Obesity Pop! All Natural

image source: natural news

I stumbled across this clip art the other night and found myself cracking up, before you judge my lameness understand what got me...

1. I totally relate to that mother, with what appears to be a little slobber on the side of her lip and the screaming toddler in the front of the cart.
2. I have desperately bought those ADHD Flakes, cracked them open and handed them to my screaming monster so I could finish shopping. 
3. The Obesity Pops- All Natural cracked me up!!
4. Oddly, when I go down certain aisles I think this about SO many products... simply, we have a whole lot of CRAP choices at fingers length.

Aspartame: Friend or Foe?

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that is used as a sweetening agent in over 6,000 food and beverage products. It is calorie-free and commercialized widely in the "dieting" industry ("sugar-free" "calorie-free" & "diet" claims). It was approved by the FDA in 1981 and has had to reaffirm its safety 26 times since then. It is the most scrutinized artificial sweetener and the most widely consumed worldwide. Aspartame is also known as: Nutrasweet, Equal, SweetOne & Spoonful.

Aspartame is made of two amino acids, phenylalanine & aspartic acid. Once ingested, these amino acids breakdown into methanol (aka wood alcohol) before becoming formic acid & formaldehyde.
There are NUMEROUS research articles that focus on the health effects of aspartame. Some claim that it is safe while others claim it is the most poisonous food additive out there. If you are really interested in the nitty gritty then you need to search out these articles and then make your own personal, health decision.

The FDA has set the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for aspartame at 50 mg/kg of body weight/day. The ADI for aspartame is the equivalent of a 70 kg (154 lb.) person consuming about 20 cans of aspartame-sweetened beverage or about 100 sachets of tabletop sweetener with aspartame per day... www.aspartame.org

WAIT! You are thinking that there is no way one person could possibly consume that much aspartame in a day... look at this short list of foods containing Aspartame:

Food/Beverage products that contain Aspartame: 

Breath Mints, Carbonated Soft Drinks, Cereals, Chewing Gum, Flavored Syrups for Coffee, Flavored Water Products, Frozen Ice, Frozen Ice Cream Novelties, Fruit Spreads, Gelatin, Sugar Free, Hard Candies, Ice cream Toppings, Ice Creams, No Sugar or Sugar Free, Iced Tea, Powder, Iced Tea, Ready to Drink, Instant Cocoa Mix, Jams & Jellies, Juice Blends, Juice Drinks, Maple Syrups, Meal Replacements, Mousse, No Sugar Added Pies, Non-Carbonated Diet Soft drinks, Nutritional Bars, Powdered Soft Drinks, Protein Nutritional Drinks, Pudding, Soft Candy Chews, Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup, Sugar Free Cookies, Sugar Free Ketchup, Table Top Sweeteners, Vegetable Drinks, Yogurt, Drinkable, Yogurt, Fat Free, Yogurt, Sugar Free, MULTIVITAMINS  

Now, ponder on that for a minute and then ask yourself "How much aspartame am I eating daily?" Even your multivitamins are not safe! There are over 6000+ possible ways aspartame could be sneaking its way into your diet without you knowing.

So, is Aspartame a good choice? Absolutely not. Who wants a neurotoxin to quench their thirst?! ...Apparently A LOT OF PEOPLE. 

A Little More Chemistry

Are you having trouble loosing weight? Do you buy "sugar-free" & "Carb-free" snacks? Those extra pounds that keep hanging around just might be your fault after all...

Artificial sweeteners (aspartame) are known to increase our craving for sugar and inhibit our ability to regulate hunger. So, we are trying to avoid extra calories and excess sugar by consuming an artificial sugar that in-turn makes use crave sugar and lose the ability to feel full! Great, now we are worse off than just eating the sugar. 
    

Artificial sweeteners are known to rapidly stimulate the release of insulin and leptin; two hormones that are intricately involved with satiety and fat storage. Insulin and leptin are also the primary hormones that regulate your metabolism. Mercola.com

Possible Adverse Reactions & Side Effects of Aspartame

• abdominal pain
• anxiety or panic attacks
• bloating
• edema
• chronic cough
• chronic fatigue
• depression
• diarrhea
• excessive thirst
• increased hunger
• hair loss or thinning of hair
• insomnia
• irritability
• dizziness or vertigo
  

May Worsen the Following Diseases

• Lupus
• Parkinson's Disease
• Fibromyalgia
• Epilepsy
• Arthritis
• Alzheimer's Disease 

*There are numerous claims as to what ailments aspartame causes, 100+ symptoms/side effects. The symptoms & diseases listed are those that are more commonly reported.

How Do I Eliminate Aspartame From My Diet 

1. Get informed. Start reading food labels and making changes in your food & drink choices  THERE ARE OTHER THINGS TO DRINK BESIDES DIET COKE!!
2. Remove all sugar-free products from your diet  
3. Detox (you are going to have a headache and major cravings... fight through it!)
4. Start eating fresher foods


Sources: aspartame.org; mercola.com
Image Source: google.com

Try This, Not That: Juice

When choosing a juice be VERY CAUTIOUS! The recommendations of juice consumption for children is 4-6 ounces per day. Most household cups are 16 ounces in size. Lots of empty calories are consumed just in juice consumption.

For example, if you were to drink a tall glass of the regular cran-grape juice shown above (thinking that cranberry is really healthy for you), you would be consuming 240 calories & 62 grams of sugar--> equivalent to almost a small meal!

Did You Know...

The simple sugar fructose can be found in corn and is one of the most highly processed sugars.
If corn has been used as the sweetening source of a food product it will be listed under the ingredients section of the food label as High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). HFCS began as kernels of corn and then went through a processing plant to become chemically altered to produce this artificial sweetener. One bushel of corn will sweeten more than 400 cans of soda. Farmers can grow corn on every continent except Antarctica.

HFCS is used to sweeten sodas, cakes, cookies and many candy products.