Splenda – Should You Consume It?

One of my clients asked me an important question today. “Is Splenda OK fo my diet?” And here was my response. “For now. Eventually you shouldn’t eat any artificial sweeteners. I’ll do a little research on Splenda and get back to you.”

My reason for saying “For now..” is that I know he is making a commitment to change his nutrition and lose some weight. He wants to use the Splenda in his coffee. By reducing calories when he consumes coffee it will help with his goal of losing weight. I’m hoping that the success he’s about to experience will build some momentum to make some other changes, including not using artificial sweeteners.

The reason I’m against the use of Splenda and other artificial sweeteners is because they are “artificial”. I’m a proponent of eating whole and natural food.

But the reason that I didn’t give him an absolute no is because I’ve spent very little time researching Splenda. So I decided to keep my word and do a little research. Here is what I learned.

Splenda is the brand name of a chemical called Sucralose. Sucralose was discovered in 1976 by scientists while researching ways to use sucrose as a chemical intermediate in non-traditional areas. They found the compound to be exceptionally sweet.

Sucralose is a molecule of sugar chemically manipulated to surrender three hydroxyl groups (hydrogen + oxygen) and replace them with three chlorine atoms. Natural sugar is a hydrocarbon built around 12 carbon atoms. When turned into Splenda it becomes a chlorocarbon, in the family of Chlorodane, Lindane and DDT (pesticide).

Here is its chemical name – 4,1′,6′-trideoxygalactosucrose,

Sucralose has been accepted by several national and international food safety regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Joint Food and Agriculture Organization / World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives, The European Union’s Scientific Committee on Food, Health Protection Branch of Health and Welfare Canada, and Food Standards Australia-New Zealand (FSANZ). Sucralose is one of two artificial sweeteners ranked as “safe” by the consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest. The other is “Neotame”. According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, the amount of sucralose that can be consumed on a daily basis over a person’s lifetime without any adverse effects is 9 mg/kg/day.

In determining the safety of sucralose, the FDA reviewed data from more than 110 studies in humans and animals. Many of the studies were designed to identify possible toxic effects, including carcinogenic, reproductive, and neurological effects. No such effects were found, and FDA’s approval is based on the finding that sucralose is safe for human consumption.

So, with the approval of all of those agencies Splenda must be safe? The truth is, we just don’t know yet. There are no long-term studies of the side effects of Splenda in humans. The manufacturer’s own short-term studies showed that very high doses of sucralose (far beyond what would be expected in an ordinary diet) caused shrunken thymus glands, enlarged livers, and kidney disorders in rodents. (A more recent study also shows that Splenda significantly decreases beneficial intestinal flora.)

Since Splenda has been on the market, no independent studies of sucralose lasting more than six months have been done in humans. Of those trials that were done, none were very large — the largest was 128 people. So, what happens when you’ve used sucralose for a year, or two, or ten?

Evidence that there are side effects of Splenda is accumulating little by little. Sucralose has been implicated as a possible migraine trigger, for example. Self-reported adverse reactions to Splenda or sucralose collected by the Sucralose Toxicity Information Center include skin rashes/flushing, panic-like agitation, dizziness and numbness, diarrhea, swelling, muscle aches, headaches, intestinal cramping, bladder issues, and stomach pain. These show up in the people who have an allergy or sensitivity to the sucralose molecule. But no one can say to what degree consuming Splenda affects the rest of us, and there are no long-term studies in humans with large numbers of subjects to say one way or the other if it’s safe for everyone.

Now for some information on how consuming Splenda can help with weight loss.

Eating sugar shoots our blood sugar levels up and triggers a spike in the hormone insulin, which is needed to prep our cells to absorb the sugar. If there are no other nutrients to sustain our blood sugar level, it crashes as quickly as it rises — and we crave another hit. This is how sugar addiction begins.

Moreover, sugar floods us with pleasure by stimulating the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin, and probably other mood-elevating substances.

And so our brains have learned over time to equate the taste of “sweet” with a rapid infusion of energy and pleasure. Even now when we eat sweet foods, special taste buds trigger enzymes that prime our brain to anticipate this extra boost. With a balanced diet and a healthy metabolism, a calorie–control mechanism kicks in after a few minutes to regulate the desire for more food, including the satiety hormone leptin. But with too much sugar, we eat and eat and can’t get satisfied.

So even if the “Sweet” taste comes from a zero-calorie artificial sweetener, our body still responds with increases of insulin. This allows the body to store extra calories (fat) more easily. Plus you’ll be more likely to turn to more food, more quickly to fill the hunger that wasn’t satisfied by the sweet tasting food.

So do I recommend the use of Splenda? NO!

I know that there are many legitimate an well meaning organizations that have deemed Splenda safe.

But if you want to be healthy then I advocate a nutrition plan consisting of whole and natural foods. And Splenda is not natural.

If you want to lose weight then I recommend avoiding sweet foods, natural or otherwise. Even if the sweetness comes from a zero-calorie source, the body still reacts the same physiologically. Making weight loss more difficult.

The information in this post is from the following sources;
www.wikipedia.com
www.womentowomen.com
www.holisticmed.com/splenda

Harvard Study Reveals How Certain Foods Effect Weight

Last month Harvard released a study on how certain foods affect weight. There is some really important information that you need to know if you’re going to be successful in losing weight. This study confirms some of the things that I’ve believed for years, but were scientifically yet to be supported. This study also challenges many current weight loss approaches.

First of all this is a large and significant study. This study was conducted by one of the leading and most respected educational institutions in the world. The researches followed more than 120,000 men and women in their 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s for over 20 years. They looked at various foods and drinks, as well as exercise, sleep patterns and other lifestyle choices and the impact that each has on affecting weight gain.

This study is based on a large number of people, followed over time, and it showed that there are particular types of food that are contributing more than others to the obesity problem (and there are some that protect against weight gain).

Here are the primary culprits.

Every additional daily serving of potatoes pushed up the scale by more than a pound every four years. But the type of potato is important. French Fries added 3.35 pounds and potato chips added 1.69 pounds.  And that’s only over a four year period. Over a forty year period, say from the age of 20 to 60, that’s 33.5 pounds from french fries and 16.9 pounds from potato chips. Eat both and you’ll gain 50.4 pounds in forty years. That’s Obesity!!!

Also every extra serving of refined grains, such as white bread added .39 pounds in four years. That may not sound like much. But statistically it’s the same as eating sweets and deserts.

Conventional wisdom has been that you should eat everything in moderation and just reduce your total calories; without paying attention to what those calories are made of. We need to re-think conventional wisdom. Refined carbohydrates cause blood sugar and insulin to surge. Which makes people feel less satisfied and eat more.

A surprise from the study is that yogurt helped to keep off nearly a pound of fat over a four year period.

Those you exercised more gained nearly 2 pounds less every four years than those who exercised the least.

People who slept less than six hours or more than eight hours were more likely to gain weight.

Now this study did have some limitations. The precise “serving size” varied among foods and relied on the participants memory and honesty.

But the study is based on a large number of people followed over time, and it shows there are particular types of good and are contributing more than others to the obesity problem.

The finding adds to the growing body of evidence that getting heavier is not just a matter of “calories in, calorie out” and that the mantra “Eat less and exercise more” is far too simplistic.

All foods are not equal, and just eating in moderation is not enough. The findings help to explain why many people put on weight little by little over the years without even realizing. Just by picking the wrong combinations and portions of foods and making unhealthy lifestyle choices, you can imperceptibly pile on the pounds as the years go by. Eventually becoming overweight or even obese.

So what can you do?

1. Eliminate or severely reduce potatoes (especially french fries and potato chips)

2. Eliminate or severely reduce refined grains (especially white bread)

3. Get between 6-8 hours of sleep every night

4. Exercise almost every day (if you don’t know what to do, I’ve got programs to help and you’re already on the site)

5. Eat Yogurt (This is a tough one for me because I’m not a big advocate of dairy products)

6. Pay attention to food combinations and proper portions.

This information is so powerful and will hopefully change the way to look at fat loss for the rest of your life. I originally simply wanted to share it with you and had no intentions of promoting anything, but this information is 100% in line with what I’ve been teaching people nutritionally for the last five years. If you are confused or think making these changes will be difficult, then you should get a STAX System. It is the only nutrition program that I recommend and it follows the findings of this study to the letter.

Or you could take all of this information and do nothing. If you do that, you’ll keep gaining weight.

I hope that you found this information interesting and helpful. If you did, please leave your comments below…I love’em and I’ll reply…

Diabetes And The STAX Nutrition System

We’ve had numerous questions asking if STAX System is a safe program for Diabetics. Dr. Larry Franks says, “The simple answer is yes.” The first thing to explain is that there are two types of Diabetes, Type I (Juvenile or insulin dependent) and Type II (Adult onset). In either case you should consult with your doctor, let him/her know that you are interested in losing weight and plan on following the STAX Nutrition System. Until a medical breakthrough and a cure for Type I diabetes is found, Type I diabetics will always need to be under medical care and be dependent on insulin. That being said, we feel that everyone, including Type I diabetics will benefit from eating healthy food, eating proper portions and losing excess fat.

As for Type II diabetics; the situation will vary considerably through the weight loss process on an individual basis.  Therefore you should work closely with your doctor on this journey to permanent weight loss. While everyone diagnosed should be under the medical care of a doctor, not all Type II diabetics take prescription medicine for treatment. For those who are on prescription medicines it is common for those prescription dosages to be changed as you lose weight. Because of this, regular appointments with your doctor are a must.

The STAX Nutrition System utilizes food choices, portion sizes and meal frequency to regulate blood sugar and the hormones insulin and cortisol so that the body is in an optimal state to utilize fat as energy.  The bodies’ inability to properly regulate blood sugar and insulin is essentially the disease of diabetes.  So again please work closely with your doctor through this weight loss process.

There is a strong connection with obesity and Type II diabetes. Once desired weight is achieved it is possible that your diabetes can be completely controlled. We believe that STAX  Nutrition System is the best way to achieve optimal health through proper nutrition, diabetic or not.

 

Stax Nutrition System and Portion Sizes

We’ve had a lot of questions regarding the amount of food that is recommended for the STAX Nutrition System. We know it is counterintuitive to eat a large amount of food and still trust that you will lose weight. We ask that you trust the program.

Eating small portions of food therefore too few calories, will cause your metabolism to slow down. The STAX Nutrition System is designed to reprogram your body and to boost your metabolism. The portions on the side of the STAX containers were developed to meet the physiological needs of people at a very specific weight. So yes, fill the containers to your current weight.

It is common during the first week to feel stuffed. It may be difficult to eat the entire recommended portions. But you must eat it all. Within 5-7 days you’ll notice that you be getting hungry every three hours. By the end of week two you will be starving every three hours. This is the best indicator that your metabolism is increasing. You’ll begin to lose weight at a very steady and rapid rate.

You may also notice that you are hot, especially at night during sleep. This is also a great indicator that you’re ramping up your metabolism.

So please trust the program and follow it. We promise it works. Enjoy the weight loss!

How To Fill The STAX Containers

We’ve had a lot of questions regarding the proper way to fill the STAX containers. Here are the answers. For the protein and carbohydrate containers fill them to your current weight with cooked food. If you are considerably over 300lbs., fill the container to the top. So cook your rice or oatmeal etc. first, then fill the container. The same is true for the protein containers. If you are filling them with meat or hard boiled eggs, simply dice or chop the food first before filling the container.

For the fat containers fill them half way with liquid fats and all the way with solid fats (nuts, cheese, and avocado). Vegetable are optional yet recommended at every meal. You are allowed unlimited vegetable on the STAX Nutrition System. So fill the containers up all the way and enjoy. We love your questions and hope this helped. If you have any other questions the best way to ask is on our FaceBook Page. That is the quickest and easiest way for you to get a quick response.

 

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