Recently, Suzanne Somers posted some interesting information about artificial sweeteners on her Sexy Forever web site. I thought I'd share it with you.
In theory, artificial sweeteners should be a win-win for people who need to lose weight — you can continue to eat the sweet foods you love without the added calories of sugar. Unfortunately, sticking with these types of sweeteners often leads to weight gain — as evidenced by the large numbers of overweight people who drink diet sodas and eat artificially sweetened foods; furthermore, they can do more harm than good. There's mounting evidence that these products can severely impact your health. Here's how:
Your body looks for nutritional value in everything you eat or drink. It will absorb the nutrients, discard the remainder, and store what it cannot use or eliminate. When your body is not fed nutrients, it asks again and again for more food, triggering heavy-duty cravings for fattening, sugary foods. This certainly isn't what you expected when you picked up those diet foods and drinks!
Artificial sweeteners can mess with your metabolism.
Food additives containing excitotoxic chemicals (toxins that damage nerve cells), such as aspartame and MSG, can cause changes to your brain that can increase your risk of developing metabolic syndrome, making it far more likely that you will become obese and have difficulty removing the weight with diet and exercise — the result of which may be type-2 diabetes. This risk increases if you began eating these chemical additives at an early age.
When you do have a craving for something sweet, I recommend you use an all-natural sweetener. Agave nectar is the same consistency as honey, but with a lower glycemic index. But, my favorite is all natural SomerSweet. Made from a blend of 100 percent natural sweeteners, including chicory fiber (which aids in healthy digestion), SomerSweet is low on the glycemic index and therefore won't spike your insulin
Here's our meal plan for the day:
Breakfast - Scrambled eggs with cheese and chopped zucchini plus two links of breakfast sausage.
AM Snack - 3 servings of pineapple.
Lunch - Leftover Ginger Scallion Mahi-Mahi from yesterday and organic, canned green beans.
PM Snack - Pizza bites (from SS web site). Just slice some tomatoes (thick), and place a slice of turkey pepperoni (or regular) on top. You'll need five of each. Then, take one ounce of your favorite cheese and cut it into 5 pieces; place one on each of the stacks. Microwave for 45-55 seconds. Delicious! NOTE: This is one serving.
Dinner - Red Lentil Cumin Soup (from SS web site) and side salad. NOTE: The soup is a Level 1 dish.
This soup was pretty easy to make, and fast, too. It calls for chicken broth, onions that you saute first, grated ginger, crushed garlic, cumin, crushed tomatoes, and red lentils. Basically, once the chopped onions are sauteed, you add everything in two steps; then simmer for 25 minutes.
It was so much better than I thought, and very hearty. The recipe makes 6 servings, but I boosted it to 8 servings; or 4 meals.
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