ARE SUGAR-FREE PRODUCTS SAFE ?

Many people think sugar-free products are part of a healthy diet. But are they really harmless ? 

First of all, anything can be beneficial in a specific situation or anything can be dangerous in other situations. Water is a famous example. I remember in Toxicology class when the professor was explaining that water can be toxic. How, you may ask? Well if you consume a lot of water it can disturb  the balance of ions in the body and cause water poisoning. A potentially fatal disturbance in brain functions that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside safe limits by excessive water intake.   

 

What does a sugar-free product use to be sweet? We will discuss two famous artificial sweeteners.  

1- Sodium saccharin :

Sodium saccharin is one of the oldest artificial sweeteners which is 300 times sweeter than sucrose (what we call sugar in our kitchens). It was first produced in 1879. It has been used  in candies, cookies, medicines and drinks. It's popularity increased during the 1960s and 1970s among dieters. 

But what is the problem? In 1977 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made an attempt to completely ban the substance because many studies showed that saccharin can cause bladder cancer in rats. Saccharin was on list of chemicals known to cause cancer in the USA but it was removed from the list in 2001 because negative-result studies were not convincing enough  for the government. Today many scientists still believe that the effect of saccharin is not fully known to be used and we should study it further before using it.

 

2- Aspartame :

Aspartame is  another artificial sweetener which is commonly used  in beverages. Dozens of studies have linked aspartame — the world’s most widely used artificial sweetener — to serious health problems, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, seizures, stroke and dementia, as well as negative effects such as intestinal dysbiosis, mood disorders, headaches and migraines.[1]

Aspartame metabolism creates Phenylalanine (amino acid), Aspartic acid and also Methanol that we will discuss :

 

Phenylalanine : 

Phenylalanine isn't a health concern for most people. However, for people who have the genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) or other certain health conditions phenylalanine can be a serious health concern.

Methanol :

 In the body, the methyl ester in aspartame metabolizes into methanol and then it may be converted to formaldehyde, which has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.  You can read more about the toxic effects of formaldehyde in this article.

 

You can see that although these artificial sweeteners are not poison, they are not yet well known and safe to be used. Another problem with these substances is that they interrupt the " I'm full " signal from your body to your brain so you will eat more than normal. thus they don't help you lose weight either! 

 I hope that after reading this post you'll be more aware of what you are using. So feel free to use normal sugar but remember to use it in moderation and count your daily calories.