Artificial Sweeteners

It has come to my attention that many people don’t actually know what they are putting into their bodies. As an attempt to solve America’s obesity problem, many people are exercising more and eating better… so we think! In fact, many of us don’t research all the foods that we consume and instead look for easy way out of weight loss by letting marketing and branding decide what we eat. What do you mean? Well, when you go to the grocery store, a lot of products are now saying “Low- Carb”, or “No Sugar Added”, or “Lowered Sodium”. Branders package items so consumers believe they need foods that has a limited amount of carbohydrates, no sugar and lower sodium. But marketers aren’t your medical doctor! Niether am I, but I do like researching! So before you pick up your next DIET drink, take a look at what you’re really consuming.

Instead of exercising more and eating right, people believe that consuming a product with the word “DIET” on the label will make it healthier, therefore, easier to lose weight. True? Fat chance. As a gradation requirement for my Mass Communication degree at Cal State East Bay, I took a Women’s Studies class. Part of the curriculum included a chapter on nutrition, eating disorders and dieting which coincided with the artificial food boom. Our course book was Our Bodies, Ourselves by The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective which is a great reference for anything women have questions about. In that book, I discovered that for some reason, people in our society love fake sugars! Splenda (sucralose), Nutrasweet (aspartame), Sweet N’ Low (saccharin) have become a marketer’s dream as our country become larger. Artificial sugars are categorized as “sweeteners” because they have a sweet taste; but they are artificial! How good can that be? So, let’s figure out what artificial sugars are made of.

Found on the website called Truth About Splenda, sucralose is chemical compound of chlorine molecules that have been added to sucrose to produce a chemical reaction with harsh chemicals. The artificial chlorinated sweetener is manufactured in a chemical plant in Alabama and is in no way considered a natural product. The site states, “While the FDA has ruled that the chemical compound sucralose is not in itself toxic, there is no question that it is unnatural and is a highly-processed chemical artificial sweetener that depends on the presence of chlorine for its intense sweetness.” Need a comparison? Sugar, or sucrose, is from sugar beets or sugar cane is found naturally – not in a lab.

Don’t get confused! Although sucrose (sugar) and sucralose (artificial sweetener) sound similar, they are produced very differently!

Although they have been approved by the FDA, no one is sure of the long-term effects fake sugars have on the body. The FDA actually stated possible side-effects from using Splenda as lowered white blood cell count, enlarged liver and kidneys, decreased fetal body weight, and reduced growth rate.

When I researched these fake sugars, I came across an interesting fact. The reason artificial sweeteners are low-calorie is because the body cannot metabolize them. (Ok, to me this is a big deal! If my body cannot process something I’m consuming, that is not a good sign!) Some of you might think that this is no big deal but let’s put it in perspective:

SUGAR
– Yes, real sugar contains more calories but a calorie is a unit of energy. So although sodas contain “empty calories” because they provide little nutrition but contain a lot of calories, your body can STILL process out the sugar!
– Sugar is all natural, grown from the earth, and has been safely consumed by humans for thousands of years.
– Sugar is low in cost.
– Sugar has NO bad aftertaste.

ARTIFICIAL SUGARS
– Fake sugars are unable to be metabolized by the body because they are made of synthetic chemicals.
– Certain artificial sugars can cause diarrhea in large amounts (sugar alcohols and tagatose) and like MSG, they can possibly cause headaches.
– In 1977, the FDA showed that saccharin caused cancer of the bladder, skin, ovaries, and other organs in lab rats.
– Artificial sugars are not natural.
– Artificial sugars are more expensive than regular sugar!

Ultimately, everyone makes their own decisions about what they consume. But just because the label says “DIET” or “NO SUGAR ADDED!” does not mean it is better for you. I admit, there is no long-term research on the effects of fake sugars and possible dangers; however, real sugar has been safely used by human for over 2,000 years. I’ll tell you that every time I see someone walking out of Costco with a big pack of Splenda, I cringe. I hate knowing that people think this stuff is ok and that artificial sweetener companies are content that they could be sending people some expensive medical bills in the future. However, if only a handle full of people change their lives because of the research done in this article, I’ll be a happier person.

Here are my tips to be artificial-free plus a few more:
– Say goodbye to the regular AND diet sodas from your life. It may be hard now, but you’ll be glad you did later!
– Only buy juice that says “100% Juice”.
– Avoid buying anything that says “diet”, “sugar free”, “no sugar added”. If in doubt, read the label before you put the item in your shopping cart. No one can give you a ticket for parking your cart while you read the ingredients on a nutrition label.
– Finally, and I know I’m a little bias on this, but exercise your butt off! As a competitive swimmer, I joke with my teammates that if I feel comfortable at the end of my practice or race then I’m not working hard enough. It takes a lot of self-motivation but you have to learn to get out of your comfort zone – that’s the only way you’ll see and feel a difference.

Check Out These Websites!
Truth About Splenda
Our Bodies, Ourselves
Simply Beautiful Body Wraps

Vicki Espiritu
Marketing Manager

Do Body Wraps Work?

Do body wraps work? Sometimes it is hard to find the truth – and the skinny –behind the wraps. There are many types of body wraps to choose between these days and most of us have heard of crazy wraps that make us sweat. So are there healthy body wraps out there? Let’s look at different wraps to see if body wraps work!

First, there are saran wraps that enclose the body in cellophane to reduce inches. I’m sorry, does this sound healthy? No! This is an extremely dangerous process! Saran wraps literally suffocate the skin and prohibits the natural exchange of oxygen to the skin. Yikes! We are humans that need oxygen so let’s not deprive ourselves of it. So, saran wraps are not even close to working wonders for the body – in fact, it is just the opposite.

Other “hot” body wraps do not work because they involve lying in uncomfortably warm blankets to “sweat-out” the inches, which is the equivalent to sitting in a sauna. I know, I know. I’m sure a bunch of you sit in the sauna after working out at the gym or at spas so what’s the problem with this? Again, these are not healthy for the body. “Hot” wraps, and saunas while on the subject, cause people to lose vital body fluids needed to function. This equation equals dehydration – a serious health concern that people are actually hospitalized for.

According to Benjamin C. Wedro, MD, FAAEM, at MedicineNet.com, “Dehydration occurs when the amount of water leaving the body is greater than the amount being taken in.” People lose water by doing everyday things, even involuntary tasks such as breathing, sweating to cool the body, and through urination and bowel movements, so people need to replace this water by drinking a significant amount of water each day (par. 2).

Dehydration does not sound like a positive way to get inch loss! So the question: Do these body wraps work? The answer: No, not in any “healthy” or “natural” way, that is.

However, those who are looking for a safe, all-natural process that does work can find a light at the end of the metaphorical body wrap tunnel! There is a process that uses trace minerals to help people lose inches, get rid of cellulite and tighten skin. According to Trace Minerals Research, trace minerals are minerals that the body needs a certain, amount of to function healthily (minerals like iron, sulfur, calcium, magnesium, chromium, selenium, and zinc) (par. 4). Body wraps that use these trace minerals are incredibly beneficial for people even just to increase mineral intake. (It is estimated by Trace Minerals Research that 90 percent of Americans have a mineral deficiency) (par. 1).

Here is how the body wraps work:
First of all, trace mineral body wraps require certain wraps, or bandages, which are porous and make it easy for the skin to breathe while being wrapped. The bandages are similar to ACE sport bandages. The permeable material allows oxygen to be exchanged through the skin which is extremely important since the skin is the body’s largest organ. The bandages soak in mineral solution thoroughly before being tightly applied to the body for compaction of the fat cells. Fat cells hold many impurities like alcohol, pollution and cigarette smoke, excess medications, and fake sugars (sucralose, aspartame, etc.).

I’m going to stop you right there. I can hear the rebuttals now: My diet soda has 0 calories. That means it’s better than regular! … WRONG! Diet drinks are worse for you because the body cannot recognize the chemical so it never gets processed all the way out!

Think about this too: The next time you pick up a Sweet N Low packet, look at the back and read the cancer warning. Fake sugars have been proven to cause cancer in lab rats. Just think what that will do to us humans if the sweeteners never get processed out!

Let’s continue! Through circulation, the trace minerals enter the body’s fat cells to exchange for the impurities that may have entered the body over the past months or years.

Once a person is wrapped in the bandages, they need to perform very light movement to keep the blood and circulation moving constantly in the body in order for the body wrap to work. The movement increases the exchange that occurs between the trace minerals and impurities. Mineral solution is constantly reapplied to the body and bandages which also increases hydration. Ahh, yes, hydration is good, right? The impurities are pulled out through the pores and discarded. Through the replacement of impurities for minerals, the tight pressure of the bandages forces the fat cells to shrink in size and encourage inch loss, reduce the appearance of cellulite and tighten the skin.

This type of mineral body wrap actually has a cooling-effect which makes it virtually impossible to overheat and become dehydrated.

Need proof that these body wraps work? Salons that offer this type of mineral wrap measure clients before and after to prove that the body wraps work. Proof can be visible by evaluation of certain body parts or by slipping on any normally tight clothing – the clothing should be looser! The best part, though, is that these trace minerals stay in the body to work continually for up to two days for further amazing results.

So do body wraps work? After evaluating saran and “hot” body wraps, the importance of keeping body fluids, and understanding trace mineral body wraps, the choice is clear. Maybe being wrapped up like something from the blockbuster hit, The Mummy, doesn’t sound like a bad way to detox, lose inches and cellulite, and tighten up loose skin. Do trace mineral body wraps sound goofy? Sure. Are they safe? Of course. Do these body wraps work? YES!

Works Cited

“Dehydration.” 2009. MedicineNet. 20 Feb. 2009
“Trace Minerals Story.” Trace Minerals Research. 20 Feb. 2009

For more information, check out Simply Beautiful Body Wraps

– Vicki Espiritu
Marketing Manager