A lot of people consume artificial sweeteners. Such as diet drinks and soda, or what they put in their coffee or tea… In addition to many health foods such as protein powders, bars and so forth contain artificial sweeteners.
Now, some experts say that artificial sweeteners are horrible for you… They’re bad for your brain, heart, gut, mood, and so much more.
Other experts say they are totally fine and if there were problems, millions of people would be dying left and right.
For example, one very common and popular artificial sweetener is aspartame. The brand or popular name it is Nutrasweet® and Equal®.
The interesting part is that aspartame is simply made of the two naturally occurring amino acids, phenylalanine, and aspartic acid – which are the building blocks of protein.
The only “unnatural” part is that the phenylalanine in aspartame has been slightly modified by adding a methyl group, which gives aspartame its sweet taste.
Recent Study About Artificial Sweeteners
Now, there’s a recent study about artificial sweeteners spanning 30 years, from 1988-2018.
It focused on 2 sweeteners, aspartame, and saccharin consumption. By the way, saccharin does have health problems and that’s why it’s not around anymore.
To make a long story short, the research found that there was no association between a higher intake of low-calorie sweeteners and overall cancer mortality risk.
So, does this mean you should start overdosing on artificial sweeteners?… I don’t think so.
Does it mean they are as bad as some people have stated, I don’t think so.
For example, I think diet soda is much healthier than regular, sugar soda.
Are Artificial Sweeteners Really Linked To Health Problems?
Now, what about other studies or experts saying how artificial sweeteners are linked to so many health problems?
Well, studies need to be dealt with at a much deeper level.
For example, how many of these studies were double-blind, HUMAN randomized clinical studies showing the negative effects of artificial sweeteners?… There are barely any.
Additionally, many times, the people who are out of shape, overweight, and/or trying to lose weight are the ones consuming all of these diet products and artificial sweeteners. Thus, the problem may not be the artificial sweeteners, but the person who is consuming them is unhealthy, to begin with.
The other problem may be that foods that contain artificial sweeteners, also contain lots of other artificial ingredients. They have typically processed foods.
The Bottom Line
Anyway, the bottom line is that I don’t think artificial sweeteners are nearly as bad as some so-called experts say they are.
And based on this new 30-year study, there is no link between artificial sweeteners and cancer.
So, do what you want with this information.
My suggestion is to always be as natural as possible. However, if you want to consume a little bit of artificial sweeteners from time to time, go ahead.
You can even select more natural sweeteners such as Stevia, which I also use.
In all honesty, there are a lot of other and bigger problems to worry about.
Do your best to live a natural, positive, and productive life!