Fake sweeteners fake out your body
If you take in lots of artificial sweetener, you fake your digestive system into believing that you’re giving it calories when you’re not, and all you’ll gain is unwanted weight and an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes.
A team of researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia took a look at what happens in your body when you use a lot of artificial sweeteners for as little as two weeks, and found that those fakes throw your body’s ability to control blood glucose out of whack.
Seems that faking out your endocrine system (“Here, you have fuel. Oh, wait, no you don’t!”) damages your body’s ability to process real sugar properly and increases post-meal blood glucose levels. So when you eat food containing real sugar — naturally found in 100 percent whole grains, fruits and veggies, and crammed into packaged foods and beverages — your system hoards it and gets overwhelmed. That leads to glu- cose intolerance. Fake sugar substitutes also change the bacteria inside your gut, increasing inflammation and insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes is around the corner. Clearly, sugar substitutes lie to your body..
Craving a sweet treat? Enjoy 1 ounce of 70 percent cacao dark chocolate and 2-3 servings of fresh fruit. See, there’s no reason to lie.
Prevent road rage
Road rage has become increasingly dangerous: Over a seven-year period, it was linked to 218 murders and 12,610 injuries. Here are a few tips to help you avoid it.
Don’t Cause Road Rage in Others
■ Pay attention (no texting or putting on makeup!) to traffic flow, and be considerate: 49 percent of road rage incidents are caused by a distracted or inattentive driver.
■ Don’t speed or change lanes recklessly. Signal! Always check your blind spot.
Don’t React to Bad Behavior
■ Don’t honk your horn, flash your lights or make obscene gestures at other drivers to express your discontent.
■ If someone cuts you off or misses moving through a light because they are texting, practice anger management, such as deep breathing and redirecting your thoughts to more pleasant topics.
■ If enraging traffic is a daily occurrence, consider carpooling or taking public transportation.
Remember that road rage — assault or endangering other people or property withamotorvehicle—isa criminal offense.
Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.