Why I won't eat artifical sweeteners

14/02/11

A good friend of mine shared a great link with me regarding artifical sweetners. I understand that for some people they are a great way to swap from eating a high calorie sweet treat & for myself I used to eat quite a lot of 'treats' that were lower in sugar due to the use of Phenlalanine, aspatame & other assorted hard to pronounce artifical sweetners. However after reading the facts & banning my self of the products (such as coke zero, low/ zero fat yogurts & low point WW treats etc) and feeling the effects of NOT having the products as part of my diet I know for certain that I was suffering from aspatame poisoning.

I understand that for people that have a lot to loose that these products may be the way to kick start your weight loss by swapping your high calorie products for the low calorie alternitive. However for myself I know that I can go with out & so I do. Every now & then I will crave a sweet treat just like everyone else but I try to make it real food instead of something that has been artifically sweetened. I have swapped low fat/ zero fat yogurt for a full fat greek style yogurt. Yes the points value is higher but because it is denser I find that 1 table spoon on my wheat bix of a morning is enough to keep me satisfied. I mostly drink water or green tea now & I am feeling like I have so much more energy than I used to. I can't say for certain if it is because I have removed these products from my life or because I have lost weight & naturally my energy levels have increased. I am sleeping better & not having nearly as many headaches as I was as well.

For me this journey is not soley about losing weight. It is about being the healthiest, happiest & fittest that I can be. For me it is the right choice to get these products out of my life.