Quote: Jennifer Lee

In honor of this thread

Now I am inspired to substitute one of my java's for a bottle of ummmmm, water. That will be a shock to the organs.

What is this water that you speak of?

Too funny Jennifer. Look in the dog bowl, that's where I found it.....

Artificial sweeteners are BAD!

Paraphrasing from Jillian Michael's book "Master Your Metabolism"...Normally when your body gets something sweet it says: "Body, there are lots of calories in that sweet stuff, so I don't need to be as hungry as I was". When you regularly consume artificial sweeteners (with little to no calories) your body gets used to the fact that sweet means no calories. When you actually consume real sweets with lots of calories your body says: "Body, that's just the fake stuff and has no calories, so I still need to eat more stuff for energy".

So in the long run you would probably be better off just using a little raw honey or sucanat to sweeten your food and drink.

And when you eat lots of refined sugar your body has to use calcium to balance out your blood sugar. Guess where it gets the calcium? From your bones and teeth. So its not the sugar *on* your teeth that rots them, it's the sugar in your blood that weakens your teeth and bones from the inside out.

Sorry to spoil your fake food fun.

I stand corrected! Connie should be posting soon

I PMed Katie:

Tea's caffeine content is more than coffee's only by dry weight -- nothing to do with the brewed, consumed, beverage.

The caffeine content of espresso versus drip is dependent on bean, size of cup, etc., but in general, a shot of espresso (remember how small that is!) might average 40 mg and a drip cup, three and a half or four times that size, probably 100 mg.

So as served, the caffeine content per ounce goes from tea at the bottom upwards to a drip cup and up to espresso at the top, in general.

For antioxidants, most sources have long said that white tea has the most, then green tea, then black tea and coffee. However, there are new studies on perhaps much more plentiful antioxidants in coffee even after roasting (the problem, according to long-conventional wisdom) that may indeed become generally accepted.

I don't remember where I saw that coffee/antioxidants thing. I can look later.


Katie said:

Thanks! Did you post this in the forum? You should. I don't want to be misleading people! It's been a few years since I took the class so I either just don't remember or was wrong in the first place.


I added:

Well, there are elements of right-on, but the dry tea and then not allowing for the size on espresso, etc., make the points misleading. (A shot of espresso IS lower in caffeine -- but only because it's a shot. Tea IS higher - but not when it's brewed.)

I've been told to STAY AWAY from artificial sweeteners, though I'm not clear about the reason. Something about a genetic connection to cancer?

My sister is a cancer survivor, and artificial sweeteners are on her "do not consume under any circumstances" list. Does anybody know what that's about?

I'm not a fan anyway (aspartame gives me raging headaches) but I'm curious.

Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.

I'm going to try to stop drinking diet soda. Thanks Dennis, thanks.

I'm finishing the one I have right now (just a can), but I won't take any more this week.

The artificial sweetener thing is a looong story, with only a couple of safe (it seems so far) exceptions. This is nothing but a jumping-off point: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/artificial-sweeteners

I just want to post a reminder that artificial sweeteners are bad for dogs, some of them triggering renal and liver failure. Since natural added sugars/sweeteners are not good for dogs, either, the whole sweeteners-for-dogs topic could be summed up (IMHO) with "Don't let them have any, and if they get into xylitol, get them to the vet."

 Quote: kristel smart

My sister is a cancer survivor, and artificial sweeteners are on her "do not consume under any circumstances" list. Does anybody know what that's about?

Don't know about the cancer connection, but I have an epileptic friend who received similar warning - apparently the stuff can trigger seizures...

I used to have a monster sweet tooth, but I really think the condition is made worse by giving in to it - the more sugar you eat, the more you crave - and as was noted, artificial sweetners compound the problem by tricking your body. I still like a little shot of sugar now and then, but I just don't crave it like I used to - and most of what I do eat comes from dark chocolate (which is pretty self limiting, if you go with the really dark stuff) and dried or fresh fruit. Lifestyle changes can be tough to adjust to, but once your body gets into a new routine, you don't even miss things anymore.

~Natalya