Artificial Sweeteners preventing or causing weight gain?

Releasing in March, Diet Pepsi is embracing the new "skinny can".  In a recent Pepsi press release they state that this "taller, sassier, new skinny can" is coming out nationwide to celebrate "beautiful, confident women... In addition, to celebrate beautiful, confident women and offer refreshment across the country, Diet Pepsi Skinny Can is collaborating with 10 fashion boutiques in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami, providing them with a custom 'Skinny Can Fridge.'  Thirsty fashionistas will get a complimentary Diet Pepsi Skinny Can while they shop in stores including Jeffrey, Intermix, Fred Segal, and Dash."

Oh yes, nothing screams sexy fashion quite like artificial sweetener with a sketchy past, linked to disease and decreased thyroid function.  Whew! I can't wait!

Truly, though....I was never a huge soda drinker, but for several months of my life I went around promoting a product called Sodastream (a homemade soda maker) that uses Splenda instead of regular sugar or aspartame in many of their soda products.  I was selling soda, yes, while also writing this blog at one point.  Does this seem hypocritical?  Why yes it does and I felt like a goon.  Eventually I quit doing that and even though it was a gig only for the good money, I have found much peace about giving out health advice ever since.  All that to say... after I started selling that silly machine, I started drinking more diet coke.  Just a few times a week, but for a bit it turned into a daily habit.  Pretty soon I found that I started craving more sweets so I cut back, and I found that the cravings eventually evaporated.  Similarly, I grew up in the south drinking sweet tea (still my favorite!) so I began to use Stevia to sweeten my tea instead of sugar so that I would feel less guilty, but keep my childhood alive all at the same time.  Again, I began to crave sweet tea ALL the time.  Pretty soon my belly would swell up with water weight because I was drinking massive amounts of "sweet" tea and eating less real food, or perhaps eating more because I felt like I could?  Either way, neither alternative is good.  The solution?  During this 21 day vegetarianism, I also cut out artificial sweeteners.  Curbing those sugar cravings was always contingent on have some artificial sweetener in my diet, but for the past week I have had to rely on sheer willpower.  Is it worth it?  I did some looking around and my verdict is this:  It is worth it to cut out artificial sweeteners. 

Here are my reasons:

* Artificial sweeteners make you crave more sweets - I know this from personal experience, as well as multiple studies confirming its links to increase in appetite. 
* It contains all sorts of crazy man made chemicals and additives that may/may not lead to all sorts of diseases - Most studies indicate that this stuff is just no good overall.  Why risk your health?
* Let's face it-if we indulge in a calorie free diet soda, we feel like we can indulge elsewhere.  We try to fool our tummies into feeling full without the inconvenience of fueling with real calories-until that burger and fries comes in later for dinner.  Hm... I had nothing for lunch except that calorie free Diet Pepsi so I can splurge for dinner!  Oh wait-calories aren't inconvenient or even bad--consumed on a healthful (ya know-everyday?) basis, they link to longevity of life, weight loss, and overall healthfulness! 
* The healthiest people I know don't drink soda- I like to hang out with people who have qualities that I wish to attain.  When I hang out with other healthy people, they DON'T drink soda.  They drink water, tea, coffee (without Splenda), and more water.  If nothing else, this speaks volumes!  You look around and everyone is drinking soda so you think, "It couldn't be THAT bad, right?"  But why not be one of the rare few who cares enough to make a difference and change your habits?  Just a thought...

Will it help you lose weight?  Maybe yes-maybe no.  All I know is if you ask just about anyone-they'll admit that artificial sweetener is probably crap.  Those who tend to drink soda (diet or not) tend to also indulge in other unhealthy life habits. 

Organic versus natural sweeteners? Is Organic sugar better for you?  Are agave nectar or honey better?  They are more natural, yes, but not necessarily better.  It is still sugar so I stay away from it most of the time! Is high fructose corn syrup worse than table sugar?  They are both poison in my opinion and I think you'll find most dietitians would agree.  This is what I'm getting at:  We have trained our bodies to crave sugar habitually and we need to retrain them to crave the vitamins and nutrients that promote overall health!

I conclude with a video where nutrition meets humor:

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/11043494/  ---click on link to view the video :)

Vegetarian Experiment

So I am a die hard meat lover.  I love my dark meat, light meat, fish, beef-all of it.  However I am in the middle of a 21 day vegetarian experiment, while enacting my slow carb diet (no breads, grains, etc.).  I am through week 1 of 3 and the first week still allowed an occasional egg in the morning and two cans of fish throughout the week to help ween me off.  On week three I plan on inserting a few exceptions like extra grains and a few helpings of meat to introduce us again as friends without sickness ensuing.  Why am I blogging on this experiment?  Truly, for my own benefit as this second week promises to be the most difficult.

Am I going to incorporate this into my life after 21 days?  Yes and no.  Throughout the course of this experiment (now one week down) I have learned a lot more about how much energy my body needs to fuel itself and how to cook veggies so that they are filling.  I will take this new found knowledge and increase my vegetable intake from day to day with a much better understanding of how to make them filling and yummy.  However, I will not be permanently eliminating meat from my diet.  I don't consume massive amounts to begin with for financial reasons, but this process of supplementing protein in place of meat has been a little draining.  Ultimately, I drink a least two whey protein shakes a day in order to stay full.  I am also eating a tbsp of peanut butter twice a day-the second time being right before bed to curb hunger pangs.  While I eat beans more than anyone probably should already, I have had to increase the amount of beans I eat to get more protein as well-up to about half a can per meal-ish.

Seriously, I am learning so much.  I have found so many creative ways to eat veggies and other filling substitutes.  Let me first say-no tofu for me and no soy milk.  One soy latte has the same estrogen content of a birth control pill.  We don't want that and there is NO WAY that is good for you.  I actually love soymilk, but this had to go after I found that out.  So lately, I've been drinking my protein shakes with almond milk and let me just say...I LOVE it!  It adds only a subtle flavor of the almond essence (remeniscent of the extract), but adds so much more depth than water.  Of course I get the original kind, unsweetened so one serving ends up being a whopping 40 calories.  It's a win win situation!  Instead of adding honey or stevia to sweeten things, I have been using a drop of vanilla extract and cinammon.  It's delish and I will keep it from now until the end of time.

Other interesting substitutions of note?

* Sweet potato fries.  I only allow this a few times a week as well, but all it takes is cutting up a sweet potato, putting the wedges in a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes and removing, then consuming.  They are filling and very satisfying!

*  Squash/Zucchini/Carrot noodles.  If you peel squash and zucchini and a few carrots, you can saute them with some onions, mushrooms, garlic, fennel, & pasta sauce and it tastes phenomenal!  You can also make a sauce with olive oil instead of red sauce.

* Yerba Matte instead of coffee- known as the creativity ilixir of all time;  It's legendary stuff and has 85 mg of caffeine versus 135 mg in coffee.  It, however, does not have the jittery, harsh after effects that coffee has, but produces a pleasant increase in clarity and energy that doesn't crash!

I've also gotten better at making salads.  Start with spinach.  Then add one or a few of the following:

Veggies:
cucumbers, carrots
corn, peas
brussel sprouts
green beans
peppers
broccoli

Then add some legumes- chickpeas are great on salads, but I also love kidney, white, & black beans!

Next add some nuts.  I use blanched almond slivers.

Sometimes I saute everything but the spinach (so it stays big) and at the last minute put the dressing in the pan to warm it up, then pour it over the salad.  YUM! You can even add fresh garlic.  My dressings usually consist of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice.

Another essential in the vegetarian diet is salsa.  I start my mornings off with spinach (frozen and warmed up) and beans mixed together in a bowl and add salsa (usually somethin' with a kick!).  I might supplement it with a protein shake to kick the morning off with a boost.  Sound strange?  To me it resembles Chipotle or Mexican food.  Anyhow...I'll be back soon to post with more interesting improvements, substitutions and findings!

Have a wonderful Valentines Day!