Some of the artificial sweeteners contained in the foods we eat every day can affect our health in more ways than one.

Many of the bakery products, beverages, processed foods, frozen desserts, sweets and baking ingredients that we have stored in our kitchen. Can be loaded with artificial and natural sweeteners at the same time, which usually have unrecognizable names.

While some sweeteners are innocent, others are not at all. Including saccharin and acesulfame potassium, as they can affect overall health and our weight.

Effects of sweeteners on weight control

Artificial sweeteners have become popular because consumers want to reduce calories without giving up the foods they like. However, these can cause a healthy diet to fail.

This is because the zero calorie content in sweeteners make it more difficult to metabolize food properly and therefore control body weight.

So, where is the benefit of sweeteners for our diet and why does the opposite happen to the results we seek? The answer lies in our body. It is programmed to associate sweetness with high-calorie foods.

So, for example, when we eat sweets the signals tell the brain what happens and can put a cap on the intake. When the sweet taste matches the calories. They are metabolized and the area of ​​the brain associated with the reward is satisfied.

However, when we eat foods that contain artificial sweeteners without calories, the metabolism is deceived. As a result, the body understands that it needs more calories. Therefore, the desire to eat more food intensifies. This produces a counterproductive effect on our diet, inducing the increase of body weight.

When the sweet taste and calories do not align, either by default or by excess, the body’s metabolism is cheated and does not record the calories consumed. This is what produces an imbalance in the control of body weight.

The dangers of aspartame

Pepsi Diet went on the market 50 years ago, with the intention that consumers linked sugar-free soft drinks with weight loss. However, over the years there has been concern about whether they are safe or not.

Aspartame is perhaps the best-known artificial sweetener and also the one with the worst press. It is an alternative to sugar, a fatty acid created from aspartic acid and phenylalanine.

For several decades several studies have been developed on the effects of this substance in the organism. In some cases, the increase in cases of tumors in the brain was even related to the growing popularity of aspartame.

The fear remained, and began to mention other types of cancer linked to the consumption of these sweeteners. However, no real relationship was found between cancer cases and aspartame consumption, with sufficient evidence to support the theories.

Stevia, a healthier alternative to sugar

The newest in the market, although it is not really that new. It is a sweetener from the stevia plant. In Paraguay and Brazil stevia has been used in medicine for centuries. In Japan it has been sold as a sweetener for more than four decades.

Among its advantages, it has no calories and sweetens several times more than sugar. It is original of subtropical areas of Latin America. Its sweetening component, the steviol glucoside, is extracted from its leaves by soaking them in water. This component passes through the body without being absorbed.

The disadvantage is that it leaves a bitter aftertaste. Because of the above, they sometimes sell it mixed with artificial sweeteners. Even so, the advantages of this product suppose that it can be one of the best alternatives to sugar, especially in relation to weight loss.

In short, the best option to promote a proper weight loss is to get used to not take sugar. Put aside less healthy products such as:

• Industrial sweets
• Refreshments.
• Bolleria
• Chocolates

It will be the best way to lose weight without having to face the negative effects of the sweeteners.