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Posted on Thu, Apr 21, 2011 : 9:30 a.m.

No one needs artificial sweetness... in their coffee or conversation

By Eva Johnson

sugarcane-flickr-zlady.jpg

Whether naturally grown or developed in a factory, it is still useless to your body...

photo by flickr user zlady

Sometimes, I think I scare people with my endlessly noisy banter. Now that I am getting older and wiser, I think I know the signs of someone who doesn't like me. They are "artificially sweet" and then they "scurry" away at their first chance.

Oh well, I may be loud and silly, but at least I am real...being fake is not my thing.

The artificial sweetness that goes in my coffee is another story. I have to admit, I like the fake sugar. When I was originally dieting, it helped me to curb my habit of eating a bit of coffee with my sugar and cream. So much so, that now I am sort of addicted to it.

I also tend to enjoy some diet pop at least once a day. It isn't pretty, but admitting this makes me somewhat human, doesn't it?

Is this healthy? Probably not. In fact, I know that the FDA has approved this stuff for human consumption, but it raises even my own eyebrows. Something this good is not ever free.

In fact, I don't advise you to eat very much sugar, especially if you have survived without it thus far. Sugar, fake or not, has no real purpose in your body. There is no "Recommended Daily Allowance" for even a teaspoon of sugar.

So, whether you like it in a yellow Splenda packet or an organic brown "In the Raw" packet, it is still useless to your body. Not even one cell needs it. Period.

The debate can go on about the 'evils' of High Fructose Corn Syrup vs. Sugar, or Splenda vs. Sugar. But the truth is, you don't need any of the sugary stuff. No one "needs" artificial sweetness... in their drink, or their conversation.

Eva Johnson is an ACE (American Council on Exercise) certified personal trainer, who is trying to stop her Diet Pepsi habit, to no avail...She lives in chaos with her husband and two boys. To see her complete blog about how to stay sane and in shape in the real world, visit www.fitnessbyeva.com.

Comments

Eva Johnson

Thu, Apr 21, 2011 : 5:11 p.m.

Interesting, @Sarah! Even though sugar isn't really necessary, it doesn't mean I don't indulge (ahem...I am eating a chocolate chip cookie right now). One point though: Many herbs and spices actually DO have healthy benefits! Here's a link from Fitness Magazine on that: <a href="http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/nutrition/health-benefits-of-spices-herbs/" rel='nofollow'>http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/nutrition/health-benefits-of-spices-herbs/</a> Add a dash of cinnamon or garlic! It isn't just tasty, but good for you!

Sarah Rigg

Thu, Apr 21, 2011 : 1:57 p.m.

Sandy Szwarc from the Junkfood Science Blog has quite a different view on sugar. Is it necessary? Maybe not, but neither are any herbs or spices, and yet we enjoy adding those to our food. And there are actually some positives to sugars: they help preserve food, they make bread rise, etc. Does healthy eating mean low sugar? <a href="http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/07/traffic-tickets-for-sugar-does-healthy.html" rel='nofollow'>http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/07/traffic-tickets-for-sugar-does-healthy.html</a> Science of sweets: <a href="http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2007/05/science-of-sweets.html" rel='nofollow'>http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2007/05/science-of-sweets.html</a>