When artificial sweeteners were first introduced to the market, the medical community was delighted. What was there not to like about substituting a safe, sweet tasting chemical for the ravishes sugar caused to human health, especially for diabetics and the obese?

But that elation was short lived. It soon became apparent that patients who drank diet drinks (artificial sweeteners) were actually twice as likely to gain weight as those who drank sugary drinks. But why?

That is because artificial sweeteners trick the brain. When the expected sugar does not appear in the blood, the body begins to crave more and more sweets.  It says, “What’s wrong?  Why can’t I sense the sugar in my blood that I taste in my mouth”.  Of course, that conversation does not actually go on in the body, but that is exactly what happens, chemically and endocrinologically. Artificial sugars do not stimulate Leptin, the full hormone, but rather promote Ghrelin, the hungry hormone, which in turns makes us hungrier. We then have to eat more to feel satisfied.

Further, those artificial sweeteners, that were first thought to be safe, have been proven to cause many health issues, including cancer. Which brings me to my old adage, “It is not nice to trick mother nature!”

Like so many chemicals in the food industry, such as preservatives and stabilizers, artificial sweeteners were never vetted properly.  Now that they have been made an integral part of our processed food supply, it is extremely difficult to get them removed.

As damaging as diet drinks are, the sugary drinks are worse. Coke, for example is responsible for more deaths in the world than all the wars, accidents and cancer combined. It is a horrible poison. Remember, caveman and cavewoman did not drink sugary drinks. They drank water. We may live in the 21st century (the space age), but we still have caveman’s bodies. All that sugar raises havoc with our immune system, causing us to crave more food, increasing our weight to dangerous levels which in turn causes, diabetes, strokes, heart disease, hypertension, depression and cancer. 

Call to Action:

We need to fall in love with water all over again. There is nothing better to quince our thrust and renew our health and our spirit.

Food companies begin with potatoes, remove the skin, which is the most nutritious part, then fries them in a concoction of dangerous seed oils, that removes the water, replacing it with trans fats and other chemicals.  McDonalds French Fries, for example, contain 14 ingredients:

1. Potatoes 

2. Canola Oil

3. Soybean Oil

4. Hydrogenated Soybean Oil

5. Natural Beef Flavor

6. Hydrolyzed Wheat

7. Hydrolyzed Milk

8. Citric Acid

9. Dimethylpolysiloxane  – a silicon used in the manufacturing of silly putty

10. Dextrose – sugar

11. Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate – a chemical to prevent discoloration

12. Salt

13. Corn Oil

14. Tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ)- a food additive that prevents it from oxidizing. High doses of TBHQ are toxic causing stomach cancer and damage to DNA.

So why would Americans eat 3.5 billion pounds of French Fries every year, knowing how dangerous they are?

• Because they are highly addictive. “You can’t just eat one of them”;
• They are cheap making them the ideal filler for fast food restaurants to make a profit;
• People love them and demand them (supply and demand);
• Most folks do not know just how dangerous and addictive they really are.

French fries are just one more ingredient in the American diet that has caused us to be the most obese population in the history of the world.

What is the best way to break the French Fry habit? Just say, “NO!” Then replace this dangerous habit with a healthy habit of natural snacks and meals. Stay away from Fat Food restaurants (lead me not into temptation).

Excess sugar of any kind is detrimental to our health, destroying our immune systems causing metabolic disorders like heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, strokes, cancer, obesity, gout, Alzheimer’s and depression. It takes up to 10 years off our life expectancy.

But of all the sugars in our diets, FRUCTOSE is the worse. FRUCTOSE is the only sugar that is not absorbed directly from the intestine into the blood, but has to go through the liver for processing, where it is converted mostly into fat.

FRUCTOSE found naturally in fruits and vegetables is not dangerous because it is combined with fiber and other ingredients including minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and polyphenols that block high fructose’s negative effects.

FRUCTOSE is twice as sweet as other sugars and is highly addictive. Some studies have shown it to be 8 times more addictive than cocaine.

FRUCTOSE also blocks the full hormone Leptin and stimulates the hungry hormone, Ghrelin, which in turn makes us hungrier.

So why is FRUCTOSE added to nearly all processed foods?

It is used for one purpose — to addict us to that food or drink, so that we will want to buy more.

It should be banned as a dangerous chemical.

750 million tons of FRUCTOSE is produced in the USA every year. That is the weight of 200 million automobiles.

Will FRUCTOSE ever be banned? Probably not because it is controlled by the powerful agriculture lobbies. Corn in the number one cash crop in the USA and is subsidized by the US government to the tune of $2.7 Billion annually.

How can we decrease the negative effects of FRUCTOSE and other sugars in our lives and our health?  The best way is to avoid processed foods. Decrease the amount of sugar in our diets and avoid sugary drinks altogether. Change our relation to food and eat natural foods that God made for us.

• Cleaning our plates – leave something on your plate
• Eating too often – only eat when you are hungry
• Eating too much – stop after 10 minutes and re-assess
• Compulsion to eat at a certain time – No set time to eat
• Eating when we are not hungry – only eat when you are hungry
• Eating until we are too full – eat slowly, enjoy food, ask, “Am I still hungry?”
• Wrong foods i.e. processed – eat more fruits and vegetables, grains, fish
• Fat food restaurants – pick wisely and share your meal
• Parking close to the door – park far away
• Bad habits can be broken – If replaced with something FUN and Worthwhile

• Out of sight – out of mind
• Sodas – Remove soft drinks from your home
• Processed foods – Remove processed foods from your pantry
• Shopping – Stick to your shopping list
  • Do not shop when you are hungry
• Eating out – Chose wisely at restaurants
  • Eat at home more often
• Desserts – Avoid desserts
• Caveman was not tempted by processed foods

• Know your enemy – Food industry
  • I recognize them as the enemy
• Know their poison – Fructose, salt, & fat
  • I will look for Fructose in all my food
• Know their message – Delicious, cheap, healthy
  • I will not let them fool me any longer
• Know their mules – Processed food
  • I will replace processed food with natural foods
• Caveman was not deceived by the food industry

• Tomorrow – is your biggest enemy
  • I’m going to start today!
• Takes energy and motivation to change
  • I have the motivation to change!
• The first step is the hardest (most important)
  • I will take this first step now!
• Caveman had to change to survive