I do have a bit of a sweet tooth and even when I’m well into a low carb nutrition plan, I sill need to experience the taste of sweetness now and then. My preference is to get my sugar fix from fresh fruit, especially the low glycemic ones like berries such as strawberries, blue berries, black berries, etc. However, when it comes to drinking tea and coffee I need some kind of sweetener.
Sugar is out of the question for this purpose. My solution is to sprinkle in a packet of Equal (aspartame). This satisfies my need for sweetness when consuming tea and coffee and also doesn’t introduce any more carbs into my daily total. I also enjoy a glass of Diet Coke on a daily basis, particularly if it’s got some Bacardi light rum mixed in with it.
So what’s not to like about this artificial sweetener? Aparently quite a bit.
One of the key ingredients of aspartame is methanol, which is also known as wood alcohol. What’s even worse, is that when not in the presence of ethanol, methanol will convert into formaldehyde in your body. So it looks like if you consume this product, you are in effect, embalming yourself. Not a pleasant thought is it?
The other key ingredient in aspartame is phenylalinine. If you have sensitivity to this amino acid then you can experience nervous system problems. On this point, I don’t seem to be affected.
So what about the other types of artificial sweeteners? Sacarin has been accused of causing cancer and I don’t like the taste of it, so I never use it. Splenda is not problem-free either and it tastes too sweet to my palate. I haven’t tried any of the others since Equal does the job for me. So will I swear off aspartame now that it appears to be really bad for me? The short answer is “no”.
I feel that my daily intake of aspartame is relatively small. I’ve been using it for as long as I can remember with no outward signs of harm. I can’t vouche for what it may be doing to me internally. Sure, I would love to stop using it completely, but then I probably would just go back to white sugar, which in my opinion is even worse. So like many things in life, I’ve chosen to draw up a compromise. It’s a coping mechanism that allows me to stay on a low carb diet, lose unsightly body fat, and keep me satisfied all at the same time. I will however, begin investigating natural sources of sweeteners that don’t contain sugar, but for the time being, I’m not sweating my light use of aspartame.