Nutrition

Artificial sweeteners are used in many beverages and food products, especially diet products. While it is widely believed that these are beneficial to our health and help prevent diseases such as diabetes, that is not the case.

Contrary to popular belief, the use of artificial sweeteners in diet products can lead to serious health complications. If you already have existing health conditions, such as obesity, they are even more of a risk for you to take. Most people use artificial sweeteners to lose weight but what they don’t know is that it actually ends up making them gain more weight!

Two of the most common artificial sweeteners used today are aspartame and sucralose, both of which can be harmful to human health. Find out more about them and why you must eliminate them from your diet:

Artificial Sweeteners: What Are They Used for?

Often when a product is labeled sugar-free, it means that it contains an artificial sweetener instead. Here are some of the everyday items that have different types of artificial sweeteners in them:

• Diet soda
• Yoghurt
• Low-calorie fruit juices
• Sugar-free ice cream
• Certain candies and gums

Many popular beverage brands that we consume on a daily basis also have artificial sweeteners. One such example is Coke Zero that contains aspartame. You can check whether or not a product contains aspartame by looking at its Nutrition Facts Label.

Aspartame

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that is commonly used in place of sugar in many foods and drinks. It is generally sold under the brand names NutraSweet and Equal. It is also commonly used in packaged products. It is 200 times sweeter than sugar, which is why you only need to use a small amount of it.

Dangers of Aspartame

You may not be aware of it but there are many dangers of aspartame that can severely affect your health and well-being in the long run. Although it is widely believed that aspartame is safe for consumption and scientific studies have confirmed its safety, that is not completely the case. In fact, there are dangers associated with its consumption.

Some reports reveal that instead of causing weight management, aspartame can cause weight gain. It can also result in an impaired response to glucose and insulin resistance, particularly among people who have type-2 diabetes. Reports also show that aspartame can act as a chemical stressor in the body, thereby making the hormone that's responsible for weight gain, known as cortisol, rise. This causes weight gain specifically around your belly.

To add to that, it can also lead to some cognitive and behavioral problems, such as seizures, headaches, learning disabilities, migraines, ADHD, anxiety, depression and insomnia. Furthermore, it can lead to serious illnesses later on, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer’s disease and more.

Sucralose

Sucralose is a popular artificial sweetener that is known for being made of sugar as it claims. It can be used on its own or used in Splenda. When used on its own, it has no calories and that’s what makes it high in demand. Currently, it is found in more than 4,500 products. It can also be used for cooking, which is another factor that adds to its popularity.

People commonly mistake sucralose as sugar but you must remember that it’s nothing like it. It is 600 times sweeter than sugar, which is why you don’t have to use much of it. For starters, sucralose is not a natural substance and is mixed with chemicals that can be extremely harmful to human health. Did you know that it also has chlorine in it? Chlorine is a chemical that is used in poisonous gas, plastics, disinfectants, etc.  Therefore, it should not be consumed.

Some common symptoms associated with sucralose include bloating and nausea. A person can also start to feel skin irritation and itching, rashes, swelling, and so on. To add to that, symptoms such as a cough, runny nose, chest pain, mood imbalances, itchy eyes, etc., are also common among individuals who consume sucralose.

Dangers of Sucralose

Often, sucralose is sold under the name ‘Splenda’ which is among the most common artificial sweeteners out there. It is highly dangerous because this synthetic sugar isn’t recognized by the body. For starters, it can cause diabetes and increase your risk for type-2 diabetes by decreasing your insulin sensitivity, which essentially prevents the absorption of glucose in cells. It can also lead to weight gain, just like aspartame. Studies conducted on both humans as well as animals have proved this. To add to that, it can increase your risk for cardiovascular disease as well as hypertension.

Sucralose is also known to increase your risk of getting irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease. Studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between the amount of sucralose consumed and the rise in inflammatory bowel disease.

Natural Alternatives

If you are trying to eliminate sugar from your diet, there are many natural alternatives that you can choose from. These alternatives are healthier, lower in calories, and will give you the same amount of sweetness. Some examples of such natural alternatives are honey, natural fruit juice, maple syrup, agave nectar, stevia leaves, etc. Each of these is natural, however, that doesn't mean that they should be consumed excessively, they should still be consumed in moderation.

You now know the dangers of these artificial sweeteners, so take charge and get rid of them from your life. You will thank yourself in the long run. Besides, there are so many natural and healthy alternatives, so why risk your health?

By Ryback Reeves

I have been vegan for 23 weeks now and I can’t believe how much more I keep learning each week and how much better I feel mentally and physically overall. I recently stumbled across something that I didn’t put together right away, but it’s an absolutely amazing discovery, if I may say so myself. You see, being vegan, I’ve learned to eat a diverse diet that focuses on micronutrients while still respecting my macro nutrients for building muscle and keeping fat to a minimum.

It all started so innocently as I was driving across town and listening to a book on plant-based eating, touting the health benefits of pistachios. You see, one of the cool perks of plant-based eating is that it improves blood flow in the entire body, including Mr. Winkie! Well, pistachios have some very interesting studies behind them that I was totally unaware of. This same book also mentioned Brazil nuts and so at my next week's grocery shopping, I made sure to include a bag of pistachios and Brazil nuts to get some extra fats in my diet. Pistachios are an excellent source of protein, antioxidants, and fiber and Brazil nuts are nutritional powerhouses, providing healthy fats, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. They're particularly high in selenium, a mineral with potent antioxidant properties. Eating Brazil nuts may reduce inflammation, support brain function, and improve your thyroid function and heart health. I decided to add in 2 servings of pistachios and 1/2 serving of Brazil nuts per day, and after about a week I noticed a pleasant improvement down below. I’m always quite happy in that area, but there was a definite change for the better and while I feel that with each passing week I feel better and better being vegan, this was a different week. With the nuts being the only change in my diet at that point, I looked more into it and well, I’m simply going to share my findings with you, which btw any Google search can do also.

A recent study found that men with sexual issues who ate pistachio nuts every day for three weeks experienced significant improvement in sexual issues, including ED, sexual desire, and overall sexual satisfaction.
Pistachios have a bunch of both antioxidants and arginine, which may help explain the improvement in blood flow. Brazil nuts contain high levels of selenium, which can also help increase levels of sexual desire. They also contain vitamin E and magnesium, nutrients that boost sexual desire and help keep sperm cells healthy and more viable.

By combining the individual powers of these nuts, I believe they are a key to Super Nuts for men wanting to be Super Man in the bedroom! I can’t guarantee you’re going to get amazing results, but I think it may be worth the small investment to give them a go for a month or two if you want a natural improvement downstairs. If you have a nut allergy, I’m sorry, but I’m beyond grateful I don’t! So go grab these nuts and see if this is the magic elixir for you to drive her nuts!

Here’s a stat for you. 3% of people in the United States of America are vegan! Now, while that might not sound like a very big number, that actually amounts to about 9.6 million people! But what is it about the vegan diet that’s got so many people ditching their steaks and choosing to eat plants instead? Well, there are many reasons why going vegan is good for you, and we’ll discuss all those reasons in this article, but first, let’s talk a bit about veganism and what it is.

The Vegan Diet – What Is It?

Most people make the mistake of thinking that the vegan diet is one where people abstain from the consumption of meat. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The vegan diet consists only of plant and plant-based foods. This includes fruits, grains, nuts, and vegetables.

What most people think of when they picture the vegan diet is actually a vegetarian diet. While it’s true that vegetarians stay away from meats like chicken and beef, they do consume the by-products of these animals. These include milk, eggs, and so on. People who follow a vegetarian diet also tend to eat fish. However, the vegan diet is a philosophy that frowns upon cruelty to animals, and as such, even the by-products of animals are not allowed for consumption.

Okay, so you’re doing your part to make the world a better place for animals, but what’s in it for you? Well, a lot! Following the vegan diet brings with it a whole host of benefits. Let’s look at some of them in detail:

Benefits of the Vegan Diet

1.      It Aids in Weight management

If you’re looking to cut down on those calories in order to achieve those body goals, the vegan diet is a great way to get there. Since meat-based meals are high in calories and fats, opting to go vegan instead can help you cut down on those unnecessary calories while still ensuring that you get the recommended amount of protein and other vital vitamins and minerals. A study that looked at the weight management success ratio of 4 different vegan, vegetarian, and omnivore diets found that plant-based diets were far more effective for weight management as compared to their meat-based counterparts.

2.      It Improves Heart Health

According to the American Heart Association, foods that are high in saturated fats are incredibly unhealthy for your heart. This is because these saturated fats increase the levels of bad cholesterol in your body, which leads to blocked arteries, and eventually, heart attacks and other heart-related issues. Switching to a vegan diet means that you cut down on the amount of saturated fats that you put into your body, thus drastically improving your heart health.

3.      Reduced Risk of Type-2 Diabetes

It’s long been known that a person’s weight greatly affects whether or not they develop type-2 diabetes at some stage in their lives. This is because more fatty tissue means that our cells become more resistant to insulin, which causes our blood sugar levels to go up, along with a whole host of other problems such as high blood pressure and weight gain.

As discussed in the previous point, a plant-based diet contains very little saturated fats, which means that not only does it improve your heart health but it also reduces the amount of fatty tissue that causes out cells to become insulin resistant. It has been seen that people who switch to a completely plant-based were able to stave off type-2 diabetes, or if they already had it, they were able to manage it a lot better.

4.      Reduced Risk of Cancer and Other Major Diseases

According to a recent statistic, almost ten million people the world over die from cancer each year. That is an alarming statistic and should be even more of a reason to switch to the vegan lifestyle. This is simply because plant-based foods are loaded with phytochemicals. This includes powerful antioxidants that are mostly found in fruits and vegetables. These phytochemicals have a huge role to play in reducing a person’s risk of developing cancer (provided they don’t do other cancer-causing activities like smoking).

Along with this, plant-based foods are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidant carotenoids, and as discuss before, have lower levels of saturated fats, which only serves to keep the body healthy, ensuring that it stays as healthy as possible for a long time.

5.      Improved Brain Function

So far, we’ve only discussed the physical benefits of following the vegan diet. However, this diet doesn’t just benefit our body – it also benefits our mind. Plant-based foods (fruits, vegetable, whole grains) are rich in polyphenols, which, as some studies have shown, may play a big part in slowing down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Along with this, these micronutrients may also work to slow down or completely reverse the cognitive decline that’s part and parcel of the aging process.

Food for Thought

While the above-mentioned benefits should be reason enough for you to switch to the vegan diet, they’re not the only thing you should take into consideration. Keep in mind that the meat, egg, fishing, and dairy industries are an absolute nightmare for animals. They’re kept in small, cramped spaces, and are usually just bred for their by-products, after which they’re disposed of.

Animals are living, breathing, sentient creatures, too, and deserve the same amount of respect and rights as we humans do. When you follow the vegan diet, you’re standing up for the rights of these animals by refusing to take part in the very reason that they’re kept in these quite frankly inhumane conditions.

While it may not be easy to completely make the switch to the vegan diet, you can start slow and ease yourself into it. There are plenty of options available to you to make this switch easier, so there’s really no reason not to give it a try. Your body (and the environment) will thank you.