Question: In one of your talks, you commented that artificial sweeteners are harmful to people with diabetes. What alternative you would suggest?
Dr. Brownstein's Answer: The media touts artificial sweeteners as safe for diabetics to use. The most common artificial sweeteners are Splenda and NutraSweet. Yet there are clear research studies showing that neither of these items prevents or reverses diabetes. Furthermore, many other studies show that the ingestion of these items actually may cause problems with blood-sugar regulation. If that is not bad enough, my experience has shown clearly that it is impossible for many overweight people to lose weight while ingesting these toxic substances. Last, the worst thing you can do with NutraSweet and Splenda is to heat them by putting them in hot coffee or tea. Heating NutraSweet transforms it into a formaldehyde-like product and heating Splenda turns the chlorine molecules into a dioxin-like product.
The best advice I can give you is to avoid them and use unrefined cane sugar, honey, or herbs like stevia to sweeten products. There are other natural alternative sweeteners available to you. It may take trial and error, but you can find a product that makes food taste good and won’t cause you problems.
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