DIET DRINKS WITH ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS AND CHEMICALS IN THEM. BLOG #53
BLOG #53 DIET DRINKS WITH ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS AND CHEMICALS IN THEM.
Dr. Spiker Davis D.D.S. 713-781-2800 Dr. Matt Guerre D.D.S. 713-781-2800
In collaboration with Dr. John Seger M.D. Cardiologist 713-791-9444
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When I was a kid, I remember the first diet cola that came out and it was called TAB. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want something with no sugar in it, but my mother told me that it would have fewer calories so it might help to prevent you from getting fat. At that time getting fat was not an issue for me but my mother was definitely overweight and needed to watch her calories. But she also needed to exercise so I couldn’t understand why she would drink that stuff. I tasted it and it was not near as good as a real coke so to me exercise made more sense, and I didn’t like the taste of it anyway.
Later as I got into college and Dental School and studied nutrition, I was really blown away with why anyone would want to drink all those chemicals or even a drink that had 9-10 teaspoons of sugar in them. Which was worse-chemicals or sugar? And what was an artificial sweetener anyway??? Back in the 50’s the average American consumed about 4 pounds of sugar per year. As a kid, I was not worried about sugar as I thought it was natural and I didn’t eat much of it anyway. I was a little worried about artificial sweetener because I didn’t know what it was, but it just seemed like drinking chemicals was not a good idea. When I was in college, I studied chemistry and none of those chemical additives in food or drink made any sense to me and one professor convinced the class that we should all be eating healthy home-grown organic foods and not processed chemical foods. Then when I went to dental school, I discovered that sugar was a man-made product and not natural and of course really bad for your teeth, gums, and health. Now in 2021, it is clearly proven and obvious that SUGAR and ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS are really bad for us and alter body chemistry and function. Recently I had a patient who had been having headaches and depression for years and went through all kinds of medical procedures and drugs to correct the problems to no avail. Then one day a nurse at his doctor’s office asked about his diet and when she discovered that he had artificial sweeteners in multiple foods every day she suggested that he quit that, and all of his health issues were gone in a few weeks.
In today’s world, artificial sweeteners have been linked to almost 100 different documented health issues. Let’s take a look at what some of the most commonly used sweeteners might be.
- Sugar Alcohols-These chemicals are a mixture between sugar and alcohol. They are similar to sugar but in general, they are poorly digested or poorly metabolized. Two examples would be erythritol and Xylitol. In my mind, if you can’t read it or pronounce it then we probably should not eat it.
- Aspartame-also known as Equal-This sweetener contains many chemicals including phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol all of which can cause brain damage and directly affect the nervous system.
- Saccharin-known as Sweet n’ Low which is the sweetener for TAB Cola. For over 30 years Tab Cola had to have the following warning label: “Use of this product may be hazardous to your health”. Why would we use that if it may be hazardous? And in addition, it tasted bad to me!!!
- Sucralose- known as Splenda-in addition to being loaded with chemicals it is a known fact that Sucralose can actually change the bacteria in your gut and altering those bacteria can affect your immune system and could also lead to Glucose intolerance which is a precursor to diabetes. Let’s just quit all of those chemicals.
So, my question to you is… If we can’t pronounce or understand all of the chemicals we are consuming, then why is the government allowing us to eat this stuff. As you know, I am a big believer in the PALEO DIET. If cavemen didn’t eat these chemicals, then why should I? I strongly encourage you to avoid any foods or liquids that are processed and contain chemicals of any kind. WHAT GOOD ARE THEY?
SUMMARY: In my opinion, there are way too many chemicals in our entire food system. According to the Paleo Diet, we are not supposed to eat anything that is processed or has chemicals. That pretty much means anything that is in a can, or a package is off the diet. Well, of course, we all eat some things that are packaged. So, I know it is very tedious, but please read every label and if there are chemicals or sugar in there, please don’t eat that item.
RANT AND RAVE-I get SO MAD at these manufacturers who always try to fool us with the contents of their product. For example, instead of saying that a certain product has sugar, they change the name to something we are not familiar with such as “CORN SYRUP, DEXTROSE, SUCROSE, FRUCTOSE, GLUCOSE” plus about 60 other names that I found listed on the internet. In my opinion, sugar is almost as addictive as cocaine or heroin and it is now contained or hidden in about 70% of anything in a package. I found a new box of Morton’s salt in the grocery store the other day and when I turned it around to read the label, sugar was the 2nd ingredient! I found a sports drink the other day that said it was Vegan, Gluten-free, 100% juice, packed with vitamins, and ‘NO SUGAR ADDED”. SOUNDS HEALTHY RIGHT??? But, when you read the label, it had 55 GRAMS OF SUGAR. That is equal to drinking about 5 cokes all at once. I think that is deceptive trade and our government should stop that immediately! I know-GOOD LUCK WITH THAT! PLEASE READ YOUR LABELS. If you don’t know what all those words are, then I wouldn’t buy them or consume them.
THE MOUTH IS THE WINDOW TO YOUR HEALTH”. BRUSH AND FLOSS TWICE DAILY, AVOID SUGAR FOR 2021 AND SEE YOUR DENTIST AND PHYSICIAN ON A REGULAR BASIS. Spiker Davis D.D.S. spiker@thepaleodentist.com John Seger M. D. Malt Guerre D.D.S.
Humor for the week: “What do dentists call the x-rays they take of patients’ teeth? Tooth pics.”
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