Pour Some Sugar On Me

If you’ve ever visited a supermarket, you’re familiar with the vast quantity of drinks and foods labeled “sugar-free.” However, just because a food registers lower in calories doesn’t mean it will help you lose weight: Researchers at the University of Texas found people who drink diet soda were 70% more likely to be overweight. Drinking two or more diet sodas each day actually made subjects five times more likely to gain weight, theoretically because artificial sweeteners inhibit the brain cells that make you feel full.

And sugar-free foods could actually be dangerous: Saccharine, a coal tar derivative, has long been suspected of links to cancer, and aspartame converts to formaldehyde in your body, according to the FDA. Yummy. Food and drinks sweetened with organic sugar, agave or stevia are a far better bet. In moderation, of course.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2014 at 10:32 am. It is filed under Sustainability and tagged with aspartame, saccharine, sugar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.