ARE ARTIFICAL SWEETeNERS MAKING YOU FAT?
Artificial sweeteners may not be the best way to fight fat, according to research from Purdue University.

Purdue’s Department of Psychological Sciences found that artificial sweeteners might disrupt the body's natural ability to "count" calories based on foods' sweetness. This may be why an alarming number of Americans lack the natural ability to limit food intake to healthy levels.

Researchers also report that thicker liquids, such as diet breakfast shakes aren't as satisfying — calorie for calorie — as eating a solid food.

The Purdue's researchers' study suggests that being able to match caloric intake with caloric need depends on the body's ability to learn that the taste and feel of food by the mouth suggests the appropriate caloric intake.

Like Pavlov's dogs learned that the sound of a bell signaled food, people learn that both sweet tastes and creamy foods signal high calories.

By consuming artificial sweeteners, the body begins to loose its natural ability to gauge caloric intake. Therefore, people tend to eat and drink more, and ultimately gain more weight.

So how should someone seeking weight loss address artificial sweetener issues? Researchers suggest reducing artificially sweetened foods while counting the number of calories consumed in regular foods. This approach, combined with regular exercise appears to be the healthiest way to battle obesity.

[SOURCE: CHIROPRACTIC ECONOMICS, JULY 2004]

We must also remember that our bodies are designed to recognize nutrients.  An artificial sweetener is seen as a compound with little or no nutritional value and therefore shipped away and hidden in fat cells.  As we accumulate more and more of this "Toxin" our bodies are programmed to store it over and over.  This accumulates more fat and while our brains sense that we need to eat more because of the lack of value of the substance we are putting in. 

Your Health and Vitality Mentor,  Dr. Rob Anderson of Vitality Chiropractic of Highlands Ranch