Tuesday, March 17, 2015

lumping it

In my youth, the expression was "if you don't like it, lump it!"  Today i'm inclined to use more graphic suggestions.  ;-)

Today, also, i'm inclined to use the lumping-it expression to describe combining together a set of superficially-similar things which in fact have very different qualities ... like artificial sweeteners.

There's a huge difference between the various sweeteners available to us these days, and yet the broad generic classification is usually in use -- and usually to condemn ALL of them by natural-foods devotees.  Lumping aspartame with saccharin, erithritol and refined stevia makes sense to you ... REALLY?  There's even a lot of difference between aspartame and sucralose, though paleo zealots wouldn't have you think so.

When you're talking about CHEMICALS, from NaCl to C5H8NO4Na, the only difference between "naturally-occurring" and "lab created" is usually only variation in the molecular structure (l- forms vs d- forms, for example, and enantiomers).  When the molecules are identical, it doesn't matter where they came from.  Not to mention that there are plenty of "natural" substances which are highly toxic, and plenty of man-made ones which are NOT.

Some of us are sensitive to a lot of things that "normal" people find innocuous.  Some of us cope well with things that a lot of other people have trouble with.  It's all extremely individual.  I can have one nutra-sweetened beverage occasionally and never notice issues, but I know I shouldn't use it regularly.  When my stomach is empty, sucralose-sweetened drinks make me rather uncomfortable, but with food I have no problem.  Saccharin, cyclamates, stevia, and sugar-alcohols have no apparent downside with me, except that maltitol tends to make me want MORE.  YMMV.

No, your mileage WILL vary -- I think I can safely promise that.

Anecdote time:  my mother used to be the executive secretary in the pharmacology department at the KUMedCenter, and I was in and out of the place all through my youth;  she worked with some of the best drug people in the country, one of whom was on the committee which spoke to the FDA about saccharin safety decades ago.  Dr. Doull was incensed that though they presented conclusive evidence that only outrageously-large doses had any impact on health, the FDA was predetermined to condemn the stuff.  Frankly, being personally acquainted with John Doull (MD, PhD, and a great person), I have EVERY CONFIDENCE that all those damned bleats that "saccharin is carcinogenic" is ABSOLUTE POSITIVE BULLSHIT. 

We're not living in a paleo paradise, we're living in a stressful modern world with tempting treats around every corner.  Most of us have favorite goodies which we use to feel like part of our "tribe" but which will not make us sick.  In an ideal world, we might not want anything sweet, ever ... but as things are, we often do.  If people would rather have small quantities of real sugar, that's absolutely fine with me.  If they prefer to consume things with honey or maple sugar "cuz it's natural" I may snicker to myself but i'm not likely to even comment on their paradigm anymore. 

But I get really annoyed and disgusted when truly toxic substances are lumped together with things that are merely sub-optimal.  Just like those sociological discussions go:  if you don't like gay marriage, don't have one; if you don't like abortion, don't get one; IF YOU DON'T LIKE ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS, DON'T USE THEM ... but stop spreading the lies about them, too.

8 comments:

  1. Tess great article and I agree. The only sweeteners that agree with me that I know of are saccharin and stevia. Within a week of using Splenda I was getting horrific muscle pain and stopped using it. I don't use aspartame due to the fact that they put it in soft drinks which makes me suspicious of it without any factual basis that it's bad for me. The miniscule amount that I use isn't worth worrying about. It's not like we use cups of it daily.

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    1. thank you, H! :-) as you can probably guess, I read yet another article condemning "artificial sweeteners" this morning, which set me off.... all the exaggerated claims, for and against so many products just get on my nerves sometimes! it's so rare to find sources which offer neutral and unbiased information, as opposed to opinion-pieces which try to sell a viewpoint....

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  2. G'day Tess - any thoughts on synthetic vitamins? Cod liver oil people who take vitamins out and then add them back in - just sounds wrong, but I've no idea whether it makes any difference.

    Cheers.

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    1. my understanding is that synthetic vitamins are a mixture of d- and l-forms, unlike naturally-occurring ones, and they're inferior because of it -- but i haven't really looked into it. ...yeah, manipulating cod-liver-oil because of idiotic notions of vitaminA toxicity just irritates the hell out of me!

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  3. There was a chapter in a book--I think it was Proofiness--that discussed the nonexistent connection between brain cancer and aspartame. Yes, brain cancer was going up at the same rate and same time aspartame use was, but so were the number of cigar bars, Jerry Seinfeld's career and the grunge look. As I recall, aspartame had no more connection to brain cancer than any of the other things did.

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    1. that's something else i haven't read up on -- i know that aspartame in sufficient quantity is bad for me, and a lot of other people experience intolerance, too.

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  4. I had a lot of blue packets and a lot of yellow packets during 2004-2011 time period. LOTS. It took a while, but in June 2012, I finally broke the habit and got used to coffee black and no diet Coke.

    I suspect our genetics have a lot to do with what we can tolerate or not. I'm just glad to be off it all. I did use 100% stevia during transition, that helped, but I can also taste the bitterness with even the non-bitter stevia formulas.

    I remember drinking Tab as an elementary school kid on hot summer days in the late 70's. I also remember my lips swelling up after putting the pink packet in my coffee post Hashimotos.

    I did use artificial sweeteners all through my weight loss this go around. Every once and awhile, on a hot summer day, I crave diet Coke.

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    1. :-) there are times when nothing but a cola is satisfying! ...i just looked up SweetNLow -- it contains CALCIUM saccharin instead of sodium for some reason, as well as cream of tartar, calcium silicate and dextrose. i wonder which substance you were actually reacting to....

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