Before you jump all over the new ‘green’ Coke Life, you might want to read up on Stevia. In my own quest to cut back on sugar I tried Stevia awhile back and found I am severely allergic to it because it’s in the ragweed family. Apparently it also messes with your blood sugar and adrenals in a bad way, and can cause dizziness and stomach problems. I am very opposed to Nutrasweet/Aspartame, and all artificial sweeteners give me an unpleasant aftertaste, but if I just have to use an artificial sweetener, I’ll grab a packet of Splenda (though it’s far from perfect, but at least I’m not allergic to it), or just use a little honey, real sugar or coconut sugar. (I’m not diabetic so a little honey is not going to harm me) I even tried Agave, which, in my opinion, is the best tasting of the ‘natural’ sweeteners, but found it made me feel worse than normal normal, refined sugar (“Most agave syrup has a higher fructose content than any commercial sweetener — ranging from 55 to 97 percent”).
This is a good article on the blood sugar and adrenal effects of Stevia – Why I Quit Stevia
And a short list of general Stevia Side Effects
I’ve moved my diet to high protein, healthy fats and low carbs, and no processed carbs, so I don’t drink soda anymore (also for a bajillion other reasons), my mainstays are water and tea. I have changed my diet for several reasons. First – I have chronically high cholesterol and triglycerides and a minor heart problem, and the only time in my adult life my cholesterol ever went down to normal was when I was on the Atkins Diet. Low fat, low calorie diets don’t work for me (they raise my cholesterol), and even what is considered a normal level of carbs (especially grains) makes me extremely tired and lethargic to the point of dozing off in inappropriate places. And gives me brain fog. So I’ve dropped processed foods, pasta and grains from my diet.
I’ve also dropped most dairy, because I believe both dairy and glutens make my arthritis and overall systemic inflammation worse. If I eat something off my eating plan (which isn’t really a diet, it’s a lifestyle change, I don’t count calories), I start to feel bad the same day – my eyes swell and my vision gets even worse, my sinuses clog up, my joints hurt much worse, and my stomach and digestion begins acting up.
So remember, ‘natural’ or ‘green’ is not always healthy. The best thing you can do for your health is to start noticing how what you eat, drink and take makes you feel (headaches, bloating, congested, tired, sleepy…) and then begin eliminating the obvious perpetrators from your diet and see if you start feeling better. Most of us are so used to feeling bad we don’t realize a large part of it is what we put into our bodies each day. You really are what you eat.
Note: I am back to the blog vs facebook for my longer posts, been away too long…
