ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS CONNECTED TO PREMATURE BIRTH
Article by Mike Barrett
Activist Post
"Sugar sweetened beverages
such as sodas have received a wide-scale bad reputation for their negative
impact on health. All the while, diet sodas are falsely promoted as a healthier
alternative. But artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, used in diet soda, have
also been tied to numerous health complications, with one study linking
artificial sweeteners to premature delivery.
Although some attest to the
safety of artificial sweeteners like aspartame, these sweeteners have actually
been shown to cause considerable harm.
The study looking at the
relationship between soft drink consumption and pregnancy outcome found that
preterm delivery risk rises 38 percent for pregnant women having 1 or more
servings of artificially sweetened drinks per day. What’s more, consuming 4 or
more servings daily was associated with an increased risk of 78 percent.
“There was an association between
intake of artificially sweetened carbonated and non carbonated soft drinks and
an increased risk of preterm delivery…A stronger increase in risk was observed
for early preterm and moderately preterm delivery than with late-preterm
delivery. No association was observed for sugar-sweetened carbonated soft
drinks (P for trend: 0.29) or for sugar-sweetened noncarbonated soft drinks (P
for trend: 0.93),” the study states.
While the study pinpoints
artificially sweetened beverages for increasing preterm delivery risk, there is
other research that suggests sugar-sweetened drinks also play a role. Other
studies have found that both drink types increase risk for hypertension – a
known risk factor for preterm delivery. In addition, there is evidence
suggesting that both drink types could affect the length of gestation since
high blood glucose concentrations and low-dose methanol exposure both cause shorter
gestation duration.
The leading cause of perinatal
morbidity and mortality, preterm delivery is actually among the major pregnancy
complications which could occur. It was also found that preterm infants suffer
from impairment in the long-term, and experience inequality in adult life.
These reasons alone make it extremely important for mothers to avoid substances
that may trigger premature delivery.
More research was also conducted
with a focus on methanol, the primary alcoholic component used in the
production of aspartame, to examine potential negative health effects. A
retired food scientist and Professor Emeritus of Food Science and Nutrition at
the Arizona State University Dr. Woodrow Monte describes how the toxic chemical
methanol and its use in the production of aspartame and other chemicals could
be a main factor in causing spina bifida, preterm delivery, multiple sclerosis,
cancer, and more recently, autism in young children. It is also the primary
factor in other developing chronic diseases and health conditions.
Needless to say, artificial
sweeteners have been shown to be far from safe, and should be avoided if you’re
aiming for optimal health."
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