Are Sugar Substitutes Worth the Tradeoff?
Know the Facts About Artificial Sweeteners
The U.S. market for soda is worth over $200 billion, fueled by the average American’s annual consumption of nearly 40 gallons of soft drinks — including diet soda. While staying hydrated is good, sending lots of chemical sweeteners into our digestive tracts may not be.
Similarly, high blood pressure, diabetes, and strokes are more likely due to underlying health issues like excessive weight than consuming artificial sweeteners. In the last decade, more natural sugar alternatives have become available, like stevia, agave, monk fruit, and allulose. Diet soda manufacturers have yet
people still suffer side effects from drinking diet soda. The sugar alcohols in diet sodas are linked to intestinal distress, and one scientist points to a potential link between laboratory-created sweeteners and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The importance of our stomach’s microbiome is new to science, and all impacts are under intense scrutiny. Sugar-free beverages may be a better choice than sugar-infused drinks because they don’t cause insulin spikes, but the Mayo Clinic warns that frequent consumption of any type of sweetened drink can become habit-forming, making it hard to return to drinking plain water, which is the optimal choice for health. As with most food trends, we should be informed, listen to our bodies, and make wise choices about what we drink and eat.
Concern for serious health issues started in the early 1970s when scientists linked cyclamate and saccharine, popular synthetic sweeteners, to cancer. Congress banned cyclamate but wouldn’t ban saccharine.
to incorporate these into their soft drinks, but they are experimenting. The Coca-Cola Company uses stevia along with erythritol (another new sugar substitute) in its
Vitamin Water Zero.
More recent studies determined that obesity is related to many types of cancer, and obese people are more likely to consume lots of diet soda.
Artificial sweeteners do provide some benefits, including fewer cavities, lower blood sugar, and less weight gain. However, some
PATIENT TESTIMONIALS Getting Confidence Back
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