The Real Problem With Non Nutritious Sweeteners

For many years now, non nutritious sweeteners (or NNS) like aspartame, sucralose, stevia and acesulfame-K were thought to have an influence on insulin and insulin secretion.

The reality is a bit different.

This article will not discuss which is the best sweetener and how they can be detrimental or not for your overall health, but rather discuss how they interact with your system and cause the weight gain associated with the consumption of diet soda and other sweetener-laden foods (1,2) .

First, let’s take a look at the insulin hypothesis. For a couple of years now, many experts have believed that the insulin response to NNS was to blame for the weight gain and increase in food consumption. NNS like sucralose and stevia have been studied thoroughly and their impact on insulin is either inconclusive or really weak (3,5). Their action is not on insulin per se, but on the incretin hormone GLP-1.

GLP-1 is a hormone secreted by the intestinal L cells that will encourage insulin secretion and is known to assist the pancreas in managing the amount of insulin being released (4). Interestingly, aspartame doesn’t seem to have the same properties. Since sucralose and stevia* do not contain any significant calories , how can they stimulate the secretion of an hormone known to interact with food?

The actions of these NNS are mediated by the sweet taste receptors T1r2 and T1r3 (6,7,12). T1r3 taste receptor on the tongue is usually positive for GLP-1R, who is the receptor for GLP-1. Thus GLP-1 is also secreted by the tongue and is proposed to play a role in the “sweet taste” (9) being experienced. These receptors are also known to have a positive effect on incretin GLP-1 secretion. So if the effects on insulin secretion are minimal, what’s the big deal?

The main problem with NNS consumption is with the brain and the satiety effect .The mechanism that detects sweetness (taste) goes like this: as soon as a food touches the tongue, information about it is sent to the primary taste cortex. Then neurons in the primary taste cortex send projections to areas associated with the brain’s primary reward-pathway located in the dopaminergic midbrain, which will induce a release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with reward and pleasure. The food reward system is essential for the control of food intake and controlling eating behavior.

The activation of T1r3 and Trmp5 (a cation channel that it is essential for transduction of bitter, sweet and umami tastes (13)) by NNS will be enough to activate a cascade of signals. The good news is that the reward center can be activated by calorie dense food too, as these receptors are not the sole mechanism of activation (14,15). Even though the NNS can activate a portion of the taste receptors, a phenomenon made even worse by occasional use, the problem is that they cannot reproduce the dopamine response associated with sucrose intake in the long run (16,17).

A study demonstrates that even though sucralose will be pleasant to the taste and can fool the conscious mind, the dopaminergic midbrain areas in relation to the behavioral reward response are not fooled so easily and do not activate as well with sucralose as they do with sucrose (16). The taste of sweetness is so potent that it is able to cause a reward response even greater then cocaine (18).

So the big picture is, sweetness is inherently pleasant (19). It is also related to a complex system of associations which includes the brain and the reward system. This system is responsible for producing sensory signals and information to inform the body and to allow it to produce the associated responses upon tasting of a certain food. This system originally contributed to the maintenance of energy balance but in the case of NNS, the absence of calories or dilution of calories will impair this complex system (20). Sweet taste and sugar might not be recognized for what they are and might be confused for the other.

So the problem with NNS seems caused more by a shift in behavior than a metabolic effect, but although a link has previously been established between obesity and the activation of the reward system, clear associations with NNS or artificial sweeteners consumption and alterations of the brain activity and obesity will require further studies on this topic are needed to get all the pieces of the puzzle. One example is the implication of other appetite controlling hormones like leptin will need to be elucidated to improve our comprehension of this phenomenon. Until then, moderation is the key and both sugar and NNS should be consumed sparingly, even more so in people who suffer from diabetes or obesity, as their appetite regulation hormones are already altered.

*Stevia is actually being studied as a way to help with postprandial hyperglycemia , which recent studies indicate is an important contributor to the development of insulin resistance and Type 2 diabete3,10.11.

Source
http://www.strengthsensei.com/the-real-problem-with-non-nutritious-sweeteners/

References

1. Swithers SE, Artificial sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangements; Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Sep;24(9):431-41. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2013.05.005

2. Fowler SP1, Williams K, Resendez RG, Hunt KJ, Hazuda HP, Stern MP, Fueling the obesity epidemic? Artificially sweetened beverage use and long-term weight gain; Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008 Aug;16(8):1894-900. doi: 10.1038/oby.2008.284

3. Stephen D. Anton, Ph.D., Corby K. Martin, Ph.D., Hongmei Han, M.S., Sandra Coulon, B.A., William T. Cefalu, M.D., Paula Geiselman, Ph.D., and Donald A. Williamson, Ph.D, Effects of stevia, aspartame, and sucrose on food intake, satiety, and postprandial glucose and insulin levels; Appetite. Aug 2010; 55(1): 37–43.

4. Jang HJ1, Kokrashvili Z, Theodorakis MJ, Carlson OD, Kim BJ, Zhou J, Kim HH, Xu X, Chan SL, Juhaszova M, Bernier M, Mosinger B, Margolskee RF, Egan JM., Gut-expressed gustducin and taste receptors regulate secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Sep 18;104(38):15069-74

5. M. Yanina Pepino, PHD, Courtney D. Tiemann, MPH, MS, RD, Bruce W. Patterson, PHD, Burton M. Wice, PHD and Samuel Klein, MD, Sucralose Affects Glycemic and Hormonal Responses to an Oral Glucose Load, Diabetes Care September 2013 vol. 36 no. 9 2530-2535

6. Xiaodong Li, Lena Staszewski, Hong Xu, Kyle Durick, Mark Zolle, and Elliot Adler, Human receptors for sweet and umami taste; PNAS vol. 99 no. 7 Xiaodong Li, 4692–4696, doi: 10.1073/pnas.072090199

7. Zhao GQ, Zhang Y, Hoon MA, Chandrashekar J, Erlenbach I, Ryba NJ, Zuker CS., The receptors for mammalian sweet and umami taste, Cell. 2003 Oct 31;115(3):255-66

8. Itaru Kojima and Yuko Nakagawa, The Role of the Sweet Taste Receptor in Enteroendocrine Cells and Pancreatic β-Cells; Diabetes Metab J. Oct 2011; 35(5): 451–457

9. Bronwen Martin, Cedrick D. Dotson, Yu-Kyong Shin, Sunggoan Ji, Daniel J. Drucker, Stuart Maudsley, and Steven D. Munger, Modulation of taste sensitivity by GLP-1 signaling in taste buds; Ann N Y Acad Sci. Author manuscript; available in PMC Aug 1, 2013

10. Viswanathan V, Clementina M, Nair BM, Satyavani K., Risk of future diabetes is as high with abnormal intermediate post-glucose response as with impaired glucose tolerance, J Assoc Physicians India. 2007 Dec;55:833-7.

11. Shivanna N, Naika M, Khanum F, Kaul VK., Antioxidant, anti-diabetic and renal protective properties of Stevia rebaudiana; J Diabetes Complications. 2013 Mar-Apr;27(2):103-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2012.10.001

12. Maartje C. P. Geraedts and Steven D. Munger, Gustatory stimuli representing different perceptual qualities elicit distinct patterns of neuropeptide secretion from taste buds; J Neurosci. Apr 24, 2013; 33(17): 7559–7564.

13. Liman ER., TRPM5 and taste transduction, TRPM5 and taste transduction; Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2007;(179):287-98.

14. Ivan E. de Araujo8email, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia8, Tatyana D. Sotnikova, Raul R. Gainetdinov, Marc G. Caron, Miguel A.L. Nicolelis, Sidney A. Simon, Food Reward in the Absence of Taste Receptor Signaling; Neurons Volume 57, Issue 6, p930–941, 27 March 2008

15. Duke Medicine News and Communications, Brain Pleasure Pathway Responds to Calorie-Rich Foods, Not Just Sugar Flavor, Mar. 26, 2008 online

16. Guido K.W. Frank, Tyson A. Oberndorfer, Alan N. Simmons, Martin P. Paulus, Julie L. Fudge, Tony T. Yang, Walter H. Kaye, Sucrose activates human taste pathways differently from artificial sweetener, NeuroImage Volume 39, Issue 4, 15 February 2008, Pages 1559–1569

17. Erin Greena, Claire Murphy, Altered processing of sweet taste in the brain of diet soda drinkers; Physiology & Behavior Volume 107, Issue 4, 5 November 2012, Pages 560–567

18.Lenoir M, Serre F, Cantin L, Ahmed SH. Intense sweetness surpasses cocaine reward; PLoS One. 2007 Aug 1;2(8):e698.

19. Beauchamp GK. Development of sweet taste. Dobbing J, editor. , ed Sweetness. London

20. Sánchez-Lasheras C1, Könner AC, Brüning JC., Integrative neurobiology of energy homeostasis-neurocircuits, signals and mediators; Front Neuroendocrinol. 2010 Jan;31(1):4-15. doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2009.08.002

Using Avocados for Weight Loss

A long disproven, yet still persistent dietary fallacy is the simplistic belief that we get fat just by eating fat.

The way that the fatty acids we consume in our diet affect whether we gain or lose weight is much more complex than that. Lumping them all together, as many dietitians and doctors are still doing, is almost certainly contributing to the obesity epidemic in the UK and around the developed world.

The fact is some dietary fats, like those found in avocado, can actually help with weight loss. Here’s why.

 

Does Fat Make You Fat?

There is much more debate in recent years on whether saturated fats are really the bad guy they’ve been made out to be. A far worse culprit, not just for weight gain, but also serious health problems like heart disease, has been found in the trans and hydrogenated fats found in margarine and the vegetable oil shortening used in so many processed foods.

There is also a lot of scientific evidence that the massive increase in refined carbohydrates are a much more effective weight gain trigger, and they, not saturated fat, are behind the rocketing levels of obesity and related diseases.

If you would like to find out the common foods that really cause weight gain and how to use certain kinds of fats to stop feeling hungry and stimulate thermogenic fat burning, then see the fat burning furnace site.

That website also covers using a different way of exercising to lose body fat in less than an hour a week and why eating specific foods at the right times can ramp up your metabolism for more effective weight loss.

One of those metabolism enhancing foods are avocados with their high levels of beneficial monounsaturated fats. Here’s why it’s worth adding more, not less avocado to your diet if you want to lose weight.

Monounsaturated Fats and Calories in Avocados

While avocados are relatively high calorie food with 100 grams of the fresh fruit providing around 160 calories, more than two thirds of those calories come from monounsaturated oleic acid. Studies have demonstrated that monounsaturated fats like oleic acid are much more likely to be utilized by your body as a slow burning energy source than saturated fat.

Increasing your intake of monounsaturated fats, versus both polyunsaturated fats and carbohydrates, has also been shown to provide a marked improvement in insulin sensitivity and glycemic control – a major factor in weight gain and developing diabetes.
As an additional health benefit, eating a diet high in the omega-9 fats, of which avocado is one of the best sources, has been shown to have the potential to reduce blood levels of ‘bad’ low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, at the same time as raising ‘good’ high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Omega-9 fat also aids in the absorption of fat soluble vitamins and antioxidants from the food they are eaten with.
The health benefits of avocado on their own are quite amazing. However, when you eat them with leafy greens in a salad, or with high antioxidant vegetables like butternut squash, it can significantly improve your assimilation of the nutritional elements in the other foods as well.

Weight Loss and Hunger

Apart from the obvious health benefits of getting more vitamins and antioxidants out of the food you eat, the way avocados improve nutrient absorption in a meal can also help reduce hunger.

This is due to the feeling of being hungry often associated, not with a real need by our bodies for more food, but rather a couple of other reasons which are a big part of why so many people find it so hard to lose weight.

Firstly, many of us don’t drink nearly enough water, are regularly mildly dehydrated, and end up mistaking hunger for thirst. Next time you are hungry, try reaching for a glass of water, especially before having any salt laden snack food which will only increase that dehydration.

At other times, particularly when you’ve had food a short time ago, the feeling of hunger is your body’s way of trying to get more of the nutrients it needs that weren’t provided in the last meal.

By eating more of nature’s healthiest foods, like avocados, almonds and others on this site, you are much less likely to feel hungry again a short time after you’ve eaten.

In the case of avocados, with their rich and buttery taste, healthy monounsaturated fats, high fibre content, good levels of protein and particularly low carbohydrates, you have a food that significantly increases satiety – that feeling of satisfied fullness after you eat.

Despite their calories and fat content, avocados ability to increase the nutrition you receive from a meal and satisfy your hunger results in most people actually eating less when they add them to their diet. In this way, the avocado can be viewed, not as something to be avoided by dieters, but rather as an effective weight loss food when added to a healthy eating plan.

In comparison, having high carbohydrate meals based around foods like bread, potatoes, corn, rice and pasta will usually increase hunger significantly by the effect it has on the insulin levels in your blood.

Avocados, Weight Loss and Insulin

Amongst many important other things, insulin is the powerful hormone that removes excessive glucose from your blood. It stores this excess glucose, in small amounts in the liver and muscles, but once those are full, in your waist’s adipose fat cells.

To make matters worse, this process of storing carbohydrates as fat regularly leads to low blood sugar. This stimulates more hunger for carbs and the process repeats itself again.

It has been named the insulin rollercoaster for obvious reasons. But you have to ask yourself, are those short sugar highs really worth the constant hunger and resulting tiredness and weight gain that so many of us are putting ourselves through on it each day?

The only good time for a big carbohydrate meal is the night before heavy exercise if your fitness level is already high. For most of us, there’s a more steady energy level and a natural and effective weight loss in an eating plan low in high glycemic carbohydrates like grains. Instead base your meals around nutritious vegetables, healthy sources of protein and beneficial fats like those found in avocado.

Breakfast is actually the most important meal of the day for weight loss. By making low-carbohydrate and high-protein avocado recipes, such as the delicious avocado breakfast omelette coming up next, you can start off your morning with your hunger satisfied and not feeling the need to eat for much longer than if you had toast or cereal.

 

It’s eating like this, not counting calories, starving yourself or trying to avoid all fats, especially healthy ones like those found in avocados and particularly nuts like almonds, that is the real key to effective weight loss.


Source
http://healthiestfoods.co.uk/avocados-for-weight-loss