Here’s an easy way to get on the fast-track to diabetes: Start using artificial sweeteners.
If you’re wondering how that could be… when diabetics are told they can safely swap them out for sugar… that’s a very good question. But it’s one that won’t get a very reassuring answer.
It looks like the American Diabetes Association, and many other so-called experts, have simply been parroting Big Food’s claims that these chemicals are safe to consume.
And those phony reassurances have turned out to not only be bad news for diabetics… but probably also have caused a lot more people to join their ranks.
Certainly, going hog wild on sugary foods and drinks won’t be doing your blood sugar levels any favors — and items sweetened with HFCS are especially bad for your health.
But by thinking there’s some kind of free pass in using any of these artificial sweeteners, you’re simply letting Big Food sweet-talk you into something that will do you more harm than good.
Here’s why you need to leave those “No Sugar Added” treats on the shelf — whether you’ve already been diagnosed with diabetes or not.
They’ve been called “a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” which sounds like the perfect name for all of those artificial sweeteners.
They may seem like a safe alternative for anyone with a sweet tooth who needs to cut back on their sugar intake, but…
Not only will they not help you lose weight, it’s actually just the opposite.
I’ve told you how studies have found they can be the real reason you’re packing on the pounds. And, on top of that, they’ve been linked to some horrible side effects, including cancer, heart attacks, stroke, and dementia.
So… what are they good for? That is, aside from adding billions to the coffers of mega-corporations.
Well, how about causing blood sugar spikes that can lead you to develop type 2 diabetes?
A small but very telling study out of the medical school of Australia’s University of Adelaide found that consuming artificial sweeteners like sucralose and acesulfame-K, for only two weeks was enough to cause a noticeable increase in blood sugar after meals.
The volunteers swallowed the fake sweeteners in a capsule form, so we know exactly how much they got. And it wasn’t that much — just the equivalent of a 16-ounce diet drink, three times a day.
And that blood-sugar rise wasn’t something that was seen in the people who were given a “dummy” pill that didn’t contain the sweeteners.
The authors noted that these “exaggerated post-meal glucose levels” are enough to “predispose” those who use artificial sweeteners to develop type 2 diabetes.
That confirms what was previously discovered by University of Iowa researchers, who analyzed statistics on 60,000 participants in the Women’s Health Initiative and found that those who consumed two or more diet drinks a day tended to have higher rates of diabetes than those who didn’t. They were also more likely to have higher blood pressure and a higher body mass index.
Predictably, even before the ink dried on this latest research it was already being attacked by a front group for the synthetic sweetener industry, called the Calorie Control Council.
The CCC claimed that various health and nutrition organizations had already reviewed plenty of evidence that found “low-calorie sweeteners do not adversely affect blood glucose.” Well then, case closed!
But actually, this new research is just another piece of the puzzle proving how we’ve been conned into making choices that we think will improve our health… but turn out to do just the opposite.
Back in 2014, for example, a team of Israeli scientists concluded that these no-cal sweeteners (all of them!) may actually be contributing to “obesity-related metabolic conditions,” such as diabetes, by blocking the ability of our beneficial gut bacteria — our “inner ecosystem” — to regulate blood sugar.
Even before that, a study out of Duke University found that rats who were fed sucralose had dramatically reduced levels of beneficial gut bacteria. The doctor in charge of that research said his findings should cause a “reassessment” of the “massive and unsupervised use of artificial sweeteners.”
Since these fakes have gone way beyond just soda, you’ve got to be on the lookout to avoid them in all kinds of foods when you go shopping, even ones that seem perfectly healthy!
So, read ingredient labels and steer clear of anything that contains aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, Neotame (sold under the brand name Newtame), or acesulfame-K. If you don’t feel like reading all that tiny print on ingredient labels, just avoid “diet” and “no-calorie” products.