With summer right around the corner, many people are trying to clean up their eating and get their workouts on track!
One common question we get is are opinion on artificial sweeteners—as they often have little to no calories and can be fat free.
People ask us all the time, “Can I have artificial sweeteners in my coffee or in another type of drink to help me lose weight?”
So many people choose them thinking they are a “healthier option”…but that is just not true!
Today, we want to break down the truth about Artifical Sweeteners and why we do not recommend them.
They can actually impact how your body metabolizes and responds to food. Even though artificial sweeteners do not have calories (or very few), they can still cause your blood sugar to spike higher than if you were to just eat regular sugar.
In addition, artificial sweeteners trigger receptors on your tongue that tells your body you are eating something sweet which can affect how your body metabolize the food, leading to further cravings for sweets.
So, while they are often sold as a “Health Food”, then can decrease results.
Two sweeteners that many people ask us about are Stevia and Agave. Let’s break down our stance on these and why:
STEVIA. Stevia technically is plant based but is one of those where it is much sweeter than normal sugar (around 200x sweeter), so it is not ideal to have. It can cause on-going sweet cravings.
AGAVE. Agave is plant based but goes through some processing to be made, is really high in fructose, and the body does not digest high levels of that well. Therefore, we also do not suggest using this.
Since we do not recommend artificial sweeteners, we want to tell you what we DO recommend! There are some natural sweeteners that we absolutely LOVE and recommend to all our clients!
Instead of including those, give natural sweeteners such as HONEY or PURE MAPLE SYRUP a try!
Both honey and maple syrup can sweeten up whatever you are drinking or eating—but will not have the negative effect on your body that artificial sweeteners do.
We hope this was interesting and helpful for you today!
Want to know more about how we recommend getting your nutrition on track for summer?