Ivan de Araujo, professor and lead author of the study out of Yale University School of Medicine (YUSM), has discovered that artificial sweeteners cause the brain to crave more high-caloric alternatives.
Araujo said: “The consumption of high-calorie beverages is a major contributor to weight gain and obesity, even after the introduction of artificial sweeteners to the market. We believe that the discovery is important because it shows how physiological states may impact on our choices between sugars and sweeteners. Specifically, it implies that humans frequently ingesting low-calorie sweet products in a state of hunger or exhaustion may be more likely to ‘relapse’ and choose high calorie alternatives in the future. The results suggest that a ‘happy medium’ could be a solution; combining sweeteners with minimal amounts of sugar so that energy metabolism doesn’t drop, while caloric intake is kept to a minimum.”
Araujo’s team found that eating foods with artificial sweeteners causes the body to become hungry and increase the desire for more sugar later.
Dopamine is the chemical that sends messages to the brain and controls behavior, emotional response and pleasure. Dopamine plays an influential role in addiction as well.
By monitoring mice, researchers identified specific brain circuits that fired up as the mice were fed sugar, than artificial sweeteners.
Araujo said : “According to the data, when we apply substances that interfere with a critical step of the ‘sugar-to-energy pathway’, the interest of the animals in consuming artificial sweetener decreases significantly, along with important reductions in brain dopamine levels.”
When the “hungry mice – who thus have low sugar levels – are given a choice between artificial sweeteners and sugars, they are more likely to completely switch their preferences towards sugars even if the artificial sweetener is much sweeter than the sugar solution.”
David Ludwig, professor at Harvard University asserts that artificial sweeteners lead to weight gain because they “desensitize the taste buds” by tricking the brain into thinking that something sweet has been consumed.
Researchers at Purdue University have analyzed studies and data regarding the correlation between the consumption of diet soda and the body mass index (BMI) of those customers using the product. Findings show that the artificial sweeteners are the culprit for health problems and dietary issues.
Artificial sweeteners used in diet soda tricks the body into thinking that it is consuming calories; yet this has disastrous effects physiologically.
Susan Swithers, behavioral neuroscientist and professor of psychological sciences for Purdue University said: “Honestly, I thought that diet soda would be marginally better compared to regular soda in terms of health. But in reality it has a counterintuitive effect. You’ve messed up the whole system, so when you consume real sugar, your body doesn’t know if it should try to process it because it’s been tricked by the fake sugar so many times.”
Swithers explained that “accumulating evidence suggests that frequent consumers of these sugar substitutes (such as aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin) may also be at increased risk of … metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”
Swithers and Professor Terry Davidson discovered that while “artificial sweeteners may disrupt the body’s natural ability to ‘count’ calories based on foods’ sweetness. This finding may explain why increasing numbers of people in the United States lack the natural ability to regulate food intake and body weight. The researchers also found that thick liquids aren’t as satisfying – calorie for calorie – as are more solid foods.”
Davidson pointed out: “The body’s natural ability to regulate food intake and body weight may be weakened when this natural relationship is impaired by artificial sweeteners. Without thinking about it, the body learns that it can use food characteristics such as sweetness and viscosity to gauge its caloric intake. The body may use this information to determine how much food is required to meet its caloric needs.”
When artificial sweeteners are used, the experience inhibits the body’s natural ability to judge the caloric intake of the content of the food taken in.
Swithers warns: “Increased consumption of artificial sweeteners and of high-calorie beverages is not the sole cause of obesity, but it may be a contributing factor. It could become more of a factor as more people turn to artificial sweeteners as a means of weight control and, at the same time, others consume more high-calorie beverages to satisfy their cravings.”
Traditionally, Stevia was used to “prevent pregnancy” and “some researchers have expressed concern that stevia might have an antifertility effect in men or women.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) admitted that oral administration of S. rebaudiana (Stevia) “was reported to cause a severe, long-lasting reduction in fertility”; however results of testing were “poorly specified or of variable quality.”
Based on this, there is an assumed “safe” dose of Stevia. Currently there is no official “safe” dose of Stevia.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have reported that Stevia caused prepubescent rates to have a significant reduction in testosterone production over a period of 60 days.
This means that the effect that causes infertility is still effective over time; even if given small doses over a period of time. There is a cumulative effect to Stevia.
According to the European patent , aspartame, the artificial sweetener, is derived from the feces of genetically modified E. coli bacteria.
The patent mentions “cloned microorganisms” when referring to the genetically modified E. coli bacteria. These organisms are engineered to an enlarged peptide that is used to create aspartame.
These bacteria produce proteins which contain the aspartic acid-phenylalanine amino acid segment used to manufacture the sweetener.
Found here, this article was first published on Occupy Corporatism.
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