Buyer Beware: Splenda (Sucralose)
When summer rolls around it is tempting to use food and drink with artificial sweeteners in an attempt to cut down on calories, surprisingly, no research has ever convincingly shown that using these products contributes to weight loss. The artificial sweetener sucralose (brand name Splenda®) has been increasingly added to processed foods. Sucralose is a sugar that has been chemically altered to create chlorocarbon. Chlorocarbon is a sugar enhanced with CHLORINE! The chlorine causes Splenda to pass through the body largely unabsorbed, and thus reducing the caloric intake.
Splenda® can be Gut Wrenching: Research suggests that Splenda®, while FDA– approved, may be doing damage as it passes through the intestines. According to an article in Dr. David William’s newsletter Alternatives, Research with Rats, “Splenda® can reduce the amount of beneficial bacteria in the intestines by as much as 50 percent, increase the Ph level in the intestines, increase body weight, and cause the re-routing or inactivation of certain drugs through the alteration of glycoprotein levels.”
Splenda® has Something in Common with Organochlorine Pesticides: The sucralose molecular structure resembles organochlorine pesticides such as DDT, lindane and endosulfan. Although 85 percent or so of sucralose passes through the digestive system without being absorbed, the 15 percent that does get absorbed may be problematic.
According to James Bowen M.D., in an article titled The Lethal Science of Splenda, a Poisonous Chlorocarbon, “Any chlorocarbons not directly excreted from the body in fact can cause immense damage to the processes of human metabolism and, eventually, our internal organs.” Recent research suggests that they may actually confuse the body’s response to sweet tastes and contribute to weight gain. The percentage of Splenda that is absorbed into the body’s organs and intestines can be POISONOUS!
The liver is a detoxification organ which deals with ingested poisons. Chlorocarbons damage the hepatocytes, the liver’s metabolic cells, and destroys them. “In test animals Splenda® produced swollen livers, as do all chlorocarbon poisons, and also calcified the kidneys of test animals in toxicity studies. The brain and nervous system are highly subject to metabolic toxicities and solvency damages by these chemicals. Their high solvency attacks the human nervous system and many other body systems including genetics and the immune function. Thus, chlorocarbon poisoning can cause cancer, birth defects, and immune system destruction. These are well known effects of Dioxin and PCBs which are known deadly chlorocarbons. Just like aspartame, which achieved marketplace approval by the Food and Drug Administration when animal studies clearly demonstrated its toxicity, sucralose also failed in clinical trials with animals. Aspartame created brain tumors in rats. Sucralose has been found to shrink thymus glands (the biological seat of immunity) and produce liver inflammation in rats and mice.”
Instead of artificial sweeteners, why not have a small amount of real sugar, or better yet, honey or maple syrup which are unprocessed sweeteners that occur in nature! Americans have become habituated to the intensely sweet taste of artificial sweeteners and it’s long past time to kick that habit. If you have a yearning for something sweet, why not just a small taste of real sugar! It’s natural, it doesn’t take much to sweeten up food and drink, and it hits the pleasure centers of the brain, which the artificial sweeteners do not. Even better, use natural Stevia or have some fresh fruit, which comes “packaged” with nutrition and fiber.
References
Nakagawa Y, Nagasawa M, Yamada S, “Sweet taste receptor expressed in pancreatic beta-cells activates
the calcium and cyclic AMP signaling systems and stimulates insulin secretion,” PLoS ONE. 2009;4(4):
e5106. Epub 2009 Apr 8.
Abou-Donia MB, El-Masry EM, Abdel-Rahman AA et al, “Splenda® Alters Gut Microflora and Increases Intestinal
P-Glycoprotein and Cytochrome P-450 in Male Rats,” Journal of Toxicology and Environmental
Article from: Gilead Healing Center, 306 S Creyts Rd., Lansing, MI 48917
Keeping God’s Temple Beautiful
We have all heard the old clichés passed down from generation to generation: “Beauty is as Beauty does”, “Beauty is more than skin deep”, and “True beauty comes from within”. These age-old, but wise sayings come to us from conventional wisdom. I believe they are based in truth, and that true beauty comes from within and begins in the mind.
Today, “beautifying” the body has become a huge multi-billion dollar business. We spend money on face lifts, gastro-intestinal surgical procedures, tummy-tucks, liposuction, lipo-dissolve, cosmetic laser surgery, skin tanning and/or bleaching, collagen lip -injections, chemically straightened or curled hair, nose-jobs, breast reductions and/or enhancements, weaves, nails, tips, lashes etc., etc., …and the list goes on. I am not suggesting that these procedures are “bad” in and of themselves. But don’t you think that at a time when increasingly more time, effort, research and money are spent on beautifying the outward appearance, we might do well to re-visit the echoes of wisdom from the past. The voices of our mothers and grandmothers, and more importantly, the voices of our heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ…calling to us, wooing us, grounding us, sobering us, lest we become caught-up and intoxicated with the “ways of the world”.
The word of God says: “As a man THINKS in his heart, so is he”. Do you THINK you are beautiful? “God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power; and of love; and of a SOUND MIND”. Many women have fear in their minds: FEARFUL of growing older and inevitably changing and losing their outward beauty. But remember that true beauty really does come from within and does not diminish but can actually improve with time!! Are you afraid that your looks don’t measure up to those of the models parading before us everyday? Do you feel powerless to control the effects of time and the standards of beauty upheld in our society? Jesus said, “Fear not!” Fear activates the sympathetic nervous system, making the heart beat faster, raising the blood pressure, increasing muscle tension, increasing stress, constricting the blood vessels, increasing respirations and oxygen consumption, causing palpitations, headaches and worry. No wonder Jesus said: Don’t be afraid!” and “Don’t worry!” “Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”. Just have faith in God and trust His care: “casting all your cares upon him because he cares so much for you!” When we are secure in His perfect love, fear is driven away. Trust in the Lord. Let the light of His love shine through you and your temple (body) will glow!
Remember, that greater is He that is within you, than he that is in the world. He has empowered you to make the right choices about your life and your health and has promised to never leave you nor forsake you. You have been admonished to LOVE yourself…and to use that self-love as the standard by which you measure your love for others. Did you know that “negative” thoughts stimulate chemical secretions in your body that weaken your immune system and speed-up the aging process!! With your sound mind you can THINK the same thoughts that God thinks about you: You are fearfully and wonderfully made. As the stars in the sky and the number of the grains of sand on the seashores of the world, so are His daily thoughts about you!
So, why not let the same mind (thought-processing) be in you which was also in Christ Jesus? “And finally, (my Sisters) whatever things are lovely, whatever things are true (according to God’s word), whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue; if there be any praise…THINK ON THESE THINGS”. Do a superb job of taking care of your magnificent body, keeping it healthy and beautiful. After all… it is His temple.
