If artificial sugar is so splendid, why aren’t we thin?
More than half of Americans using sugar free products, but our waistlines keep growing. Some studies have suggested that artificial sweeteners interfere with our ability to gauge calories from foods containing real food. That wouldn’t be good considering even foods like peanut butter and soup come loaded with sugar these days.
This seemed to be rather appropriate today in light of my previous post. Personally, I have long -avoided artificial sweeteners. Party, because I appear of be one of a percentage of the population that can readily taste them and their foul after-taste; but also because I really believe that they are a poor solution. Instead of training ourselves to eat less sweet things, we instead consume more on the pretense that they aren’t detrimental. But the behavior is what is important – the only way to stay healthy is to eat right. Sugar isn’t bad for you in moderation -virtually no food is, and at least sugar is bad for you in a way that is natural and completely predictable. Nobody knows what our nation of Diet Coke drinkers is going to experience in thirty years.
To me, substituting artificial sugar makes people feel like they can have all they want because it isn’t bad for them now, but the behavior continues to be eat, eat, eat; consume, consume, consume; more, more, more. This is akin to letting your dog pee on the tile floor in your house but scolding him for peeing on the carpet. The behavior is set and the distinction between the two is confusing.