Moronacity Health Journal » Food and Weight Control
Weight Loss for Idiots: The Truth about Diet Foods
By Diane Ursu
Low-sugar, no-sugar, low-carb, low-fat, sugar-substitute, butter-substitute foods are, as Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, puts it, “edible, food-like substances,” but they aren’t food. Pollan’s advice? “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”Diet foods cut calories by either replacing sugar with fake sugar (artificial sweeteners), or replacing fat with artificial sweeteners and other laboratory-engineered, edible, food-like substances – but they aren’t food, and the body knows it. Unfortunately, these edible, food-like substances may be making you sick.
Sugar Substitutes Cause Cancer, Abdominal Discomfort, and Weight Gain
Sugar substitutes include sugar alcohols, saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame K, and neotame. Some of these sugar substitutes are known to cause abdominal discomfort, while others are closely-linked to cancer and birth defects.
Sugar alcohols include sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, erythritol, isomalt, lactitol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, and malititol. The body does not completely absorb sugar alcohols, and some will even cause abdominal gas and diarrhea.
Saccharin studies are limited, but the sugar substitute is linked with cancer. There is a suspected link between saccharin and bladder cancer. Saccharin may also cause allergic reactions in those who cannot tolerate sulfonamides.
Aspartame has been blamed for many conditions. According to the MedicineNet.com article, “Artificial Sweeteners,” “There has been some evidence to suggest that some of the following symptoms can be related to aspartame: headaches, depression, cancer, and increased hunger.”
MedicineNet.com also reports, “Sucralose was actually discovered while trying to create a new insecticide.” The fact that it is made from sugar doesn’t mean that it is sugar. Chlorine, which is carcinogenic, is added to the sugar.
“Acesulfame K contains the carcinogen methylene chloride,” warns MedicineNet. “Long-term exposure to methylene chloride can cause headaches, depression, nausea, mental confusion, liver effects, kidney effects, visual disturbances, and cancer in humans. It is listed in the ingredients on the food label as acesulfame K, acesulfame potassium, Ace-K, or Sunett.”
There are insufficient studies supporting the effects of neotame on humans. Long-term effects are up for debate.
High Fructose Corn Syrup
In his Oprah article, “Food Hall of Shame . . . and Fame,” Dr. Mehmet Oz advises against consuming high fructose corn syrup, which is found in many foods. He says that the body metabolizes HFCS differently than table sugar, and it affects the body’s ability to determine hunger levels. “It’s not so much the 150 calories in the soda pop – it’s the fact [that] at that same meal you will normally consume an extra hundred calories of food than you would have.”
Hydrogenated Oil
Hydrogenated oils, also known as trans fats, are created by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil. This increases the shelf-life of food, but it also endangers one’s health. Hydrogenated oil raises the bad LDL cholesterol and lowers the good HDL cholesterol. This puts one at a greater risk for heart disease.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer that is added to many foods. In the Mayo Clinic article, “Monosodium glutamate (MSG): Is it harmful?” Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D. says, “Over the years, the FDA has received many anecdotal reports of adverse reactions to foods containing MSG. These reactions – known as MSG symptom complex – include headache; flushing; sweating; facial pressure or tightness; numbness, tingling or burning in [the] face, neck and other areas; rapid, fluttering heartbeats (heart palpitations); chest pain; nausea; and weakness.”
Diet foods, and even some non-diet foods, contain ingredients that lower the calorie- or fat-count in these foods, but alter body chemistry to cause weight gain instead of weight loss. Sugar substitutes, high fructose corn syrup, and monosodium glutamate have negative effects on the body and can cause cancer, heart disease, and even obesity.
NEXT: Weight Loss for Idiots: Healthy Eating for Weight Loss
