Why do people have a mistrust of artificial sweeteners?

Because artificial sweeteners lie to your tongue.

In a blog post for The Huffington Post earlier this month, Dr. Mark Hyman explained how “diet soda makes you fat” and unhealthy:

Artificial sweeteners are hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than regular sugar, activating our genetically-programmed preference for sweet taste more than any other substance.

They trick your metabolism into thinking sugar is on its way. This causes your body to pump out insulin, the fat storage hormone, which lays down more belly fat.

It also confuses and slows your metabolism down, so you burn fewer calories every day.

It makes you hungrier and crave even more sugar and starchy carbs like bread and pasta.

In animal studies, the rats that consumed artificial sweeteners ate more, their metabolism slowed, and they put on 14 percent more body fat in just two weeks—even eating fewer calories.

In population studies, there was a 200 percent increased risk of obesity in diet soda drinkers.

source

My personal opinion? Artificial sweeteners taste nasty. I’m not a fan of sugary drinks, but if I’m going to have an occasional soda, I’m going to drink the real thing. No artificial crap for me. Consuming any soda on a regular basis is not healthy for you.

@jonsblond I researched the Purdue university peice that Huff Post cited and the original paper is labled an opinion piece. Which means the researchers drew baseless conclusions.

Yeah. The first four words of my post: In a blog post. I was pretty sure everyone would come to the conclusion that it was an opinion.

I still think artificial sweeteners are nasty.

In general many people distrust things that are not ‘natural’

Because it says so the Internet and everything published on the internet is true.

@Lightlyseared My grandfather was a heavy user of artificial sweeteners back in the 70s and 80s. He was diabetic. He ended up dying from complications due to stomach cancer in 1987. My grandmother and father believed his heavy use of artificial sweeteners may have caused the stomach cancer. They didn’t use the internet in the 80s.

Natural sweetners just taste better to me, and they aren’t horribly sweet. It’s not that I have anything against artificial sweetners, but why should I use these when I always have the option of using sugar, truvia or a few others?

I don’t use artificial sweeteners much. I put a packet of Splenda in my spaghetti sauce to cut the bitter taste caused by the acidity in tomatoes, but that’s about it. I drink one soda a day and it is a diet one, to save calories and because I think regular soda tastes like syrup. I don’t worry much about it. What doesn’t cause disease these days?

^^ Organic kale and miso.

Some years ago, artificial sweeteners were accused of (probably by the sugar industry) of causing cancer. It made some huge headlines and was a scandal for about 6 months.

Then it turned out that the ONE article said this was doing some absurd measurements – like one lab rat died from ingesting an amount of aspartame (that to be a human equivalent) of some huge number. Like a human would have to have drunk 200 coffees (or sodas) per hour for four years straight, 24 hours a day. It was some crazy idiotic research, and eventually it was discredited.

But in the end, people remember the bad, and not the truth.

My druthers tell me moderation is always better than excess: a reasonable amount of sugar is better than all you can eat artificial sweeter.
Our bodies do not have molecular machinery to deal with many artificial chemicals, which is why trans-fats cause such problems (our bodies expect cis-fats, trans fats just jam in the gears), and dioxin just accumulates in our tissues forever and ever because we have no way of excreting them.
I’ve spilled my load, that’s all I know about this.

The most prominent danger of Aspartame is that when ingested, the methanol (wood alcohol) is distributed throughout the body, including the brain, muscle, fat and nervous tissues, and is then metabolized to form formaldehyde, which enters cells and binds to proteins and genetic material (DNA). Methanol is a dangerous neurotoxin and a known carcinogen, which causes retinal damage in the eye, interferes with DNA processes, and can cause birth defects.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034320_aspartame_sweetener_side_effects.html#ixzz2d05jMfG3

I wouldn’t drink anything with artificial sweeteners in, knowingly, but I am sure that the manufacturers changed the name of aspartame to fool the consumers.
Why choose a chemical over a natural product?

^^^^^ Why ? Because they dissolve in cold liquids.

@SomeoneElse

1 cup sugar – 773 calories
1 cup artificial sweetener – 0 calories

That’s why.

Of course, no one eats 1 cup of sugar in a sitting, but my point is that those calories add up.

@livelaughlove21 Splenda does have calories. 1 cup of Splenda has 96 Calories. 1 teaspoon(serving)has 2 calories. The USDA allows anything with less than 5 calories per serving to be labeled zero calories.

@flip86 Okay, so 96 calories vs. 773. My point still stands.

@livelaughlove21 Yes, yes, I know that, but isn’t it sad when people go to such lengths as to actually count the calories?
The diet industry makes £‘s from our pounds, and feed our worries about our size. Surely if one eats healthily, exercises a bit then there is no need for processed food and fizzy drinks?
My point still stands that why use chemical over natural stuff?

@SomeoneElse Fizzy drinks and processed foods are not the only places you find artificial sweeteners. If I want to make brownies for a party that I can actually eat without feeling guilty, an artificial sweetener is one way to make that happen. Either that, or I can munch on carrot sticks while everyone else enjoys my treat.

To each his own. If you prefer the carrot stick, good for you, but there’s nothing wrong with wanting to indulge in some chocolate deliciousness from time to time. Using sugar vs. a substitute might be the difference between a small treat that has no real effect or one that derails your whole day. Perhaps it’s psychological, but still.

Not all of us are lucky enough to not have to worry about calories. Sorry if you find that sad.

@livelaughlove21 If you aren’t eating brownies every day, there’s nothing wrong with an occasional brownie made with the real thing. I need to worry about calories too, but life is too short to not indulge in the occasional treat made with natural ingredients. C’mon, live a little! :)

@jonsblond I do indulge in the real thing – more often than I probably should. However, I know people who cannot blow one single day or they become discouraged and give up. Like I said, to each his own. Whatever keeps you on track.

@livelaughlove21 I SHOULD worry about calories, I’m sure, but my bookcase is full of good reading, and there’s no room for the calorie-counters, vol.1 – vol.10!
Chocolate is a different matter and it is said that some is good for us, so who am I to fly in the face of science . . .

@SomeoneElse Do people really have calorie counter books, or was that an exaggeration? The Internet is here for a reason – to leave lots of free space on one’s bookshelf.

free space on a bookshelf is a horrific crime

@Blondesjon How about not having one at all? I’m guilty of that one.

i’m sorry

They taste funny.

@SABOTEUR I am with you there – they taste metallic to my mind!