I’ve heard about the concerns raised regarding aspartame for years, whether they are founded or unfounded the argument will no doubt continue. Whether aspartame is good or bad I am forming the opinion any form of “sweetener” has a problem and my reason will follow, any comments directing me away from this opinion is most welcome.
Firstly just on diet soft drink, I used to drink Coke Zero and lots of it, I found I was drinking more and more, I was craving it, for whatever reason. Since stopping I’ve been fine craving wise but recently when I did have a Zero I did feel a strong desire for more, which passed. It was the craving which caused me to look into aspartame further and when I heard about stevia and I wondered why stevia was not being used more widely.
The google gods sent me to a number of sites addressing reasons for stevia not being widely used, aftertaste, additives etc. But my current thinking/concern any form of “sweetener” is not good for anyone, diabetic or not, was talked about on the websites and it relates to the taxing of adrenals.
The following link opens with this issue:
http://empoweredsustenance.com/is-stevia-bad-for-you/
Essentially the problem is this:
“Stevia is “sweet” on the palate, so the body assumes it is receiving sugar and primes itself to do so. Glucose is cleared from the bloodstream and blood sugars drop, but no
real sugar/glucose is provided to the body to compensate. When this happens, adrenaline and cortisol surge to mobilize sugar from other sources (liver and muscle glycogen, or protein, or body tissue) to bring blood glucose back up.”
Kate Skinner – Nutritionist, Health Writer -
http://www.nutritionbynature.com.au/blog/q-a-mondays-stevia-quinoa-almond-milk
The cycle of doing this over and over, particularly for someone who maybe under stress already, can cause adrenal fatigue, and adrenal function is an essential part of your wellbeing.
I understand there is a sugar being developed which uses stevia with normal sugar to increase the sweetness of natural sugar and so you use less, perhaps this product is already on the market? Such a product, in my uninformed opinion, appears to be a good alternative to just sugar or just sweetener as it would reduce your sugar intake while not tricking your body into prepping for glucose which does not arrive then leading to taxing the adrenals to correct the imbalance. I don’t imagine such a product would be that useful for someone who is already a diabetic but a reduced sugar intake for the general population would seem a good outcome.