What’s my deal with artificial sweeteners???
[Brief trigger warning for the following paragraph.]
I gained weight in college. Like, more than the Freshman 15. Having been naturally thin my whole life, I was shocked by the rapid weight gain and felt like I was trapped in someone else’s body. It gave me a sort of identity crisis. I found the motivation to return to my normal weight immediately so I could feel like “myself” again. Being clueless about nutrition, my initial response was to turn to commercial “diet food.”
[Trigger warning over.]
First, let’s talk health.
There are tons of debate over the dangers of artificial sweeteners. Do they cause cancer? Do they truly assist with weight loss? Are they addictive? For the history of artificial sweeteners, check out this comprehensive Fooducate post.
This is my take on it: any food that clocks in at zero calories is suspicious to me (excluding water, of course). Have you seen those zero-calorie Walden Farms products? Ain’t nothing natural about that. No shocker: these products usually contain Splenda. And a million other chemicals.
During my sophomore year of college, as I desperately tried to shed the dozens of excess pounds I had gained the year before, I had a Coke Zero (sometimes two) every day. I ate low-calorie Yoplait yogurt (sweetened artificially). I ate Quaker “Weight Control” oatmeal packets (sweetened artificially). My mom bought Sam’s Club-sized boxes of Splenda packets and we sprinkled them on everything. Everything.
But then I learned the truth. Regardless of whether or not these products actually cause cancer is up in the air, but I read enough to convince me to quit. I wanted to go all-natural. All homemade. All unprocessed. My aspartame-filled Coke Zero was accompanied with caramel color and other artificial crap. That “Orange Crème” Yoplait Light was held together by stabilizers and chemicals (they have since redone their recipe to be aspartame-free–progress!).
By indulging in articifial sweeteners–regardless of how “safe” they may or may not be–I was partaking in an industry that is anything but natural. What would help me lose weight healthily: Coke Zero, or apples? Continue reading →
