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Artificial sweeteners have been around for decades, since 1982 when Coca-Cola unveiled Diet Coke.
Back then, the idea of having your Coke without the guilt of empty calories was revolutionary.
Since then, we’ve created a few new artificial or “non-caloric” sweeteners, and learned some things along the way.
Now, there are easily a half-dozen popular sweeteners, from saccharin to monk fruit to stevia to xylitol. Even Aspartame, which has long been linked to health issues like causing headaches and even developing brain tumors, is still around.
Science headlines have hailed these non-nutritive or non-caloric sweeteners as healthier substitutes for table sugar, and some diets, like Keto, depend on them to provide sweet without the calories.
So, are artificial sweeteners better for me?
Well, it’s a bit of a complicated answer.
Short answer: In my opinion, no they are not better.
But then the solution isn’t really swapping one sweetener for another, it’s finding swaps in your diet so you don’t feel like you need added sweeteners as often.
That said, there are both upsides and downsides to these sweeteners, and it’s not a simple “yes” or “no” answer.
For one, non-caloric sweeteners do not cause a glucose spike like traditional sweeteners do. This is because these non-caloric sweeteners don’t technically contain any glucose, so your body doesn’t have to activate insulin to put it in your cells.
This also means that there is no energy in these substances, so they are not providing any fuel for your cells, and not eventually being stored as fat.
So, if blood sugar regulation is an issue for you, and you need some way to keep your glucose stable while you work on finding healthier swaps for those sweet foods and drinks, then maybe these sweeteners will be beneficial for you, short term.
Like I said, there are definitely some cons though.
Insulin resistance happens because your cells become “resistant” to the signal from insulin to open up and store glucose, meaning your body has to produce more and more insulin for it to do its job.
A non-caloric sweetener may not actually contain any glucose or other calories, but your pancreas doesn’t know that. Once that sweet hits your palate, you are telling your body to expect sugar, which triggers an insulin response.
So you’ve got a bunch of insulin floating around with nothing to do. This can add to the amount of insulin consistently in your bloodstream and contribute to insulin resistance.
The other not so great side of artificial sweeteners is that research is showing how these substances can negatively impact the gut microbiome.
Our gut biome is responsible for an incredible range of activities, and we’re discovering more every day.
But non-caloric sweeteners may impact the diversity of your gut biome, meaning that the “good” bacteria die off and other “bad” bacteria take over. This can lead to a host of issues from gut problems to disrupted serotonin production, and even cause issues with insulin sensitivity.
So, obviously there’s some trade offs, right?
Non-caloric or non-nutritive sweeteners can be helpful for someone who needs help getting their blood glucose under control while they work on changing habits.
But longer term consumption of these sweeteners could be problematic. Over time, they could contribute to insulin resistance (which is not great) and disrupt our gut microbiome (definitely not great).
So like I said, not an easy “Yes” or “No” answer.
If you love to bake and really enjoy cookies or brownies and still want to be able to indulge once in a while, these sweeteners may be a good option for you.
If you’re nuts for soda and just don’t think you can drop the habit cold turkey, maybe switching to one with an artificial sweetener will help while you work on more permanent swaps.
(There’s no such thing as a healthy soda, sorry, Ollipop.)
Ultimately, the goal isn’t to replace one sweetener with another. Any kind of sweetener is going to negatively impact your health.
Hopefully, you can use these sweeteners (if you feel you need to) as a stepping stone as you work on creating new habits and dietary patterns.
Of course, it’s not realistic to think that you will completely give up sweets altogether. You should be able to enjoy a treat once in a while.
But choosing when that sweet treat is worth it is the key.
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