How Artificial Sweeteners Make You Fat

How fake sweeteners can make you fat.
by Terrence Thomas

In a mad dash to eliminate all things sugary,  we have jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Here’s  what I mean.

We have been taught to believe that sugar is the enemy and artificial sweeteners are the solution to this problem. In other words we get to taste something sweet without consuming the extra calories and subsequent rises in insulin that leads to the body storing fat. Unfortunately this idea could not be further from the truth and could be sabotaging your efforts to lose weight and/or gain muscle.

Here are the facts: These quotes come from Medical news weekly.

“Our results indicate that this artificial sweetener is not inert- it does have an effect. And we need to do more studies to determine whether this observation means long-term use could be harmful.”  It is my opinion that this statement is being objectively conservative due to the harsh reality that most research institutions are directly or indirectly funded by the very companies that produce these substances. But I digress.

If it tastes sweet you are still going to get an insulin response. This could partially explain why there are more “diet” foods on the market today but obesity rates continue to rise.

“Artificial  sweeteners react with receptors on the tongue that make people think they’re consuming something sweet even though they contain no calories.”

These receptors on the tongue trigger the pancreas to secrete insulin even though real sugar is not being consumed. In other words you are still getting an insulin response but with no nutrition. The publishers of this research did state that the mechanism by which artificial sweeteners affect glucose and insulin levels is not yet fully understood.  With that said, basic physiology tells us that if the body produces insulin and there is no sugar, protein or fat for the insulin to shuttle into the cells, the body is forced to produce higher levels of adrenaline and cortisol. Once this happens you are officially on the blood sugar roller coaster. Here is how it works…

Insulin receptors on the tongue cause the pancreas to secret insulin…But there is no sugar, fat or protein to metabolize so the body freaks out and then secretes adrenaline to release stored glucose and free fatty acids into the blood stream. Then cortisol is released to release amino acids back into the blood stream to be converted into glucose. This is called gluconeogenesis. In other words, you are breaking down protein to compensate for the for the false insulin response.   This happens every single time you eat a food containing artificial sweetener.

Chronic cortisol levels keeps the body in a catabolic state where lean muscle is lost, fats stores are increased and overall metabolism is lowered.  This explanation is why the low fat, fat free, fake sugar products are making people sick and fat.

As stated earlier, artificial sweeteners are not inert in that they do have an effect on insulin production. In addition to this insulin effect, they are also inert in that their metabolites do remain in the body, if not for one very simple reason. Liver detoxification for the majority of people is fair to poor due to poor diet, destructive lifestyle habits and environmental toxins. In other words most people will not have to ability to eliminate the artificial sweeteners from their system.  When you consider that people are consuming diet sodas, protein shakes, chewing gum and adding artificial sweeteners to their food and beverages, people can accumulate massive amounts of these harmful chemicals in their bodies.

Here are a few signs and symptoms that you could be getting sick from toxic overload connected to artificial sweeteners…

* chronic headaches
*joint aches not associated with exercise or injury
* skin problems (acne or rash)
* blurred vision
*sleep disturbances
*weight gain despite eating a low calorie diet
*feeling puffy and swollen.
*dark circles under the eyes

I encourage you to take an inventory of your ingestion of artificial sweeteners. At minimum, I suggest eliminating them from your diet for 1 to 2 months and see if you feel better or notice any improvements in the way your body looks and feels. Doing this could be the missing link you have been looking for to take your body, health and strength to the next level.###