Are These Sweet Alternatives Really A Good Option?

It’s no secret that I am not a fan of artificial sweeteners.

There are just far too many research studies being done that show frightening links between the moderate or even low consumption of these chemicals, and scores of health problems. Not least of which include Cancer and Alzheimer’s.

But if that isn’t enough to turn you off of these products (and sadly, for many people it’s not), you should know that in many cases, they will actually make you fatter.

That’s right, fatter!

You might ask, ‘Rylan, how can something with ZERO calories make me fatter?’  Read on.

Artificial sweeteners are not real foods. They are man-made chemicals specifically designed in such a way that your body cannot properly metabolize them. Although they taste sweet like sugar, they have been altered so that your body doesn’t know what to do with them, and no longer recognizes them as sugar, but they retain that sweet taste.  Splenda, for example, is sugar, but with Chlorine added.

With artificial sweeteners, you don’t get a spike in blood sugar, and therefore you don’t get the normal surge of body-fat storing insulin either.  And while most people have far too much insulin surging through their body all day long, this isn’t the only reason you get fat, but more on that in a minute.

The problem with chemical sweeteners (as I like to call them) is that they are actually quite toxic to your body. And while you might ask, how can something toxic get a ‘pass’ grade by the FDA and be allowed to get into your food? Well, politics has a lot to do with it, but the long and short of it is, they are used in such small enough quantities that they are deemed ‘acceptable’.

I don’t need to tell you that there have been many products and chemicals deemed ‘safe’ by the FDA in years gone past, that have later turned out to be horrendously toxic and harmful. It is my opinion that Aspartame is well on it’s way to being recognized as one of these ‘mistakes’, and I firmly believe that Splenda will follow.  Not only that, but there is some scary new evidence forming that suggests that these chemicals aren’t entirely eliminated by your body, and can build up over time.  Therefore those once ‘safe’ level approved by the FDA, start to creep towards dangerous levels after repeated consumption.

Anyway, back to the point.

Consuming artificial sweeteners will most certainly keep you from losing body fat, and here is why:

Because these products are treated as a toxin in your body, they contribute to the overall toxic load to your system (which for most people, is quite substantial). And as I explain in detail in the Daily Detox Diet, if your body is toxic, you CANNOT lose body fat. Fat cells help to buffer toxins, and if you have a toxic body, you need your fat cells to function. Artificial sweeteners are also very acidic to the body, creating inflammation and dysfunction at the cellular level. Again, these acids are also buffered by fat cells.

So how does this play out in the real world?  Let’s have a look at an example from my own practice:

I was working with a client who was in her late 20′s. By normal standards, her diet was quite clean, and her training was spot-on, but she had reached a significant plateau in her fat loss goals. She just couldn’t break into the 120′s no matter how hard we tried.

She was a self-confessed sugar addict, and although she had eliminated all sugar, except fruit, from her diet under my guidance, she was still drinking two diet sodas a day, and her meal replacement powder that she was using also contained Splenda.

At first she thought the fruit was the problem, but instead I convinced her to eliminate the diet sodas, and switch her meal replacement powder to one that was naturally sweetened with Stevia.  (Let’s put our common-sense hats on here for a second.  What do you think is better for your body?  Fruit or calorie-free chemicals?  I think you know what I would suggest!)

Anyway, she made the change, and the results were nearly instant. Within a week she started dropping weight again. This was the ONLY change we made. She also had more energy, and she LOST HER SUGAR CRAVINGS!

This illustrates another important point: You cannot get rid of sugar cravings if you use artificial sweeteners!

So while you might think that drinking a diet coke, or switching your yogurt to one sweetened with Splenda is good for your body, I am telling you that it’s NOT!

What To Do

• Eliminate sugar from your diet completely (this DOES NOT include whole fruit).
• Eliminate artificial sweeteners from your diet completely.  This means No Splenda, No Aspartame, No Acesulfame-K, No Saccharin (these are the major players that you will find in most commercially prepared products).
• If you must use a sweetener, use Stevia.  Agave Nectar is also a good option, but still must be used in moderation (up to 2 Tbsp per day max)

Make these changes to your diet, and you will automatically correct nearly half of the most common diet pitfalls.

Coach Rylan

PS.  Does all this diet talk get you confused?  The Daily Detox Diet, which is part of the Go Sleeveless Elite Package, does all the work for you.  Detoxify your body naturally, and watch the weight fall off, it’s that simple.