Are Artificial Sweeteners Worse Than Sugar? Their Impact on Your Gut, Microbiome & Cravings | Be Well Moments

0:00Welcome to Live Well Be Well, a show to help high performers improve their health and well-being.

0:10So something I want to come on to, which is key additives. What are some additives to look out for when buying food? Is there anything that's like a gut disruptor or anything that a person should be looking out for directly when buying food that's a no-no when it comes to gut health? Yeah, so the artificial or the non-nutrient sweeteners, that's a good example. Because people thought that this would actually solve the problem of the excessive sugar consumption. Yeah. But then there have been studies by some very reputable scientists in Israel that have shown that, first of all, it has no benefit in patients with diabetes.

1:00Secondly, it has negative effects on the gut microbiome and on metabolism. So even though some of these things are not absorbed, like sucralase, they still do not have the benefit that are being claimed. I think there's a gradient of stevia seems to be one of the better ones. Sucralose, one of the worst ones.

1:29and my advice is always if you want to do something for your health in terms of sugars try to wean yourself off the sweet addiction which is programmed early in life you know i mean americans have the sweet preference is is different from most other countries in the world everything's sweet in america and also sweetness is a thousand times sweeter than sugar. Yeah. One billion people worldwide are deficient in this nutrient that so many of you guys might not be aware of. And women, if you're listening, you are more at risk of being deficient in this nutrient. So I'm going to first of all explain what the physical symptoms are.

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2:53That means it's much more gentle on your stomach. There's no harsh tablets. It's just one naturally sourced ingredient that works very well. You can pick it up in boots or buy online at Amazon, but please do not ignore this. It is really critical to make sure your iron levels are in check. So our brain is getting that chemical reaction still, even though it's not having the kind of the biochemical breakdown of it, it's still releasing our hunger hormones to tell our body that we've got a huge amount of sugar coming in. There are two things, particularly with young children, you know, where these taste preferences are being programmed.

3:33So a good example is, you know, a country that has some of the worst firms with obesity and metabolic diseases is Mexico. And the CEO of Coke Mexico, they had a marketing campaign to mothers, to pregnant mothers, that when your newborn cries or can't sleep, give him or her Coke, they'll sleep with the sugar. So they definitely, a whole generation was programmed for sweet preferences. On the other hand, what I personally have noticed, if you consistently avoid sweets, you know, your sugar preference will change as an adult. So it's not something that you're stuck with, you know. And you actually don't like the sugar anymore, you know, or it's like everything is too sweet.

4:34all of a sudden you dilute it or you take um so in my early days wean yourself off it basically it's one of the most powerful ways that's not something that americans like to hear to wean themselves off something but sugar and sweets are definitely something yeah no matter if it's sugar or the non-nutritive sweeteners you know a gastroenterologist told this to my parents and it doesn't it just what i would love to just like natural quick response and you can just say yes or no is that my dad actually does have ibd as well and he um was ill on a cruise and everyone was getting food poisoning and this gastroenterologist didn't get it and they said to him how come you are the only person who's not got the sickness bug and he said I put it down to drinking only when I'm on holiday so he wasn't advocating drinking this every day but he was saying when I'm on holiday I drink a can of coke to stop me getting sick and I only do that when I'm traveling and that's all I do and then I don't drink it afterwards and so my parents are now obsessed that whenever they're away they drink a can of coke is there any truth to that like is it just literally killing everything in our guts that that's maybe having a Yeah, it is definitely a semi-poison, you know, for, I'm not sure if these studies have been done.

5:59It's antimicrobial effects.

6:04I would not, based on your dance experience, I would not recommend it. You know, I think there's other things that you can do. I mean, I didn't look into it, but they swear by it now. And they never get sick. Yeah, no, well, that's where part of the, you know, the central programming comes in as well. If you strongly believe in this, you are protected, you know. There you go. But being a scientist, you know, if I saw experiments that showed this, that it actually has antimicrobial effects, I would change my mind on it. Yeah, I know. I mean, I still have to take it with a pinch of salt, but I'm like, if it works for you, then it's fine.

6:42Just make sure you clean your teeth more than you usually would because your teeth will fall out. Thanks so much for listening. To hear the full episode, there's a link in the description.