Yesterday I read an article in the New York Times that really annoyed me. This happens often.
Not that I get annoyed often…but that I got annoyed after reading a ‘health’ or ‘fitness’ article in the NY Times.
The article, ‘Sweeteners: Real Aid or Excuse to Indulge?‘ points out something that the author feels the world needs to know about. But the article topic has nothing, or very little, to do with the ‘take home messages’ that are detrimental to your health, wellness and fat loss.
So, here we go, once again…I would like to thank the NY Times ‘health’ editor for teaching garbage information that keeps people confused and unhealthy and simultaneously keeps processed junk food manufacturers wealthy.
I do appreciate you giving me great material for my blog! ;-)
Since the author doesn’t actually work with people and doesn’t have years of experience helping people lose weight, her opinions and conclusions really don’t mean much to me.
Her conclusions, however, will mean a lot to the many millions of uninformed people who will read this and believe that its true simply because is printed in the Times.
To start the article off, the author states ‘…only about 15 percent of Americans regularly consume beverages and foods that contain artificial sweeteners.’
I can tell you from my personal experience working with people for 15 years in NYC that this
is simply not true.
The author doesn’t quote the source for those numbers, but I can tell you from my experience that those numbers are not accurate.
Much like the millions of undiagnosed people who are allergic to gluten and don’t know it yet, they suffer all sorts of weird health problems, many people who eat synthetic chemicals, especially artificial sweeteners, suffer seemingly ‘unrelated’ health issues.
From skin issues to cravings to addiction to mood disorders, artificial sweetener is a potent neurotoxic poison that causes chaos inside the human body and imbalance in brain chemistry.
As soon as my clients gave it up completely, the issues disappear. Here are some facts for ya….
94% of the people I have worked with that were eating artificial sweetener, were addicted to it.
100% of the people I have worked with that gave it up, found radical improvements in their health, well-being and ability to lose weight.
However, the real flaw in the message of this article is the idea that artificial sweetener is ‘part of a healthy diet.’ This is false. Artificial sweeteners are not healthy nor are they safe.
I mentioned this recently on my blog about the Obesity Tax
Mike Geary of Truth About Abs recently wrote about this topic in his free Lean Body Secrets newsletter. If you want to learn the truth from real experts, you should definitely get his newsletter and check out this article he wrote on the topic: Do Artificial Sweeteners Make you Fat?
Another real expert you can learn a lot of nutrition truth from is my friend Isabel De Los Rios, author of The Diet Solution. Here is an article on the topic, I think you will enjoy: Killer Sweeteners.
Another flaw is that the author lumps Stevia together with man made, artificial sweeteners including: aspartame (NutraSweet and Equal), saccharin (Necta Sweet), sucralose (Splenda), stevia (Truvia and PureVia), acesulfame potassium (Ace-K) and neotame (similar to aspartame).
The problem with this is she just convinced millions of readers that they are all the same, which is not true and is a huge disservice to people who want to get healthy…in fact, this is detrimental to the health and well-being of people world wide.
Stevia is a natural sweetener that exists in nature. It is a South American herb that has been used for centuries. If you want to learn more about it and see another website that I love, check out Body Ecology Diet.
So please be very careful what you read and pay attention to. I just gave you three powerful resources that will teach you more truthful health and fat loss info than the New York Times & Oprah combined!
Here are a few good guidelines that will actually improve your health and help you lose fat:
There is NO SUCH THNG as an ’empty’ calorie. There are however, ‘hazardous’ calories.
Focus on quality of food BEFORE considering calories.
Is it fresh?
Is it organic?
Is it a real food that exists on this planet?
Asking those questions will help you much more than ‘how many calories are in this?’
Your best sweeteners are raw honey, maple syrup, and stevia. Period. End of story.
Xylitol also works well, but if you are not sure what it is yet, dont worry about it for now and just stick with the top 3 and use them sparingly. I mean rarely.
Here are a few rules of thumb that work every time:
If it wasnt here 20,000 years ago – dont eat it!
Another rule I live by is:
If it has an ingredient you can’t pronounce, don’t touch it!
If you keep those ideas fresh in your mind, and not the crap circulating in mainstream media, you will get
smarter, healthier, lose fat, flatten your abs and have an abundance of enegy…and your skin will be clear and you will not age prematurely like most everyone else.
No, you wont live forever, but you will look and feel your best and you wont be a sucker to a mega food or drug corporatations that want you to believe that synthetic chemicals are ‘good’ for your health.
If you have a comment or question, pleae share it. If you have been brainwashed into beleiving artificial sweeteners are good for you and you want to argue with me, don’t bother. There are a few things that one should neve compromise on. This topic is one of them. Raw, organic dark chocolate is another.
If you want to ge healthy, please check out those links and search through this blog. Feel free to tell me what you would like me to cover in future blog posts!
Peace
Antonio