developed tumors. At that point, it has been reported that the developers began tampering with the results of the testing, so that they wouldn't have to report such seriously negative results to the FDA. Through the Freedom of Information Act, it has also been discovered that researchers were also told to replace the rats that developed tumors during the study with healthy rats, and to replace the rats that died with new ones, all without making those notations in the study report. They also reportedly purposely misdiagnosed certain conditions, in one notable case calling an enlarged lymph node that was clearly malignant lymphoma "normal lymphatic swelling".

Through apparent falsification of lab results, and various political machinations, aspartame was eventually approved for widespread use. Many scientists were and are still incredulous that this was allowed to happen.

Slowly, the truth about aspartame has begun to come to light. A few years after its release, representatives of the US Air Force and Navy published articles about the potential for seizures when ingesting aspartame (not something you want a pilot in a cockpit to experience). The Massachusetts Institute of Technology undertook a study of 80 people that had suffered seizures after ingesting aspartame, and concluded that the 80 cases met the FDA's own definition of an "imminent hazard" to the public welfare. This hazard should have caused the FDA to begin the process of taking aspartame off the market. But as we all know, this did not happen.

Seizures are not the only health risk that we take when we eat aspartame. A study that was conducted by the huge food processing company Monsanto to examine possible birth defects related to aspartame ingestion was canceled after alarming preliminary information was revealed. Subsequent studies found that persons with mood disorders faced a dramatic increase of serious symptoms when aspartame was a regular staple of their diets.

Aspartame has been linked to a variety of health ills, including neurological disorders ranging from headaches, mood disorders and memory loss, to severe depression and full-blown seizures, plus digestive problems including abdominal pain and diarrhea, fatigue, rashes, dizziness, menstrual difficulties, even brain tumors, blindness, and more.

Basically, people that choose to ingest aspartame are participating in a vast experiment. They are effectively saying: "I know that there are serious issues regarding the safety of this product. Nevertheless, I agree to allow myself to be used as a guinea pig so that we may further chart the long term effects of this potentially dangerous additive, and help fill the coffers of some very large corporations."

Did you agree to this?

SUCRALOSE

Sucralose (brand name Splenda®*) is getting more and more press lately, because there are many companies that are willing to make the public think that this is an "all-natural" product, or that it's "like sugar", when in fact it is a highly processed, and potentially dangerous, synthetic chemical. Sucralose is made by a complex process of chlorinating sucrose molecules. This is why sucralose is so often touted as "natural", and "made from" sugar. That's like saying salt is made from chlorine so chlorine can't be toxic, or some permutation thereof. Sucralose is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CHEMICAL compared to sugar. While sugar is natural, sucralose is anything but.

Scientists have noted that after the hydrogen/oxygen bonds in sugar are replaced by chlorine, the molecule stops looking like sugar and instead resembles many common pesticides, including DDT. In fact, sucralose was invented by scientists searching for a new pesticide. (Bet you didn't know that!)

But, you say, "sucralose" sounds so innocent, so much like real sugar (sucrose). Here then, for you information, is the true chemical name of sucralose: 1,6-dichloro-1, 6-dideoxy-BETA-D-fructofuranosyl-4-chloro-4-deoxy-alpha-D-galactopyranoside. Still sound like sugar to you?

If the sucralose molecule itself doesn't worry you, there are other problems with using this chemical. When you buy sucralose, it's not necessarily 100% pure sucralose. In fact, some of the chemicals used to synthesize the sucralose molecule can legally be included in the final product. Note that the FDA does not require or expect 100% purity. The FDA said in their Final Report on Splenda that sucralose is "produced at an approximate purity of 98%." The other two percent does not have to be reported to the FDA, and there is no requirement that it be listed as added ingredients on labels. What is in that remaining two percent? Answer: any of the chemicals used in the process of manufacturing sucralose. And what are those?

The chemicals used to synthesize sucralose include: Acetone, Acetic acid, Acetyl alcohol, Acetic anhydride, Ammonium chloride, Benzene, Chlorinated sulfates, Ethyl alcohol, Isobutyl ketones, Formaldehyde, Hydrogen chloride, Lithium chloride, Methanol, Sodium methoxide, Sulfuryl chloride, Trityl chloride, Toluene, Thionyl chloride.

Lunch, anyone?

Because sucralose is such a new molecule, there are NO long-term studies about what it does to the human body if ingested regularly. And altogether, there has been a total of only 19 studies done about sucralose ingestion at all. That's right—just 19. Compare that to the 2,374 studies related to saccharine, or the 598 studies related to aspartame.

The results are starting to trickle in, though, and the verdict for sucralose is not positive. There has been evidence linking sucralose to shrunken thymus glands (glands related to the immune system), enlarged liver and/or kidneys, decreased red blood cell count, aborted pregnancies, and decreased fetal body weight, in rodents. In humans, sucralose has been linked to skin rashes and flushing, panic-like agitation, dizziness and numbness, muscle aches, headaches, diarrhea, and abdominal cramping. The list continues to grow.

The truth is that we do not know the long-term effects of sucralose. In the short term, we have already seen significant problems. As with aspartame, agreeing to make this unnatural, synthetic additive part of your daily diet is exactly like agreeing to undertake a long-term scientific experiment (for the benefit of large corporate entities) using your own body.

SUGAR ALCOHOLS

Sugar alcohols are sugar molecules that have been chemically altered to have different properties. They are not as well-absorbed by the body, and therefore provide fewer (but never zero) calories. The actual amount of calories absorbed differs from individual to individual. Side effects include diarrhea, bloating and other gastrointestinal disturbances—which will always happen if the ingested dose of sugar alcohol is big enough.

Some common sugar alcohols are: mannitol, sorbitol, erythritol, xylitol, lactitol, isomalt, maltitol and hydrogenated starch hydrolysates. Of these, erythritol has the fewest side effects if large quantities are avoided. (Erythritol is a small molecule that is better absorbed in the small intestines than other sugar alcohols, and it's excreted in the urine.) But erythritol is only about 70% as sweet as sugar, so if it is used, it is perforce used in quite large quantities. And in those quantities, the side effects are likely to happen.

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