How to win the sugar game without turning sour

First off, let us establish a boundary for our discussion. This hub has nothing to do with the natural sugars that are found in vegetables and fruits and which are far superior to anything that man can cook up. We are aiming at all man-made sugars, stuff that has been chemically treated or altered in some way not found in nature.

Recent years have shown a significant increase in public awareness about the overuse of sugar in various forms including so-called artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame (Nutrasweet). This shift in public opinion has caused the food industry to hide the identity of sugars by using different names on their product labels, hoping to divert public attention away from the fact that a majority of foods are loaded with sugar in one form or another. The list includes items such as corn syrup solids, fructose, natural flavors, corn sweeteners and the one most responsible for sugar addiction, HFCS or high fructose corn sweetener.

On your next visit to the supermarket take note of the degree of sugar saturation in just about all prepared foods on the shelves. You'll be hard-pressed to find a product completely free from this assault on your health. Learn to be merciless in reading labels and if the label has misleading statements put the item back on the shelf.

Weight loss is all but impossible if you are regularly eating foods with significant amounts of HFCS which stirs up the appetite instead of reducing it. The late Dr. Robert Atkins performed the ground-breaking research that first alerted us to the problems of too much sugar intake, giving rise to appetite stimulation which is the last thing we need when trying to lose a few pounds.

The Great Aspartame Hoax.

When you see a "diet" soda label or "no sugar" on a bakery item, realize that you're opening the door to potential troublemakers. There is a great deal of evidence gathered by scientific methods against all these chemical sweeteners.None of the studies I researched were funded by industry.

Take a moment and watch this video.

By now hopefully you've seen and heard enough to chart your own course through the shoals of chemical brew that is being passed off in the guise of acceptance by the "proper authorities." Dr. Joseph Mercola has published the results of his extensive research. For further reading see http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/index.htm.

If you're a sceptic like me you need more evidence. Take time to read some of the 80 peer-reviewed studies which were not dependent on industry funding, including some from Lancet, JAMA, and the New England Journal of Medicine. These can be found at:http://www.dldewey.com/columns/asparst2.htm.