Artificial Sweeteners Essay

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The Bittersweet Reality In this day in age there is quick acceptance for anything that will be advantageous to one’s health. Many people strive to look better, and subsequently they take shortcuts because it is the easiest approach. Without giving close consideration to their health, people are indulging in foods that are empty of nutrients. One of these lifeless alternatives are artificial sweeteners, they are a major ordeal among Americans because they enjoy and crave sweets. These products deserve close attention. The nutrition that a human body thrives from should be taken seriously. Ongoing research and a large number of studies work to reveal the legitimacy of artificial sweeteners despite the growing trend of these non-nutritive products. The word “artificial” simply means something that does not naturally occur in nature. Instead, the sweeteners are man-made chemicals. (Mercola, 21) The chemical was discovered in 1879 by two scientists, Dr. Ira Remsen and Constantine Fahlberg, who were researching toluene derivatives. Fahlberg spilled the toluene subordinate on his hand and later his dinner tasted sweet. He determined that the sweetness came about from the chemicals he was testing earlier. This new substance called saccharine (Sweet N’ Low) was named after saccharide, meaning complex sugar. (Mercola, 20) It has one-eighth of a calorie per teaspoon and is about three hundred times sweeter than sugar. It became an easy substitute for diabetics and anyone who desired lower caloric consumption and blood sugar levels. Saccharin was only the beginning of the rise of alternative sweeteners. The arrangement of artificial sweeteners in order of emergence: Saccharin, Cyclamate, Aspartame, Alitame, Sucralose, Acesulfame-K, Neotame. (Mercola, 22) The most common among them are saccharin and aspartame. In the late nineteenth century there was a higher expectancy
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