Heart Health
Inside Heart Health:
▶Blood Pressure
▶Cholesterol
▶Coronary Artery Disease
▶Heart Attack
▶Heart Failure
▶Heart Medications
▶Stroke
Featured Content:
Are heart attack triggers real? »
Does aspirin stop a heart attack? »
Does it matter how you lower your cholesterol? »
Say cheese? »
What is a lacunar stroke? »
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Calcium supplementation linked to dementia risk in some women
Calcium supplementation linked to dementia risk in some women
Calcium supplementation was associated with three to seven times the risk for dementia among older women with cerebrovascular disease.
5 ways to de-stress and help your heart
5 ways to de-stress and help your heart
Constant stress — whether from a traffic-choked daily commute, unhappy marriage, or heavy workload — can have real physical effects on the body.
Is there an early warning test for stroke?
Is there an early warning test for stroke?
Strokes seem to come out of the blue.
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Mind & Mood
Inside Mind & Mood:
▶Addiction
▶Adult & Child ADHD
▶Alzheimer's & Dementia
▶Anxiety
▶Depression
▶Improving Memory
▶Mental Health
▶Positive Psychology
▶Stress
Featured Content:
Health advice for 2017: Simplify, simplify »
How to make boredom work for you »
Overcoming anxiety »
Stopping exercise for 10 days can decrease brain blood flow »
Working out while angry? Just don’t do it »
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Trying to be perfect can cause anxiety
Trying to be perfect can cause anxiety
No one is "perfect.
When to worry about worrying
When to worry about worrying
There is no shortage of things to worry about --- from personal concerns about job security or health, to fears related to larger issues such as political conflicts or natural disasters.
Alcohol and fatigue
Alcohol and fatigue
Image: KatarzynaBialasiewicz/Thinkstock Many people think that a little nightcap will help them sleep soundly through the night.
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Pain
Inside Pain:
▶Arthritis
▶Back Pain
▶Headache
▶Joint Replacement
▶Other Pain
Featured Content:
The healing power of touch »
What makes my joints stiff in the morning? »
What you can do to keep old ailments from coming back to haunt you »
Ease your pain by controlling your mind »
Treating pain with your brain »
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How to sleep well despite chronic pain
How to sleep well despite chronic pain
Chronic pain and insomnia are an unhealthy combination.
Exercise can ease rheumatoid arthritis pain
Exercise can ease rheumatoid arthritis pain
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can cause pain and stiffness that makes moving the last thing you want to do.
Exercises for pain free hands
Exercises for pain free hands
Your hands perform countless small and large tasks each day—from pouring coffee, brushing teeth, and buttoning shirts to raking leaves or kneading bread.
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Staying Healthy
Inside Staying Healthy:
▶Aging
▶Balance & Mobility
▶Diet & Weight Loss
▶Energy & Fatigue
▶Exercise & Fitness
▶Healthy Eating
▶Physical Activity
▶Screening Tests for Men
▶Screening Tests for Women
▶Sleep
Featured Content:
Indoor cycling for older adults »
Say cheese? »
Should I restrict calories for longevity? »
Walking program linked to reduced disability »
Where the worst type of fat is hiding in supermarket foods »
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Don't let jet lag affect your sleep
Don't let jet lag affect your sleep
Image: iStock Many people find that crossing several time zones makes their internal clocks go haywire.
How long does the flu last?
How long does the flu last?
Few common illnesses are more unpleasant than the flu.
For men over 50: You can lower your health risks
For men over 50: You can lower your health risks
What if men approached their health at midlife the same way that financial experts advise them to plan for retirement?
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Cancer
Inside Cancer:
▶Breast Cancer
▶Colorectal Cancer
▶Other Cancers
▶Prostate Health & Disease
▶Skin Cancer
Featured Content:
Top screenings to avoid cancer »
A new look at colon cancer screening »
What you can do to keep old ailments from coming back to haunt you »
Adapting to life after cancer »
Cancer and diet: What’s the connection? »
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A new look at colon cancer screening
A new look at colon cancer screening
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths and the third most common cancer in men.
Can diet help fight prostate cancer?
Can diet help fight prostate cancer?
Can adopting a healthier diet help fight prostate cancer?
Treating melanoma
Treating melanoma
If a growth or mole looks like a melanoma, the doctor will take a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis.
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Diseases & Conditions
Inside Diseases & Conditions:
▶Adult & Child ADHD
▶Alzheimer's & Dementia
▶Diabetes
▶Digestive Health
▶Heart Disease
▶More Diseases & Conditions
▶Osteoporosis
▶Stroke
▶Thyroid Diseases
Featured Content:
Bringing awareness to aneurysms in the chest »
Modern acupuncture linked to constipation relief »
The danger of “silent” heart attacks »
What causes a cough after a cold? »
What is a lacunar stroke? »
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A new look at colon cancer screening
A new look at colon cancer screening
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths and the third most common cancer in men.
Handling hypoglycemia
Handling hypoglycemia
Image: dolgachov/ iStock Hypoglycemia is a potentially dangerous condition in which blood sugar falls too low.
The lowdown on glycemic index and glycemic load
The lowdown on glycemic index and glycemic load
If you have diabetes, you probably know you need to monitor your carbohydrate intake.
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Men's Health
Inside Men's Health:
▶Erectile Dysfunction
▶Exercise & Fitness
▶Healthy Eating
▶Men's Sexual Health
▶Prostate Cancer
▶Prostate Health & Disease
▶Screening Tests for Men
Featured Content:
Looking for a few good men »
Overcoming anxiety »
Shortened radiation therapy may help with low-risk prostate cancer »
The danger of “silent” heart attacks »
When is it okay to split medication in half? »
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In Case You Missed It:
For men over 50: You can lower your health risks
For men over 50: You can lower your health risks
What if men approached their health at midlife the same way that financial experts advise them to plan for retirement?
A new look at colon cancer screening
A new look at colon cancer screening
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths and the third most common cancer in men.
A better sex life requires more than popping a pill
A better sex life requires more than popping a pill
Image: iStock The never-ending advertisements for erectile dysfunction drugs seem to suggest that popping a pill is all it takes to guarantee a great sex life for men dealing with this challenging problem.
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Women's Health
Inside Women's Health:
▶Breast Health & Disease
▶Exercise & Fitness
▶Healthy Eating
▶Menopause
▶Osteoporosis
▶Pregnancy
▶Screening Tests for Women
▶Women's Sexual Health
Featured Content:
Does cranberry extract prevent UTIs? »
New studies suggest a calcium-rich diet is safe for the heart »
Screening tests you probably don’t need »
What is vaginal steaming? »
Women now drink almost as much as men, according to global survey »
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In Case You Missed It:
Calcium supplementation linked to dementia risk in some women
Calcium supplementation linked to dementia risk in some women
Calcium supplementation was associated with three to seven times the risk for dementia among older women with cerebrovascular disease.
A new look at colon cancer screening
A new look at colon cancer screening
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths and the third most common cancer in men.
Easy ways to build better bones
Easy ways to build better bones
There are many ways to build bone mass and reduce fracture risks.
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Love the information on artificial sweeteners. T
Artificial sweeteners can cause a lot more harm then most people think. Through my years of practice I have seen what it can cause and discourage the use of it if at all possible.
Home » Harvard Health Blog » Artificial sweeteners: sugar-free, but at what cost? - Harvard Health Blog
Artificial sweeteners: sugar-free, but at what cost?
Posted July 16, 2012, 1:28 pm , Updated December 12, 2016, 3:09 pm
Holly Strawbridge, Former Editor, Harvard Health
Artificial sweeteners
By offering the taste of sweetness without any calories, artificial sweeteners seem like they could be one answer to effective weight loss. The average 12-ounce can of sugar-sweetened soda delivers about 150 calories, almost all of them from sugar. The same amount of diet soda—zero calories. The choice seems like a no-brainer.
The American Heart Association (AHA) and American Diabetes Association (ADA) have given a cautious nod to the use of artificial sweeteners in place of sugar to combat obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes, all risk factors for heart disease. (You can read the full statement here.)
“While they are not magic bullets, smart use of non-nutritive sweeteners could help you reduce added sugars in your diet, therefore lowering the number of calories you eat. Reducing calories could help you attain and maintain a healthy body weight, and thereby lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes,” said Dr. Christopher Gardner, an associate professor of medicine at Stanford University in California, in a press release accompanying the scientific statement.
As with everything, there’s more to the artificial sweetener story than their effect on weight. To learn more about them, I spoke with Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity and weight-loss specialist at Harvard-affiliated Boston Children’s Hospital. He has a keen interest in products designed to help people lose weight at keep it off. And what he has learned about artificial sweeteners worries him.
All artificial sweeteners are not created equal
The FDA has approved five artificial sweeteners: saccharin, acesulfame, aspartame, neotame, and sucralose. It has also approved one natural low-calorie sweetener, stevia. How the human body and brain respond to these sweeteners is very complex.
One concern is that people who use artificial sweeteners may replace the lost calories through other sources, possibly offsetting weight loss or health benefits, says Dr. Ludwig. This can happen because we like to fool ourselves: “I’m drinking diet soda, so it’s okay to have cake.” The AHA and ADA also added this caveat to their recommendation.
It’s also possible that these products change the way we taste food. “Non-nutritive sweeteners are far more potent than table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. A miniscule amount produces a sweet taste comparable to that of sugar, without comparable calories. Overstimulation of sugar receptors from frequent use of these hyper-intense sweeteners may limit tolerance for more complex tastes,” explains Dr. Ludwig. That means people who routinely use artificial sweeteners may start to find less intensely sweet foods, such as fruit, less appealing and unsweet foods, such as vegetables, downright unpalatable.
In other words, use of artificial sweeteners can make you shun healthy, filling, and highly nutritious foods while consuming more artificially flavored foods with less nutritional value.
Artificial sweeteners may play another trick, too. Research suggests that they may prevent us from associating sweetness with caloric intake. As a result, we may crave more sweets, tend to choose sweet food over nutritious food, and gain weight. Participants in the San Antonio Heart Study who drank more than 21 diet drinks per week were twice as likely to become overweight or obese as people who didn’t drink diet soda.
But you say you can give up diet drinks whenever you want? Don’t be so sure. Animal studies suggest that artificial sweeteners may be addictive. In studies of rats who were exposed to
****, then given a choice between intravenous
**** or oral saccharine, most chose saccharin.
What’s your definition of safe?
Whether non-nutritive sweeteners are safe depends on your definition of safe. Studies leading to FDA approval have ruled out cancer risk, for the most part. However, those studies were done using far smaller amounts of diet soda than the 24 ounces a day consumed by many people who drink diet soda. We really don’t know what effect large amounts of these chemicals will have over many years.
And there are other health concerns beside cancer. In the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, daily consumption of diet drinks was associated with a 36% greater risk for metabolic syndrome and a 67% increased risk for type 2 diabetes. Aren’t these diseases that artificial sweeteners may help prevent in the first place?
Back to sugar?
Maybe sugar isn’t too bad after all. It’s all in how it’s packaged.
“Sugar-containing foods in their natural form, whole fruit, for example, tend to be highly nutritious—nutrient-dense, high in fiber, and low in glycemic load. On the other hand, refined, concentrated sugar consumed in large amounts rapidly increases blood glucose and insulin levels, increases triglycerides, inflammatory mediators and oxygen radicals, and with them, the risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses,” Dr. Ludwig explains.
I think I’ll have a glass of water and an apple.
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