Aspartame was touted as both sweeter and safer than saccharine, which was a possible carcinogen. But it didn’t take long for scientists to link aspartame to cancer as well as to anxiety.

And unbelievably, aspartame actually makes your body store more belly fat.

Every time a new sweetener comes on the market, it’s hundreds of times sweeter than the previous one. That’s to convince you to try it and get hooked on it.

But any artificial sweetener you can name turns healthy gut bacteria rogue, making you a sitting duck for disease and deadly infections.

Now the next generation of sweeteners is here. But proceed with caution. This one is not only toxic, you may never even know it’s there…

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Neotame: a clear and present danger to your gut

A study at Anglia Ruskin University in England found that neotame attacks the human gut in a one-two punch.

“Our studies indicate that neotame causes an increase in stress signaling in our human cells which reduces the amount of junctions that hold our cells together in a tight barrier,” Havovi Chichger, PhD, BSC, associate professor in biomedical science at Anglia Ruskin University, said in an interview with Medical News Today. 

Weakening the gut barrier causes the leaking of materials from the gut into the blood. This describes a condition known as leaky gut.

The damage to the gut can lead to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and because the gut lining becomes permeable, bad bacteria can move into the bloodstream and lead to sepsis.

Not only that, but the disruption it causes in the microbiome could lead to metabolic disease including insulin resistance.

Shockingly, Dr. Chichger stressed that even in concentrations 10 times lower than the acceptable daily intake her team saw the breakdown of the gut barrier and bacteria shift to damaging behavior.

This new research into neotame builds on previous work by Dr. Chichger which discovered that saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame could cause similar damage in the gut.

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Quick and disturbing facts and safer alternatives

You’re probably pretty convinced this sweetener is something you should avoid. But it may not be so easy.

It is sold under the brand name Newtame®. But since it is about 8,000 times sweeter than sugar, such a small amount is used in products that it may not be required to be listed on ingredient labels.

Here are more quick facts about Neotame that may help you…

• It’s found in sugar-free drinks and chewing gum as well as some foods, including yogurts and especially baked goods. It’s also used as a table-top sweetener for hot drinks, like coffee and tea.
• Neotame enhances or extends the sweetening and flavoring properties of some flavors, especially mint — so steer clear of mint-flavored gums, lozenges or candies.
• It often has a mild aftertaste similar to licorice.
• To avoid it, you need to avoid anything advertised as sugar-free.
• Monsanto (yes, that Monsanto!) was behind the discovery and development of neotame.

Instead of reaching for artificial sweeteners that are devoid of nutrition and directly cause damage to your body, lean towards naturally healthier choices…

Stevia. Not only is this plant-derived sweetener 200 times sweeter than sugar (so you don’t need much), it also has been shown to benefit obesity, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol — all conditions associated with metabolic syndrome. It’s considered safe for diabetics. Just read your label to be sure the brand you buy contains no added erythritol.

Raw honey is honey that’s been taken from the hive, strained to remove beeswax, then bottled and sold. It hasn’t been pasteurized or processed, so it still has all its natural vitamins, enzymes and phytonutrients.

Yacon syrup is derived from a root vegetable similar to a sweet potato. It’s considered good for people with diabetes because is contains fructooligosaccharides (FOS) — a type of starch (inulin) that isn’t digested, so it shouldn’t raise blood sugar. However, people who are on a FODMAP diet should avoid it. It may also cause upset stomach, gas and nausea in some.

Coconut palm sugar has a low glycemic index but should be treated like sugar because it contains the same amount of calories and carbs.

Blackstrap molasses. Perhaps the most nutritious sugar substitute of all, organic blackstrap molasses is rich in copper, calcium, iron, potassium, manganese, selenium, and vitamin B6. It is low glycemic but people with diabetes should only use in moderation. Make your own brown sugar substitute for baking by using 2 tablespoons for each ½ cup of coconut sugar in a food processor.

Bananas, figs, dates, raisins and no-sugar added apple sauce are also great ways to naturally sweeten a recipe, get a little extra fiber and plant nutrition.

Sources:

Artificial sweetener has potential to damage gut — Eureka Alert

The artificial sweetener neotame negatively regulates the intestinal epithelium directly through T1R3-signaling and indirectly through pathogenic changes to model gut bacteria — Frontiers in Nutrition

Artificial sweetener neotame may have potential to damage gut, lead to IBS — Medical News Today

The post The hidden sweetener tied to IBS, sepsis and insulin resistance appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Sounds perfect, right?

Not exactly.

What good is losing weight and looking trim if your memories are slowly being erased?

Take a look at the newest research on artificial sweeteners and what they do to your cognitive abilities…

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Artificial sweeteners steal your brain power

A large Brazilian study has found that the most common artificial sweeteners — those found in diet sodas, flavored waters, and processed snacks — are strongly associated with a decline in memory and loss of cognitive skills.

The study looked at seven low- and no-calorie sweeteners. You’ve probably seen some of these on your soda, chewing gum, or snack labels:

• aspartame
• saccharine
• acesulfame-K
• erythritol
• xylitol
• sorbitol
• tagatose

The study followed 12,772 adults for an average of eight years. At the start, participants completed questionnaires about what they ate and drank during the past year. They were then broken up into three groups based on the total amount of artificial sweeteners they’d consumed.

All participants were given cognitive tests at the start, middle, and end of the study to track memory, language, and thinking skills over time. These tests looked at things like verbal fluency, working memory, word recall, and processing speed.

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People who consumed the highest amount of these sweeteners showed a 62 percent faster decline in overall thinking and memory skills than those who consumed the lowest amount — the equivalent of 1.6 years of extra brain aging.

Just to give you some perspective, for aspartame, a common sweetener, the highest amount was equal to drinking just one can of soda per day!

Other findings:

• People under the age of 60 who consumed the highest amounts of sweeteners showed faster declines in verbal fluency and overall cognition.
• The link to faster cognitive decline was stronger in participants with diabetes than in those without diabetes.

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Alternatives to artificial sweeteners

This isn’t the first time the alarm has sounded about the impact of artificial sweeteners on cognition.

In 2017, a study at Boston University found that people who drank diet soda daily were almost three times as likely to develop stroke and dementia when compared to those who did not.

In case you’re not already convinced to give up those diet sodas, here are some other scary things that artificial sweeteners can do to you:

• Xylitol (used in sugar-free chewing gum) and erythritol (found in sweeteners like Splenda) have been strongly associated with “sticky” blood that leads to stroke.
• The World Health Organization lists aspartame (found in everything from bread to hot cocoa to jam to vitamins) as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”

Fortunately, there are healthier alternatives to sweetening your food and drink. And if you don’t overdo it, there’s no need to worry about the calories.

• Honey – known for its antioxidant and antibacterial properties
• Maple syrup – contains manganese and potassium, and has a lower glycemic index
• Coconut sugar – made from the sap of the coconut palm
• Stevia – a plant-based sweetener with no calories and no effect on blood sugar
• Monk fruit – a natural sweetener with a sweetness level 300 times higher than sugar, and no calories or carbohydrates

So if you’re looking to stay healthy by losing those extra pounds, make sure you don’t lose your mind power, too.

Sources:

Sweeteners in diet drinks may steal years from the brain — Science Daily

Association Between Consumption of Low- and No-Calorie Artificial Sweeteners and Cognitive Decline — Neurology

The post Why diet drinks can prematurely age your brain appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Not so fast.

You’ll want to think twice before putting artificial anything into your body. Those fake sweetener packets you see on restaurant tables have been linked to poor gut health that contributes to heart disease, autoimmune disorders and colon cancer — among other things.

Now, believe it or not, research is finding that a popular artificial sweetener actually increases your craving for sweets!

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Low-calorie sweeteners disrupt brain signals linked to hunger

According to a study from the University of California, controlling your weight isn’t as simple as reducing calories by substituting artificial sweeteners for sugar.

They’ve found that sucralose (known commercially as Splenda®) increases activity in the hypothalamus, the brain region that regulates appetite and body weight.

The study builds on existing research that linked calorie-free sweeteners and obesity, but didn’t tease out how these substances affected hunger.

The UC study provides that missing link…

Dr. Kathleen Page is the study’s corresponding author and the director of USC’s Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute.

“If your body is expecting a calorie because of the sweetness, but doesn’t get the calorie it’s expecting, that could change the way the brain is primed to crave those substances over time,” she says.    

Compared to drinking sugar, drinking sucralose increased brain activity in the hypothalamus of study participants and increased feelings of hunger.

These effects were strongest in people with obesity.

This means that when obese people use this sweetener in lieu of sugar in an effort to cut calories and lose weight, they are actually stimulating their brains to make them hungrier.

In addition, MRI scans showed that consuming sucralose increased connectivity between the hypothalamus and the anterior cingulate cortex, which plays a role in decision-making.

That means sucralose could have a negative impact on cravings and eating behavior.

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Losing weight without artificial sweeteners

It’s clear that artificial sweeteners are not your friend if you’re trying to lose weight.

So, how can you start cutting sucralose out of your life? Start by ditching diet sodas.

About 40% of Americans regularly consume sugar substitutes, mostly in diet sodas, followed by other low-calorie drinks, including flavored water and teas.

Of course, you’ll find it in low-calorie foods made to appeal to dieters, such as foods and snacks labeled “sugar-free,” including breads, cereals, grain products, bars, condiments, yogurt and other dairy products.

It’s hard to kick the diet soda habit, but knowing they are working against you may make it easier. But don’t swap them for regular sodas that typically contain at least 10 teaspoons of sugar. Instead, try filtered water with fruit added, especially citrus, to give it a naturally tasty but mild flavor.

Next, stop reaching for diet foods made with artificial sweeteners and switch to a whole-food diet. Once you’ve made that change, you should consider leaning towards a diet that primarily includes plants to experience real and lasting weight loss.

In a study a colleague wrote about, one group of people eating a plant-based diet lost an average of 14 pounds in 16 weeks. They found that plant-based meals increased their metabolic rate, causing them to burn an extra 18.7% in calories after finishing. The group also experienced significant drops in overall fat and a substantial drop in visceral fat levels (the fat surrounding the organs).

Sources:

Calorie-free sweeteners can disrupt the brain’s appetite signals — Eureka Alert

Non-caloric sweetener effects on brain appetite regulation in individuals across varying body weights — Nature Metabolism

A Mediterranean Diet and Low-Fat Vegan Diet to Improve Body Weight and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: A Randomized, Cross-over Trial — Journal of the American Nutrition Association

The post When low-calorie sweeteners backfire: Increasing cravings & weight appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Of course, some things can take that risk even higher, like a diet high in saturated fats, not getting enough exercise, drinking alcohol and smoking. All of these could be lumped together as unhealthy lifestyle habits.

But all of us know someone seemingly hit by a stroke entirely out of left field. Or was it?

As time passes, science is revealing more about things we assume are inconsequential, but have a surprising impact on stroke risk.

This will have you watching what you put in your cup much more closely…

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Soda and fruit drinks strongly linked with increased stroke risk

An analysis of findings from the INTERSTROKE project shows that frequent consumption of fizzy drinks and fruit drinks and too much coffee are associated with an increased risk of stroke.

INTERSTROKE is one of the most significant international studies of risk factors for stroke, involving almost 27,000 people in 27 countries, including nearly 13,500 people who have already experienced their first stroke.

An international group of scientists looked at the consumption of these drinks as it relates to stroke risk. Here are their main findings:

• Fizzy drinks (think soda), including both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened options, were linked with a 22 percent increased chance of stroke. After two or more of these drinks a day, that risk increases even more sharply.
• Fruit juice drinks were linked with a 37% increase in the chance of stroke due to brain bleeding (intracranial hemorrhage). With two of these drinks a day, the risk triples. This risk was greater for women than for men.

Too much coffee also increases risk

As far as coffee consumption, their findings showed that drinking more than four cups of coffee a day increased the chance of stroke by 37 percent, although there was no risk associated with lower intakes of coffee.

Drinking tea was found to have the opposite effect. It was associated with decreasing stroke risk by 18 to 20 percent.

And the results were even more specific in terms of which tea you drink and what you put in it:

• Drinking 3-4 cups of black tea daily (think Breakfast or Earl Grey teas) was linked to a 29 percent lower stroke risk.
• Green or herbal teas were found to be almost as effective, reducing stroke risk by 27 percent.
• Adding milk may reduce or block the beneficial effects of antioxidants found in tea. In fact, the reduced chance of stroke from drinking tea was lost for those who added milk.

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How to recognize a stroke

One of the risk factors for stroke is older age. But in recent years, strokes in people under 65 have increased by 15 percent. And I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the fastest growing group with type 2 diabetes are those aged 45 to 64.

The connection could be that when insulin doesn’t function properly, blood sugar levels rise, damaging blood vessels and making them stiff and ripe to form blood clots.

But turning to foods and especially drinks sweetened with sugar alternatives is not the answer. Those sweeteners, like xylitol and erythritol, promote blood clot formation.

It’s a safe bet to reach for water and safer options, such as modest amounts of coffee and tea, as pointed out in the INTERSTROKE study.

Remember, when a stroke strikes, minutes really do count. Every minute could spell the difference between recovery and permanent disablement, or death.

To remember the signs of a stroke with the acronym B.E.F.A.S.T.:

B – balance – trouble with balance or coordination

E – eyes – sudden blurred, double, or lost vision in one or both eyes

F – face – one side of the face is drooping

A – arms – weakness in one arm, which drifts down when both arms are raised

S – speech – slurred or hard-to-understand speech, or the inability to speak at all

T – time to get help – if you notice any of these symptoms, call 911 immediately

Sources:

Frequent fizzy or fruit drinks and high coffee consumption linked to higher stroke risk – Eureka Alert

Carbonated Beverage, Fruit Drink, and Water Consumption and Risk of Acute Stroke: the INTERSTROKE Case-Control Study – Journal of Stroke

B.E. F.A.S.T. to Spot a Stroke – universityhealth.com

The post The good and the bad: Drinks that impact stroke risk appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Previous research has noted associations between the consumption of added sugars and 45 negative health outcomes — among them diabetes, obesity, gout, cancer, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke.

Some people substitute artificial sweeteners for sugar. But those sweeteners carry their own health risks, including type 2 diabetes, weight gain, dementia, heart disease, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease and even colon cancer.

Now, investigators may be adding another condition to those lists….

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Drinking sweetened beverages could cause AFib

Atrial fibrillation, or irregular heartbeat, increases the risk of stroke by five-fold. According to the American Heart Association, more than 12 million people are expected to have AFib by 2030.

A team of researchers in China reviewed genetic data and data from dietary questionnaires for more than 200,000 adults who were free of atrial fibrillation (AFib) at the time they enrolled in the UK Biobank. During the nearly 10-year follow-up period, 9,362 cases of AFib occurred among the study participants.

The researchers observed that people who drank two liters or more of sugar-sweetened beverages per week had a 10 percent higher risk of AFib. And those who drank a similar amount of artificially sweetened beverages saw their risk of AFib increase by 20 percent.

If you think two liters a week sounds like a lot, it’s the equivalent of drinking one 12-ounce can of regular or diet soda each day for 6 days a week.

And if you smoke, you can see the AFib risk go even higher…

Smokers who consumed more than two liters per week of sugar-sweetened drinks had a 31 percent increased risk of AFib. There was no significantly higher risk for former smokers or people who never smoked.

By contrast, people who reported drinking one liter or less of pure juice, such as 100 percent orange or vegetable juice, each week had an 8 percent lower risk of AFib.

Those who consumed more artificially sweetened drinks were more likely to be female, younger, have a higher body mass index (BMI) and a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Those who drank more sugar-sweetened beverages were more likely to be male, younger, have a higher BMI and prevalence of heart disease and lower socioeconomic status.

Also, those who consumed sugar-sweetened drinks and pure juice were more likely to have a higher intake of total sugar than those who drank artificially sweetened beverages.

Lead study author Dr. Ningjian Wang, a researcher at the Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital and Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in Shanghai, China, says the mechanisms linking sweetened beverages and AFib risk are still unclear. However, there are several possible explanations, including insulin resistance and the body’s response to different sweeteners.

Wang cautions the study’s findings can’t definitively conclude that these beverages pose more health risk than others because of the complexity of people’s diets, including the fact that some people may drink more than one type of beverage.

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Quench thirst, not your sweet tooth

This study adds to the body of evidence that both sugar and artificial sweeteners are risky for heart health.

“We still need more research on these beverages to confirm these findings and to fully understand all the health consequences on heart disease and other health conditions,” says Kris-Etherton, an emeritus professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State University who was a co-author of the AHA’s science advisory on artificial sweeteners. “In the meantime, water is the best choice, and, based on this study, no- and low-calorie sweetened beverages should be limited or avoided.”

If you have difficulty drinking plain water, try water infused with fruit and/or herbs.If you miss the carbonation from soda, you can drink plain sparkling water instead.

Remember that the body responds to most natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup and agave the way it responds to sugar, so switching to those likely won’t make a difference health-wise. And if you choose the natural sweetener stevia, make sure it’s 100% pure stevia extract. Otherwise it likely contains erythritol, which is linked to increased blood clotting.

Unsweetened tea is another option. If you prefer a little flavor, consider herbal teas like peppermint, ginger, hibiscus or rooibos tea. I enjoy them iced with a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime. No sweetener needed!

Sources:

Sweetened drinks linked to atrial fibrillation risk — EurekAlert!

Sweetened Beverages, Genetic Susceptibility, and Incident Atrial Fibrillation: A Prospective Cohort Study — Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology

The post Real or artificial: The sweet drinks linked to AFib appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

By substituting artificial sweeteners for sugar in your diet, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Current research shows that one sweetener in particular actually increases body fat and may lead to other serious health concerns.

So why are major health organizations still recommending the use of this sweetener?

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Aspartame: Why it doesn’t work

University of Minnesota Medical School and School of Public Health researchers led a 2-year-long study on the relationship between dietary intake and cardiovascular disease risk factors.

In the process, they found that long-term consumption of aspartame was linked to increased fat stores in the abdomen and fat within muscle.

Aspartame is a non-nutritive sweetener (NNS) sold under the names Equal, Nutrasweet and Sugar Twin.

It is found in products including:

• Zero-sugar or diet sodas, including Diet Coke
• Sugar-free gums, such as Trident gum
• Diet drink mixes, including Crystal Light
• Reduced-sugar condiments, such as Log Cabin Sugar-Free Syrup
• Sugar-free gelatin like Sugar-free Jell-O

So why does aspartame actually make you gain fat?

The study authors pose the following explanation.

When aspartame metabolizes, it suppresses the action of intestinal alkaline phosphatase, an enzyme that, among other things, maintains gut homeostasis.

And poor gut health contributes to obesity (as well as upping your risk for diabetes, Parkinson’s, and other serious diseases).

Yet both the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association still recommend the use of artificial sweeteners like aspartame in place of sugar.

Ever heard the expression, “Out of the frying pan, into the fire”? It sure applies here.

Oh, and let’s not forget it’s “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”

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Healthier ways to “get sweet”

This study also looked at the harm done by diet sodas.

Many of them are sweetened with aspartame, and actually increase your waist size.

They also contribute to metabolic syndrome.

But the plant-based sweetener stevia can fight metabolic syndrome!

According to research, the stevia rebaudiana plant is a natural for treating obesity, hypertension and elevated blood sugar and lipids.

Another one to try is monk fruit extract. Monk fruit is a type of fruit native to Southeast Asia. It’s often used to make a natural sweetener called monk fruit extract.

Monk fruit contains antioxidant compounds known as mogrosides, which studies have shown may reduce markers of inflammation.

If you switch to stevia or monk fruit, take care to be sure erythritol is not used as a filler. Erythritol is linked to sticky blood and stroke.

If you’re looking to sweeten plain yogurt or oatmeal, dried fruits are a good choice. Pitted dates, figs, raisins, and any other dried fruit can be blended in a food processor for a smooth sweetener to mix into your food.

Sources:

Study links long-term artificial sweetener intake to increased body fat adipose tissue volume — Science Daily

Long-term aspartame and saccharin intakes are related to greater volumes of visceral, intermuscular, and subcutaneous adipose tissue: the CARDIA study — International Journal of Obesity

WHO advises not to use non-sugar sweeteners for weight control in newly released guideline — World Health Organization

WHO questions safety of aspartame. Here’s a list of popular foods, beverages with the sweetener. — CBS News

The post Long-term use of popular fake sugar increases belly fat appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Yet the FDA continues to insist these sweeteners are safe when consumed in moderation. In fact, they’ve set an acceptable daily intake for each of the seven artificial sweeteners approved for use in the United States. Most of these limits are far beyond the amount we would normally consume every day.

It’s no wonder people don’t know if they’re supposed to avoid these sweeteners. And a recent declaration by a leading global health body has only made things murkier…

WHO indicates aspartame may cause cancer

For the first time, the artificial sweetener aspartame has been listed as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The decision was based on what the WHO refers to as “limited evidence for cancer in humans (specifically for hepatocellular carcinoma, which is a type of liver cancer).” The agency also notes “limited evidence for cancer in experimental animals as well as limited evidence related to the possible mechanisms for causing cancer.”

Aspartame may be linked to cancer — seems pretty clear-cut, right?

But this is where it gets confusing…

Despite the IARC listing, another WHO arm, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), has reaffirmed its acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 40 mg per kg body weight for aspartame.

What that means is that if a can of diet soft drink contains 200 to 300 mg of aspartame, an adult weighing 70 kg would need to consume more than 9 to 14 cans per day to exceed the ADI.

And the FDA has gone its own way on the matter. The FDA says it disagrees with the IARC’s conclusion, noting it has reviewed the information included in the IARC review and identified “significant shortcomings” in the studies on which the decision relied. The FDA also referenced JECFA’s failure to raise safety concerns for aspartame under current levels of use and its choice not to change the ADI for the sweetener.

With that in mind, the FDA continues to recommend its own ADI for aspartame, which at 50 mg per kg of body weight is higher than JECFA’s.

Of course, the diet soda example above assumes people aren’t getting aspartame from other sources. And these days, we can’t assume that at all….

Aspartame is everywhere

According to the Calorie Control Council, aspartame is found in roughly 6,000 products worldwide ranging from carbonated and powdered soft drinks to condiments to candy, chewing gum and other prepackaged sweet treats. It can even be found in toothpaste and some pharmaceuticals such as vitamins and sugar-free cough drops.

Here are just some of the products aspartame may be hiding in:

• Diet soda
• Chewable vitamins and medicines
• Sports drinks
• Instant hot cocoa
• Flavored water
• Cereal
• Nutritional bars
• Jelly
• Ketchup
• Yogurt
• Pudding
• Microwavable popcorn
• Syrup
• Pedialyte
• Bread, English muffins and other baked goods

Basically, if the product is labeled “diet,” “reduced calorie” or “sugar-free,” it likely contains aspartame or some other artificial sweetener.

Given how surrounded we are by aspartame, even if you aren’t chugging 9 cans of diet soda every day, you may be closer to hitting the ADI than you think.

But what if you aren’t? Isn’t having an occasional diet soda or using aspartame-sweetened toothpaste okay?

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not be ingesting something that might possibly cause cancer down the road. Better to avoid aspartame completely than chance even a small amount.

Thankfully, as is the case with all food products, manufacturers are required to list aspartame on the label, making it easy to find — and avoid.

For those who are watching their weight and can’t imagine going without their favorite no-calorie sweetener, you may want to try natural sweeteners like stevia. Just make sure the stevia products you consume don’t also contain erythritol, which has been linked to higher risk of cardiovascular problems.

Sources:

Aspartame hazard and risk assessment results released — World Health Organization

Aspartame and Other Sweeteners in Food — U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Aspartame, cancer and other health risks: What you need to know — CNN

Aspartame — Calorie Control Council

The post It’s official: Aspartame could cause cancer appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

More than 3,000 food additives are poured into our foods — and even our medications. Many of these chemicals are linked to prostate cancer, other cancers, heart disease, diabetes and a wide range of health problems.

It is difficult to avoid all processed foods, but learning how to avoid the seven worst ingredients can help you focus on what to look for when reading labels.

If you see any of the following ingredients on a food label, you may want to put the box back on the shelf and keep shopping. These ingredients are detrimental to your health and should be avoided if possible.

In fact, if you have been suffering from unexplained headaches, bowel troubles or allergy-like symptoms, it may be time to look at your diet and eliminate some of the ingredients in processed foods.

Here’s a closer look at each type of additive and the health problems associated with it.

1. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer found in many frozen dinners, salad dressings, chips and meats. MSG is mostly made up of the same neurotransmitter used by your pancreas, eyes, brain, nervous system and other organs for initiating processes in your body.

MSG overexcites your cells and causes the nerves in the brain to fire rapidly and repeatedly, leading to damage or death. This additive may worsen or trigger Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. MSG commonly causes headaches as well as heart palpitations, and an increased desire to eat more food.

You have to use caution in reading labels for MSG: It can hide under other names and be included in a variety of other additives such as yeast extract, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, vegetable powder, glutamate, caseinate and natural flavor.

2. Artificial Sweeteners

One of the biggest myths about artificial sweeteners is that they can help you lose weight. Found in diet foods, low-calorie foods, drinks and liquid medications, artificial sweeteners are meant to reduce the amount of sugar and calories consumed.

However, ingesting artificial sweeteners can lead to even greater weight gain than results from consuming sugar. Artificial sweeteners are found under the names aspartame, sucralose (Splenda), saccharin and acesulfame potassium.

Artificial sweeteners can also cause headaches and dizziness, and some of them have even been linked to cancer. The amino acids in aspartame launch an attack on your cells, creating a toxic cellular overstimulation similar to the one that MSG causes. Artificial sweeteners, especially sucralose, inactivate digestive enzymes, changing the function of the gut barrier. That can cause or worsen inflammatory bowel disease. Research has shown that sucralose destroys up to 50 percent of your beneficial gut flora.

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3. High-Fructose Corn Syrup

High-fructose corn syrup is an inexpensive alternative to sugar, but the cost to your health is that it can tax and damage your liver the same way that alcohol does. The fructose in high-fructose corn syrup goes directly to your liver, where it is metabolized into fat to be stored in your fat cells. It leads to obesity, heart disease, insulin resistance and other related health problems. You can find this additive in sodas, juices, many processed foods and liquid medications.

4. Artificial Flavors

Artificial flavors are used to mimic the taste of natural ingredients and make processed foods taste better. This category is very vague, though. One artificial flavor can contain almost 50 chemicals. Artificial flavors can contain genetically modified flavor enhancers, as can “natural flavor.” Artificial flavors are linked to allergic reactions and behavioral reactions.

5. Artificial Colors

Each year, 15 million pounds of artificial food dyes are poured into U.S. foods. Nine of the approved food dyes are linked to cancer and hyperactivity in children, as well as allergy-like reactions and sinus problems. These colorful dyes may make food, candy and even over-the-counter medicines look more attractive; but you should try your best to avoid these deceptive dyes.

6. Trans Fats

Trans fats are the least healthy fats you can eat. These solid fats originated as healthier, liquid vegetable oils but were hydrogenated to form a solid fat that can cause many health problems. Avoid these completely. Trans fats can raise your triglyceride level and low-density lipoprotein level (LDL) (otherwise known as your bad cholesterol), increasing your risk for a heart attack. Trans fats are linked to prostate cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

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7. Preservatives In Processed Foods

Processed foods have a lot of preservatives because these additives lengthen a food’s shelf life. Problems associated with preservatives can include allergic reactions, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, possibly cancer, etc.

Preservatives to avoid include BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), TBQQ (tertiary butyl hydroquinone), sodium nitrate, sodium nitrate and sodium benzoate as well as polysorbate 60, 65 and 80. Both BHA and BHT can affect the neurological system of the brain, alter your behavior and potentially cause cancer.

TBHQ is a chemical preservative linked to cancer that can also cause tinnitus, nausea and vomiting. Sodium nitrate (not to be confused with naturally occurring dietary nitrates in foods like beets and spinach), commonly found in cured meats (hot dogs, deli meat and bacon), has been linked with higher rates of stomach, colorectal and pancreatic cancer. It is worth it to buy nitrate-free options. Sodium benzoate, found in juices and sodas, has been linked to allergies.

The sulfites found in dried fruits, flavored vinegar and wine are other preservatives that cause undesirable reactions. They especially can affect people with asthma. Sulfites may cause headaches, rashes, bowel irritability and behavioral problems.

Reading Labels And Eating Fresher Foods

Even though it is important to read and understand food labels so you know what you are putting in your body, it is important to note that not all foods require a label.

Organic, whole and natural foods like fruits, vegetables and nuts do not require a label because they are fresh and without added ingredients. If you eat a whole-food diet, you will be a lot healthier and won’t have to worry about what you are putting in your body.

The Mediterranean diet supports the consumption of whole foods and natural ingredients. Because the Mediterranean diet focuses on fresh seasonal produce, heart-healthy oils, fish and whole grains, it has been associated with many heart and other health benefits.

Mediterranean diet prostate benefits include the reduction of inflammation, support of the body’s defenses against cancer, reduction in saturated fats, an extremely low level of trans fats, low level of sugar, a large amount of antioxidants and the elimination of processed foods.

Several studies have demonstrated that eating a Mediterranean diet can help men prevent or reduce symptoms of prostate cancer,(BPH) and prostatitis.

When you are shopping, try to stick to the aisles where you find generally fresher products and avoid the processed foods aisles that contain long lists of preservatives, sweeteners and unnatural ingredients. Carefully read the labels for foods and medicines so you can avoid the seven worst types of ingredients in processed foods. Doing this can help you protect your brain, heart and overall health.

Following these simple guidelines will help you eat better and eliminate unhealthy ingredients.

After excluding some of these additives from your diet, you may notice that you feel better, too. If your headaches, allergies and bowel troubles end after changing your diet, your problems may have been caused by additives in your processed foods.

The post Never buy foods with these 7 ingredients appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

The American Diabetes Association supports it as an acceptable sugar replacement, even though it has generated 75 percent of consumer reports on adverse reactions to artificial sweeteners.

If you use the artificial sweeteners Nutra Sweet or Equal, you’re eating aspartame.

And if you drink diet soda or chew gum, you’re getting a good dose of aspartame. It’s also found in cereals, yogurt, synthetic vitamins and even some pharmaceutical drugs… and that’s just the shortlist!

We’re already aware of the health risks associated with aspartame.

But that list keeps growing…

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Multi-generational anxiety: not so sweet

Researchers at Florida State University worked with mice to explore the possible trans-generational effects of aspartame consumption.

That is, if you consume artificial sweetener, how does it affect your children? Your grandchildren?

This research was a follow-up to a previous study where nicotine was examined similarly.

“We were working on the effects of nicotine on the same type of model,” says co-author Dr. Pradeep Bhide. “The father smokes. What happened to the children?”

For twelve weeks, mice were given water that contained aspartame at about 15 percent of the FDA-approved maximum human daily intake, the equivalent of six to eight cans of diet soda.

The study tracked these exposed mice and those bred from them over a four-year period.

What the researchers saw astounded them.

“It was such a robust anxiety-like trait that I don’t think any of us were anticipating we would see,” says lead author Sara Jones  “It was completely unexpected. Usually, you see subtle changes.” 

Through a variety of maze tests, the mice exhibited pronounced anxiety-like behavior across multiple generations.

Moreover, when they were given diazepam, a drug used to treat anxiety disorder in humans, the anxiety-like behavior ceased, across the board.

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Where aspartame hides

“Extrapolation of the findings to humans suggests that aspartame consumption at doses below the FDA recommended maximum daily intake may produce neurobehavioral changes in aspartame-consuming individuals — and their descendants,” the researchers say.

“Thus, the human population at risk of aspartame’s potential mental health effects may be larger than current expectations, which only include aspartame-consuming individuals.”

In plain language, there are probably a lot more of us than we thought walking around out there living with aspartame-induced anxiety. And aspartame is already known to cause a range of symptoms from headaches and nausea to memory loss, slurred speech and gastrointestinal disorders.

If you do decide to avoid aspartame and other artificial sweeteners, you’ll need to read labels religiously, especially if you shop at big-box or conventional grocery stores. The number of products filled with aspartame, sucralose, erythritol and other artificial sweeteners in these stores is astounding. Here are some of the most common culprits:

• Zero-sugar or diet sodas.
• Sugar-free gums.
• Diet drink mixes.
• Reduced-sugar condiments, including pancake syrups and ketchup.
• Sugar-free gelatin and yogurt.
• Some gummy or chewable vitamins, cough syrups, cough drops and cold/flu relief over-the-counter medications.
• Some toothpaste and mouthwash products.

Basically, if you avoid anything labeled “diet,” “reduced calorie,” “light” or “sugar-free,” you’ll be well on your way to an aspartame-free life.

Sources:

FSU research links common sweetener with anxiety — Florida State University

A Popular Sweetener Had A Worrying Impact on Generations Of Mice — Science Alert

Transgenerational transmission of aspartame-induced anxiety and changes in glutamate-GABA signaling and gene expression in the amygdala — PNAS

The post Aspartame: The artificial sweetener linked to anxiety appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Despite all that’s come out in recent years about the negative impact these sweeteners have on health — such as increasing blood sugar problems, heart attack and stroke risk — they’re still popular.

Yet, while many people turn to these low-cal or sugar-free beverages to reduce their calorie intake and lose weight, they’ve actually been shown to do just the opposite! In fact, artificial sweeteners are worse for weight gain and waistlines.

But as far as health goes, the news just keeps getting worse. A new study shows they can damage your gut and allow nasty bacteria to break through your intestines, cause infection and invade vital organs…

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Artificial sweeteners help germs invade your gut lining

In fact, previous studies have already shown that artificial sweeteners can affect the balance of bacteria in your gut. That means you could have a healthy, balanced microbiome — which promotes the health of your entire boy — only to have it ruined by artificial sweeteners.

Now, a study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences is the first to show the pathogenic effects of some of the most widely used artificial sweeteners.

The culprits:

• Saccharin – found in that pink package we all recognize as Sweet ‘N Low
• Sucralose – a sugar derivative made with chlorine and found in Splenda
• Aspartame – one of the most common artificial sweeteners found in diet sodas and sugar-free gums

According to the researchers, these three sweeteners make it possible for two types of bacteria commonly found in the gut — E. coli (Escherichia coli) and E. faecalis (Enterococcus faecalis) — to wreak havoc on the intestinal lining, by attaching themselves to, invading, and killing the epithelial cells responsible for keeping the gut barrier strong, and you well.

The Trojan horse: two cans of soda

This new molecular research, led by academics from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), has demonstrated that artificial sweetener from the equivalent of just two cans of soda makes the E. coli and E. faecalis bacteria pathogenic.

E. faecalis is known for crossing the intestinal wall to enter the bloodstream to congregate in the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, causing all sorts of infections including septicemia.

But normally, that’s no easy task — as long as the lining of the intestinal lining is healthy and strong. When working properly, it forms a tight, saran wrap-like barrier that helps control what enters the bloodstream. Like a highly regulated security team, it lets in nutrients so they may be absorbed while keeping pathogens, toxins and undigested foods out.

The opposite of that would be a leaky gut, which occurs when small openings develop in the lining.

Enter artificial sweeteners…

These not-so-sweet villains not only increase the amount of E. faecalis in the gut, giving them an unfair advantage, but also increase the formation of biofilms along the gut wall. This film aids the bacteria in doing its dirty work by helping it adhere to the lining and by providing an antimicrobial-resistant “covering.” From there the bacteria set out to secrete toxins and express “virulence factors,” which are disease-causing molecules.

Is a full-body invasion that starts in your gut and can infect your entire body worth that “refreshing” diet soda, now?

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A stern warning about artifical sweeteners

Senior author of the paper Dr Havovi Chichger, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said: “There is a lot of concern about the consumption of artificial sweeteners, with some studies showing that sweeteners can affect the layer of bacteria which support the gut, known as the gut microbiota.

“Our study is the first to show that some of the sweeteners most commonly found in food and drink — saccharin, sucralose and aspartame — can make normal and ‘healthy’ gut bacteria become pathogenic. These pathogenic changes include greater formation of biofilms and increased adhesion and invasion of bacteria into human gut cells.

“These changes could lead to our own gut bacteria invading and causing damage to our intestine, which can be linked to infection, sepsis and multiple-organ failure.”

If you haven’t given up the fake sweeteners yet, now’s the time to get serious about it.

There are plenty of other safe and natural sweeteners you can try including stevia, blackstrap molasses, and agave, along with six other options with health-boosting properties.

Sources:

Study shows potential dangers of sweeteners — EurekAlert!

The post The link between artificial sweeteners, infection and multi-organ failure appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Its effects aren’t so sweet. It starts by turning the body against its master hormone, insulin. And while blood sugar problems are developing below the surface, above the surface extra weight and inches begin to appear.

That’s why so many of us shun sugar and turn to no-calorie or low-calorie sweeteners.

However, like the sugar cartel, the sweetener industry has a dirty little secret all of its own.

When it comes to your health, sweeteners aren’t all they’re cracked up to be…

In fact, fake sweeteners, like aspartame, sucralose and saccharine, have already been linked to everything from heart disease to asthma and autoimmune disorders.

Yet, there’s one you may think is a safe alternative – erythritol – a sugar alcohol that’s been making its way into more and more low-sugar, sugar-free and keto reduced-sugar products.

But don’t be fooled…

According to researchers at the Cleveland Clinic, erythritol could simply be one more bitter health danger disguised as a sweet treat.

Sugar substitute leads to sticky blood

It’s easy to see why erythritol may have been identified as a safer alternative to sugar in the beginning. It’s naturally present in fruits and vegetables — but in very small amounts. But processed low-sugar, sugar-free and no-carb foods can contain amounts of the sugar alcohol that are 1,000-fold higher!

So what dangerous secret is erythritol hiding?

Sticky blood and a dramatically increased risk for a cardiovascular event!

Yup, those Cleveland researchers studied over 4,000 people altogether in the U.S. and Europe, comparing blood levels of erythritol levels to heart dangers and the results were frightening.

Here’s a breakdown of the most important facts:

• In a group of 1,157 participants who agreed to undergo tests at a cardiovascular clinic, those with the highest erythritol levels had twice the risk of dying from or experiencing a major cardiovascular event, like a heart attack or stroke, in the next three years.
• After volunteers consumed an erythritol-sweetened drink, their blood levels of the compound peaked and remained high for two to three days before returning to normal. These levels were well above the value known to increase risk of blood clots.
• When erythritol was added to whole blood samples blood stickiness and other measures associated with blood clotting increased markedly, confirming that the sweetener heightens dangerous clot formation.

“Sweeteners like erythritol, have rapidly increased in popularity in recent years but there needs to be more in-depth research into their long-term effects,” said senior author Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D.

Erythritol is also the largest ingredient by weight in many stevia and monk fruit products where it is used as a filler, according to Dr. Hazen.

Support healthy blood flow

So what can you do if you’ve been regularly using a sweetener or eating a food that contains erythritol because you believed it was a healthier alternative?

For starters, I hope you’ll give it up — right away. And until we know more about any lingering effects, let me share some circulation 101 with you…

Clotting of the blood is a normal bodily function. When things go as planned, blood clots any time there is an injury to a blood vessel, such as when you cut yourself. Tiny bits in your blood called platelets get “turned on” when an artery or vein is damaged. They stick to the walls of the blood vessel, and to each other, forming a plug that stops blood from leaking out.

Special proteins keep the clot from spreading farther than it needs to. And as the damaged tissue heals and the clot isn’t needed anymore, it dissolves back into the blood.

But sometimes the clotting process doesn’t go like it’s supposed to… whether erythritol is to blame or not. So, instead of risking it, I promote healthy blood flow naturally with nattokinase.

Nattokinase is an all-natural enzyme discovered over 40 years ago by a Japanese medical researcher named Hiyosuki Sumi, M.D.  It was isolated from a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans called “natto” and demonstrated the ability to support healthy blood flow.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: avoid the processed foods, the additives (as much as you can) and the artificial “this and that’s.” It’s a jungle out there.

Sources:

Popular Artificial Sweetener Appears to Make Blood ‘Stickier’, Linked to Stroke Risk – Microsoft Start

Cleveland Clinic study finds common artificial sweetener linked to higher rates of heart attack and stroke – EurekAlert!

The post Erythritol: The sugar substitute linked to sticky blood and stroke appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Anyone who’s ever tried to lose weight is probably familiar with those pink, blue and yellow packets, and has probably had quite a few diet sodas in their lifetime. After all, that’s why zero-calorie artificial sweeteners like saccharin, sucralose and aspartame were created in the first place.

Unfortunately, it turns out they’re not really helping on that front. Studies show that artificial sweeteners can actually make changes to the gut microbiome that lead to weight gain. These changes can also increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.

And that’s not all. Beverages containing artificial sweeteners have also been linked with an increased risk of death and dementia.

However, findings have been mixed about the role of artificial sweeteners in various diseases, including cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Many studies have used consumption of artificially sweetened beverages to explore CVD risk. But none have measured intake of artificial sweeteners from the overall diet — until now….

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Using artificial sweeteners could be risky for your heart

Researchers at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and the University of Paris examined data from more than 100,000 participants in the web-based NutriNet-Santé study. This online study is ongoing and investigates the relationship between nutrition and health.

The participants whose data was included had an average age of 42 and 80 percent were female. Daily records tracked their consumption of and artificial sweeteners by type and from all dietary sources.

A total of 37 percent of the participants consumed artificial sweeteners, with an average intake of 42.46 mg per day. This equates to about one individual packet of tabletop sweetener or 100 mL (3.4 ounces) of diet soda. At the low end of the scale, some of these individuals consumed 7.46 mg of artificial sweeteners a day, while others consumed as many as 77.62 mg a day.

Compared with those who did not consume artificial sweeteners, those who consumed higher levels of the sugar substitutes tended to be younger and less physically active, with a higher body mass index (BMI). They were also more likely to smoke and follow a weight loss diet. They didn’t consume as many calories or as much alcohol, carbohydrates, saturated and polyunsaturated fats, fiber, fruits and vegetables. And they took in more sodium, red and processed meats, dairy products and beverages with no added sugar. The researchers took these differences into account in their data analyses.

Just over 1,500 cardiovascular events occurred in the study participants over an average follow-up period of nine years. These events included heart attack, angina, transient ischemic attack and stroke, as well as angioplasty, a procedure to widen blocked or narrowed arteries to the heart.

Researchers found that total artificial sweetener intake was associated with a 9 percent increase in cardiovascular disease risk. Total consumption was linked in particular with higher cerebrovascular disease risk — which equates to higher stroke risk.

When looking at individual types of artificial sweeteners, aspartame was associated with increased risk of cerebrovascular events, while acesulfame potassium and sucralose showed an increased risk of coronary heart disease, which increases risk for heart attack.

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A natural alternative to fake sweeteners

The researchers caution that this is an observational study, so it can’t establish cause. And they can’t rule out the possibility that other unknown factors may have affected the results. Still, this large-scale study used precise, high-quality data, and its findings are in line with other studies linking artificial sweeteners with markers of poor health.

Thus, the researchers conclude, these food additives “should not be considered a healthy and safe alternative to sugar.”

That’s a pretty compelling reason to kick these artificial sweeteners out of your diet. Instead of loading up on low-calorie packaged foods and diet sodas, try a diet that’s rich in whole grains, dairy, seafood, legumes, fruits and vegetables and plain water.

If you really dislike the taste of plain water, try adding mint or slices of fruit or cucumber to sweeten it naturally. Or you can mix your water with a few drops of stevia or monk fruit, natural plant-derived sweeteners that are available plain or in a wide range of delicious flavors.

Only use 100 percent pure stevia with no fillers, being especially careful to avoid erythritol.

Sources:

Artificial sweeteners and risk of cardiovascular diseases: results from the prospective NutriNet-Santé cohort — The BMJ

Researchers Find Link Between Artificial Sweeteners and Heart Disease — SciTechDaily

Artificial Sweetener Consumption Linked to Increased Cardiovascular Disease Risk — Practical Cardiology

The post The real stroke and heart disease risks of fake sweeteners appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

However, when it comes to reaching for artificially sweetened beverages for weight loss, you might be getting more than you bargained for.

In fact, according to a study led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, switching to diet soda to lose weight may cause you to suffer from more than just a synthetic aftertaste. It could actually make you eat more — a weird side effect researchers discovered that seems to unfairly target women…

The no-calorie gamble you might want to avoid

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, is considered to be one of the largest to date to examine the effects of artificial sweeteners compared to sugar on both brain activity and appetite.

And it’s been a long time coming.

Even though these sweeteners are widely used, there has been no clear consensus on their health consequences, when it comes to appetite, glucose metabolism and weight.

“While some studies suggest they may be helpful, others show they may be contributing to weight gain, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders,” said Kathleen Page, MD, the study’s corresponding author and an associate professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine.

Additional studies have linked these sweeteners to other health problems such as autoimmune disorders, heart disease and even asthma thanks to their effect on the gut microbiome.

And when you consider the fact that statistics show that more than 40 percent of adults in the U.S. currently use artificial sweeteners regularly, not knowing their full effects seems like a roll of the dice we shouldn’t want to make.

So the researchers set out to do it a little differently. Their study delved into the effects of those sweeteners on different population groups in order to “tease out some of the reasons behind those conflicting results.”

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Worse effects for women and people who are obese

The team recruited 74 participants — both males and females — who were at a healthy weight, overweight or obese.  Each person was asked to attend three separate visits where they consumed either 300 milliliters of a drink sweetened with sucrose (table sugar), a drink sweetened with the artificial sweetener sucralose, or water as a control.

For the next two hours, the researchers kept track of three things:

• Activation of regions of the brain responsible for appetite and food cravings when participants were shown pictures of high-calorie foods like a burger and donut using brain MRIs
• Levels of blood sugar, insulin, and other metabolic hormones
• The amount of food each person chose to eat at a buffet offered at the end of each session

What did the researchers discover?

The team says that hands-down, artificial sweeteners work to make some people more hungry.

Specifically, brain MRIs revealed that after consuming drinks containing sucralose, activity in regions of the brain responsible for food cravings and appetite increased in both women and people who were obese.

To top it off, the researchers say that in all groups, artificial sweeteners caused a decrease in levels of hormones that send a “full signal” to your body. In other words, they not only don’t suppress hunger — they may drive it.

However, the effect on women seemed to go deeper. In the final stage of the study, female participants who consumed a drink containing sucralose ate more at the snack buffet than after they drank a sugary beverage.

So what it comes down to is this…

Artificial sweeteners may trick your brain into feeling hungry, causing you to consume more calories than you otherwise would. This is especially true if you’re a woman.

So, if you want to lose weight, skip those artificially sweetened beverages. In truth, nothing beats water if weight loss is your goal. According to the experts at Medical News Today, water is a natural appetite suppressant, increases calorie burn (in fact, it’s necessary to burn fat!) and helps reduce overall liquid calorie intake.

Sources:

Looking to lose weight? Diet drinks might not be the sweet spot, according to new USC study — Keck School of Medicine of USC

The post Diet soda’s weird side effect that unfairly targets women appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

These drinks are one of the biggest culprits when it comes to consuming too much sugar. After all, it’s easy to ignore the sugar you’re drinking when it’s a bottle of fruit juice (they’re just a bad as sodas!).

Like many, you may have switched to artificially sweetened drinks, but we’ve found they’re just as bad. In fact, a study of 5,158 adults over seven years found that people who consumed large quantities of artificial sweeteners gained more weight than non-users — the exact opposite of what you’re going for when you choose to use them.

If you’ve had a hard time cutting back, this recent study may give you some major motivation to ditch them for good…

That’s because sweet drinks aren’t just making us sick and fat — they’re making us old and frail — fast.

Sweetened drinks make women age too fast

An international team of medical and nutrition researchers is reporting that sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks are especially harmful to older women because they accelerate the aging process by increasing frailty.

Frailty is not just a byproduct of aging. It’s a standalone medical condition that is associated with a lower quality of life and a higher risk of death, hospitalization and institutionalization.

The data that connected frailty with sweet drinks came from the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-term health study investigating the risk factors for major chronic diseases. It included food-frequency and health questionnaires filled out periodically by 71,935 women from 1992 to 2014.

During that 22-year period, 11,559 of the women, or 16 percent, met the criteria for frailty — meaning they reported at least three of the following:

• Fatigue
• Reduced strength
• Low aerobic activity
• Five or more chronic illnesses
• Loss of at least 5 percent of body weight over a two-year period

Now, if you think these women may have been guzzling these sweet drinks, you’ll be surprised at these findings…

Just drinking two or more servings of sugar-sweetened beverages a day made women 32 percent more likely to become frail than those who drank none. For artificially sweetened drinks, the results were similar — a 28 percent increased risk for women who had two or more servings a day. 

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Other reasons to give up sweet drinks

If you’ve read up on free radical damage, all of this may have come as no surprise to you. Free radical damage is tied to premature aging and disease — and sugar is tied to free radical damage because it accelerates oxidative stress.

The more sugar you eat, the more oxidation occurs, and free radicals are a natural byproduct of this process. Supplementing with antioxidants, like the well-researched resveratrol, can help guard against free radical damage. But if you don’t give up the sweetened drinks, or at least cut down, it’s a never-ending battle.

If that’s not enough incentive to ditch the sweeteners, I’m not sure what is — except maybe all of these other reasons:

• If you’re getting 25 percent or more of your daily calories from sugar, you’re a heart attack waiting to happen. It’s sugar, not fat, that is the main dietary cause of heart disease.

• Are you worried about developing Alzheimer’s disease? A study in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia found that people who drink more than two sugary drinks of any type per day have reduced brain volume, including a shrunken hippocampus, and are at risk of Alzheimer’s in the long term.

• There’s even evidence that the younger and more pliable brains of adolescents are being damaged by too many sweet drinks. Studies show that daily intake of sugar will cause brain inflammation during this critical period of brain development, setting young people up for Alzheimer’s later in life. If you have a teenager or young adult in your life, you might want to encourage them to try these brain-boosting drinks as an alternative to soda.

And by the way, there is such a thing as being addicted to sugar. Luckily, you can rewire your brain to eat and drink less of it, and save your memory and your health. Here’s how.

Sources:

Sugary Drinks May Be Bad for Aging — NY Times

Sweetened beverages and risk of frailty among older women in the Nurses’ Health Study: A cohort study — PLOS Medicine

Here Are All the Scary Things Sugar Does to You — Medium: In Fitness and in Health

Frailty Not a Normal Part of Aging — Web MD

Sugary beverage intake and preclinical Alzheimer’s disease in the community — Alzheimer’s & Dementia

The post Those sweet drinks you love? They’re aging you faster appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In fact, the impact of diet, sugar-free or artificially sweetened beverages on cardiovascular health has been up in the air.

Yet, because past research has proven that diets packed with sugar negatively impact heart health — and cause diabetes, cancer, hypertension; the list goes on and on — many people, have turned to artificial sweeteners to “have their cake and eat it too,” without the worry of harming their hearts.

However, a team of researchers from the Sorbonne Paris Nord University decided to examine whether the health effects of drinking artificially sweetened drinks were truly any better than their sugar-laden counterparts.

Their research, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, took a deep dive into the relationship between the risk of cardiovascular disease and consuming both types of drinks — finally comparing the two, head-to-head.

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Sugar versus artificial sweeteners

The researchers were able to access records for 104,760 individuals from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort to participate in the study that began in 2009.

The participants were asked to fill out three validated web-based 24-hour dietary records every six months. There were two beverage categories…

• Sugary drinks, which consisted of all beverages (including sodas or juices) containing 5 percent or more sugar.
• Artificially sweetened beverages, which were basically anything that didn’t contain real sugar — and instead was sweetened with the likes of aspartame, sucralose (better known as Splenda) and even sweeteners like stevia.

For each beverage category, based on the levels they drank, participants were divided into groups of non-consumers, low-consumers and high-consumers. A sub-sample of 20,000 participants also provided blood and urine samples.

The researchers looked for signs and incidents related to heart disease, including:

• Stroke
• Transient ischemic attack or TIA
• Myocardial infarction
• Acute coronary syndrome
• Angioplasty

What did they find?

Compared to the non-consumers — those people who skipped both sugary and artificially sweetened beverages — the people that fell into the high consumer groups for both sugar and artificially sweetened drinks had a far higher risk of suffering an incident due to heart disease, even after taking into account all other confounding factors!

In other words, it didn’t matter whether there was sugar in their drinks, aspartame or even stevia (a staple for health-conscious consumers everywhere), any type of sweetened drink appeared to be equally as bad for their hearts.

“Our study suggests artificially sweetened beverages may not be a healthy substitute for sugar drinks, and these data provide additional arguments to fuel the current debate on taxes, labeling and regulation of sugary drinks and artificially sweetened beverages,” said lead author Eloi Chazelas, a member of the nutritional epidemiology research team at the Sorbonne Paris Nord University.

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What not to drink

There you have it: switching over to artificial sweeteners from sugar doesn’t look so appealing now, does it?

And even though the researchers said that to establish a causal link between sugary and artificially sweetened beverages and cardiovascular disease, replication in large-scale prospective cohorts and mechanistic investigations will be needed — it seems pretty clear choosing artificially sweetened beverages over sugar-sweetened ones hold no benefit.

If you’re not sure what drinks may be artificially sweetened, here are a few that fit the bill…

• Coke Zero
• Diet Coke
• Fanta Zero
• Fresca
• Mellow Yellow Zero
• PowerAde Zero
• Bai Super Teas
• Zevia
• Gold Peak Diet Tea
• And many more

Let’s face it, heart health means skipping sweeteners and going au natural. Try water or unsweetened green or black tea to keep that ticker ticking.

Sources:

Diet Drinks Associated With This Major Health Risk, Study Says — Eat This, Not That!

Artificially sweetened drinks may not be heart healthier than sugary drinks — ScienceDaily

The post Drinks that lead to heart disease: Sugary, artificially sweetened or both? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

A typical soda delivers about 160 calories.

Given that 100 extra calories per day lead to a 10-pound weight gain in a year — that one can of soda literally adds unwanted pounds to your weight in a very short period of time.

But what if I told you there was another beverage that could be even worse?  In fact, if it were a pharmaceutical it might have been pulled from the market by now.

That’s because if a prescription drug increased the chance of pre-term delivery, it would carry a stern warning to physicians against use in pregnant women…

If a prescription drug was associated with a 30 percent increased likelihood of depression, it would have “depression” listed as a major side effect on the patient information pamphlet, with instructions to report the side effect immediately…

And if daily use of prescription medication was associated with a 67 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, it would never pass FDA clearance.

Diet soda has been shown to do all these things. But that’s not all…

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Bad ‘drug’ on the beverage isle

It makes no sense, right?  After all, doesn’t SUGAR cause diabetes?  And aren’t diet sodas free of sugars?

Turns out our bodies are FAR more complex — and what I’m about to tell you should make you think twice or maybe three or four or ten times — about any chemical you put into your body.  Because the health effects can be completely unanticipated.

A new study has provided insights into something that has been a medical curiosity for some time — the fact that people who ingest artificial sweeteners are at the same risk of developing type 2 diabetes as those who consume a lot of added sugars.  Theories as to why this is have ranged from a simplistic view that people who drink diet pop feel enabled to make up for those calories through food, to a more complex explanation that a sweet taste unaccompanied by calories confuses the brain and impacts satiety signals.

In fact, the mechanism is unrelated to any of that.

Related: The drink that doubles stroke risk in post-menopausal women

What we now know is that artificial sweeteners enhance intestinal sugar absorption by affecting gut hormones.  There are many of those, including GLP-1, which act to limit the rise of blood sugar levels after meals.

Artificial sweeteners attenuate GLP-1 levels significantly, leading to dramatic increases in circulating blood sugar levels after meals.  Bombard your cells with sugar often enough, and you eventually exhaust your pancreas and develop diabetes.

And it’s not like the GLP-1 effect takes years to manifest.  The study that uncovered this mechanism demonstrated this happens quickly — within only 2 weeks of regular artificial sweetener consumption.

So, from the moment you start using artificial sweeteners, you start your march towards type 2 diabetes.

But what about the main reason for drinking the stuff?

Weight loss, right?

Turns out, it doesn’t even work for that!  Those zero/low-calorie sweeteners don’t help us attain the goal we have when we turn to diet beverages.

A recent analysis showed that consumption of nonnutritive sweeteners is actually associated with INCREASES in weight, waist circumference, and BMI.

In fact, long-term studies suggest that consumption of nonnutritive sweeteners is associated with higher risks of obesity, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular disease events.

Whether diet or regular, soda is not your friend.

It’s time to ditch them — once and for all. Water is by far a better choice overall and a great thirst quencher. Even juices, as long as you watch the sugar content. And don’t forget what we learned about the hydrating power of milk, recently.

The post How a zero-calorie soda can give you diabetes appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In the decade after menopause, your stroke risk doubles. And depending on your lifestyle and genes, it may go up even more than that…

Smoking, not exercising, drinking alcohol and other unhealthy habits can cause your stroke risk to skyrocket. Your family history and ethnicity affect your stroke risk too.

So, if you’re a post-menopausal woman, pay attention to how your habits and genes play into your stroke risk. And more importantly, find ways to get that rising risk back down.

Luckily, I know one simple way to do just that — stop drinking diet drinks.

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Diet drinks drive stroke and cardiovascular risks

Maybe diet drinks have never been your thing, or maybe they’re the guilty pleasure you just can’t quit. If you fall into the latter camp and you’re a woman who’s made it through menopause, you’re stoking the flames of an already dangerous stroke risk.

A new study published in Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association, found that drinking two or more diet drinks per day doubled stroke risk in certain groups of post-menopausal women. For example:

• Women without heart disease or diabetes were 2.44 times more likely to have a blockage in a small artery of the brain that led to a stroke.
• Obese women without heart disease or diabetes were 2.03 times more likely to have a stroke caused by a clot.
• Black women without heart disease or diabetes were 3.93 times more likely to have a stroke caused by a clot.

As a whole, women who drank two or more diet drinks per day faced these increased risks compared to women who drank diet drinks once per week or less:

• 23 percent higher stroke risk
• 31 percent higher risk of a clot-caused (ischemic) stroke
• 29 percent higher risk of heart disease
• 16 percent higher risk of dying from all causes

The study included 81,714 postmenopausal women who were between the ages of 50 and 79 when it started. Researchers tracked their diet habits and health for nearly 12 years.

Researchers also made sure to adjust the data for other stroke risk factors, like age, high blood pressure, and smoking. So, the risk they identified was all due to those dang diet drinks.

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Tackling a diet drink addiction

It’s no secret that the artificial sweeteners found in diet drinks aren’t great for you. So post-menopausal woman or not, you’re probably better off ditching the diet soda.

But that’s not always easy. Maybe drinking diet soda goes back to your college days… 25 years ago. Or it’s the one thing you look forward to in the afternoon. Or you feel cranky and irritable when you can’t get your hands on a can of diet soda.

Habits are hard to break. Pair that with the fact that the artificial sweeteners in diet drinks can be psychologically and even physically addictive, and you’ve got a challenging task before you. But you can conquer your cravings for diet drinks.

Stopping anything cold turkey is harder than making a gradual change. So, if you’re a full-fledged diet drink addict, start by slowly weaning yourself from them. Cut back to one per day at first. Then one every other day. Then twice per week. Then once per week. Then only on special occasions when you want to treat yourself.

Of course, if you find that it’s impossible to practice moderation when it comes to diet drinks, you may need to cut them out completely right away. I know sometimes drinking just one is like opening a can of worms (or a can of diet coke). It makes you want more.

Regardless of which approach you take, it helps to replace your diet drinks with healthier alternatives. If you look forward to a diet drink in the afternoon, for example, replace it with something else you love (or can learn to love), like:

• Sparkling water (plain or flavored)
• Kombucha
• Tea
• Coconut water
• Mineral water
• Fruit-infused water

Depending on your health goals, some of these may have certain downsides (like calorie counts) or upsides (like nutrient counts). But the fact is, every single one is better for you than that Diet Coke you’ve been drinking. So, drink up and keep yourself safe from strokes.

Sources:

1. Diet drinks may be associated with strokes among post-menopausal women — MedicalXpress
2. Artificially Sweetened Beverages and Stroke, Coronary Heart Disease, and All-Cause Mortality in the Women’s Health Initiative — Stroke
3. Menopause and Stroke: An Epidemiologic Review — The Lancet Neurology
4. Can you get hooked on diet soda? — CNN

The post The drink that doubles stroke risk in post-menopausal women appeared first on Easy Health Options®.