World Diabetes day – Artificial sweeteners and their effects

World Diabetes Day was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization, in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat that diabetes now poses.

Rats used in laboratories have had a tendency to gain more weight if they were exposed to food with artificial sweetening substances. When you eat sugar, your body prepares itself for calories and  releases chemicals to handle this.  When you eat artificial sugar and the calories are not present, you will confuse your body.
When the insulin level in the body increases, the blood sugar level drops, and you have to eat and/or drink to get the blood sugar in balance again.

The artificial sweetening substance is believed to affect the production level of the insulin in the body.  Some believe this effect is small.  Studies undertaken on humans have demonstrated that the calorie intake is less if using the light variants instead of the normal sugar based products.

As for diabetics, there is another side to it.  It is believed that these products would be a good alternative for diabetics and for those who want to lose weight.

The artificial sweetening substances used today are very well proved. However there is discrepancy in opinion as to whether these substances can have a negative effect on the human body, especially the sweetening substance.
 There is some ongoing controversy over whether artificial sweeteners cause health risks.  This controversy is fuelled by anecdotal reports and sometimes controversial studies that have gained publicity.  According to nutrition experts, one should avoid artificial sweeteners.  The problematic part of artificial sweeteners is that the body gets tricked and received a signal that something sweet is entering the system, and that leads to drop in blood sugar which again increases the food intake.

Natural sweetening such as Erytriol and Xylitol, is preferred those of an artificual nature, as well as trying to avoid the refined white sugar in favour of other, less refined versions.

Sugar and sweets can be addictive, even if the need for sweets is inherited in our genes.  Habits play an important role here too, which is a trained behaviour from childhood and onwards.  Eating and drinking lots of sweet-stuff, regardless of type, maintains a level of need for sweet consumer products.