Saturday, April 9, 2011

A-Z Challenge - 'H'

I can't think of a better H-word for today's topic than honey - specifically raw honey. Raw honey is an amazing, natural food. It has to be truly raw, however. Honey that has been heated at more than 117 degrees Fahrenheit is no longer considered to be raw - above that temperature, the beneficial enzymes are destroyed.
On my journey to wellness, I have sworn off all artificial sweeteners and avoid using regular sugar. Instead, I opt for raw honey or pure maple syrup when needing a touch of sweetness. I have a firm conviction that multiple sclerosis in not to blame for my condition but rather it comes from excessive use of aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal) and sucralose (Splenda). While I never used the little blue, pink, and yellow packets of sweetener, I did go through a phase of drinking way too much diet soda. It wasn't long into this phase that my symptoms began. Though my suspicions had not been confirmed, I immediately swore off diet soda. My symptoms worsened even after discontinuing all aspartame and sucralose usage but, given the way that toxins are stored in the body, my hypothesis still makes sense. Today, in fact, I read an article published by Dr. Mercola regarding the topic of the negative effects of aspartame. Please, take some time and educate yourself about the dangers by visiting his site at: Victoria Inness-Brown's Aspartame Experiment.





2 comments:

Linda H. said...

I'm sorry to hear what you are going through. I use sugar in moderation but not artificial sugars.
Have you tried stevia at all?

Problems with aspartame are not uncommon. I read about it years ago. Another site you might want to check:

http://www.sweetpoison.com/about-janet-hull.html

I hope your health continues to improve.

Greg said...

Hi Linda,

I have used stevia and I love it. I really just don't use much sweetener at all. I am not a coffee or tea drinker - probably the most common time for people to add sweetener. About the only time I use added sweetener is in a yogurt smoothie and raw honey just makes a lot of sense.