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I have seen many occurrences of the old waiter's anecdote describing the overweight person whom, after downing a huge meal and ordering the strawberry cheesecake for dessert, asks for an artificial sweetener for his/her coffee. It always brought a chuckle back at the dessert station and the general agreement of the staff that saving 100 calories after downing 3,000 wasn't going to make much of a difference. Likewise, having a diet soda with your meatball sub with extra cheese, a bag of chips and a giant chocolate chip cookie at lunch is counter-productive to the intended purpose your soft drink choice – calorie control. But, what about just having a diet soft drink by itself, or sweetening your tea with a sugar substitute? Surely, that saves calories and is better than using sugared drinks, right? One would think so, but a little research reveals a very different story about the effect that artificial sweeteners have on your weight and your health. The Truth about Artificial Sweeteners Over the last few decades the epidemic rise in obesity rates worldwide has led health officials to round up the usual suspects, namely fat and sugar, and propose strategies to control the amounts of these substances in our foods. This created a massive new demand for non-caloric artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, acesulfame potassium, saccharin and sucralose. In the five years between 1999 and 2004, over 6,000 new products were launched in the USA containing these sweeteners. At some point, researchers began to test the hypothesis that the use of non-caloric artificial sweeteners would curb the growth rate of obesity in the USA. As you may have guessed by now, the results showed just the opposite. In several large scale, prospective cohort studies a positive correlation was found between the use of non-caloric sweeteners and weight gain. Likewise, results of interventional studies suggest that artificial sweeteners do not help reduce weight when used alone. These findings led the scientific community to conduct studies to determine why this counterintuitive relationship between sugar substitutes and weight exists. Why Sweet Tastes Spur Sweet Cravings In a nutshell, the results of the studies indicate that sweet taste, whether caloric or non-caloric will increase appetite. Researchers theorize that this increase is a result of the activation of the hedonic component of the brain's food reward pathways. This creates a craving for sweets, even in the absence of energy need. Once activated, the hedonic component triggers food-seeking behavior until caloric load activates the post-ingestive component. Non-caloric artificial sweeteners activate the hedonic component and trigger sweet cravings leading to feeding behavior. The lack of caloric load, however, does not sufficiently activate the post-ingestive component, so the feeding behavior lasts longer. In other words, people who use artificial sweeteners end up eating more total calories in the long run. Caloric sweeteners (such as sugars) on the other hand, deliver calories – thus activating the post-ingestive phase and dampening the food-seeking behavior which results in less calories being consumed. In essence, the artificial sweeteners are fooling the brain and people are eating too much as a result. In addition, because artificial sweeteners encourage sugar craving without satisfying the caloric need, it is believed that the resulting repeated exposures train the user to have a strong sweet flavor preference and dependence. Reducing Artificial Sweeteners from Your Daily Diet What you absolutely should not do is switch to sugared soft drinks. The calories in sugar may avoid the problem described above, but the spike in blood sugar that results will trigger insulin release. Blood sugar levels will drop precipitously and hunger and sweet cravings will return. This “glycemic rollercoaster” is well-documented in literature and is the primary reason for the obesity epidemic that plagues our country. It is important, however, that you take steps to reduce your use of artificial sweeteners because all of the medical problems associated with obesity can result from overuse of sugar-free foods and drinks as well. These include: metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. The best advice I can give here is to phase artificially sweetened foods and drinks out of your daily diet as much as possible. It is possible to re-train your senses to stop craving sweet flavors by systematically reducing your intake of sweets over several weeks. If you can limit the use of diet soft drinks and sugar-free products you will be better off. If you can't, just remember that every time you “pop that top,” that diet soft drink is not doing its job.
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Meet Ray, Stranger #15 in my 100 Strangers Project. Ray is friends with Rogelio/Pop (Stranger #12): http://www.flickr.com/photos/vailncourt/7883692440/in/set-72157627655653009/ When I first met Ray (see the above link) he was throwing cardboard away into a dumpster. The cardboard was his bedding from the night before. I had taken a couple pictures of Ray the same morning I took Pop's picture, but both were slightly out of focus and unusable. I was disappointed, I shouldn't have missed that shot. The good news was I had told Ray & Pop that I'd come back and visit again, so the following day I did. It was early evening and the temperature had peaked around 95 degrees. I'd lived in California for years. In the afternoon the heat would peak and then start to cool for the evening. Not in Texas. The heat peaks around 3 or 4pm, but doesn't start dropping until 9pm or so. That day was no different. Ray and Pop had cardboard propped up against the fence behind them blocking the setting sun. Later, that same cardboard would become their bedding. When I'd first met Ray he told me his name was Raymond Polinkski. Sounding awfully close to Roman Polanski I gave Ray my skeptical look. Ray picked up on that, smiled, and told me that was his real name. He wasn't playing me. On this day I walked up, said hello, and then told Ray I'd botched his picture from the day before. Ray asked me if I wanted to take another one. I did. Afterwards I sat down with Ray and Pop and we talked. Over the course of the conversation I found out that Ray actually qualified for a bed at the local homeless shelter, but he chose to stay on the streets at night to protect Pop from being robbed. Pop, (at 68 years old), is in this country illegally and isn't eligible for a bed at the homeless shelter. That's one hell of a sacrifice on Ray's part. That very morning Ray had stopped another homeless man from searching Pop's pockets for money while Pop slept. Ray saw my surprise and smiled. “I was going to give him a couple taps on the head, but he left. I wouldn't hurt him, just a couple taps.” Ray's eyes drifted downwards. I looked down behind the short wall we were sitting on and noticed Ray's hand resting on what appeared to be a 4' length of hefty looking shovel handle. Ray smiled. So did I. Ray started out in California, all his family is still there, but he eventually ended up in Houston. In Houston he was busted for drugs and was in and out of jail four times, but now Ray is sober. In jail he found Jesus and has a strong faith. Ray was straight-forward and I believed him. He was clean and sober and his faith in God had put him there. I asked Ray how he ended up on the streets. He told me he was working at a lawn mower repair shop and lived in a small room above the shop, but with economy being what it is the lawnmower shop went out of business. Ray lost his income and the roof over his head all in one shot. I know. A guy gets out of jail, then works and lives in a lawn mower repair shop. It was sounding a lot like Sling Blade with Billy Bob Thorton. First, the Roman Polanski thing and now this, but after talking to Ray I took him at his word. We talked for a while longer. It was hot, but the conversation was enjoyable. That day, same as my first visit, Ray never asked for help or money. Sitting next to Ray and keeping low-key, I pulled ten dollars out of my pocket and slipped it to him. (From that angle I know Pop didn't see me do it.) Ray looked at me with surprise and thanked me. Then he handed it to Pop and motioned that it was from me. Pop gave me a grateful smile and put the money away. To me, that was a defining moment. In the back of my mind I had doubts of being played by Ray. A Hispanic man named Raymond Polinski. His life story sounding like the Sling Blade. Ray could have slipped the ten dollars into his pocket and Pop wouldn't have known the difference. Instead he gave the ten to Pop for safekeeping. Sometimes it's okay to trust people. Sometimes it's okay to believe that little things we do can make a difference. He is my 15th stranger in the Flickr challenge to shoot photos of 100 strangers: www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/ Online Portfolio: www.vaillancourtphotography.com Prints for sale: www.vaillancourtphotography.smugmug.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/Vaillancourt.Photography.ATX Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/vailncourt/ Google+: www.plus.google.com/u/0/b/111094009829905333731/ VAILLANCOURT PHOTOGRAPHY © all rights reserved
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Muzik
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