Diet sodas have no nutritional value, so drinking a diet drink with artificial sweeteners is a nonstarter in my book anyway. Besides the long-alleged cancer risks, sugar alcohols and polyols such as sorbitol, malitol, isomalt, and a whole lot of other scientific-sounding names found in popular artificial sweeteners can create significant digestive problems. Dr. Prabhakar Swaroop, assistant professor of gastroenterology at Saint Louis University, said "These sugar alcohols are made up of long chains, and our bodies have a hard time breaking them down". In large amounts, they can cause diarrhea, gas, and bloating - what people refer to as a "laxative effect," he added.
When it comes to the chemical health risks of conventionally produced foods, I recommend organic food, which, by definition, is food grown or produced without using pesticides. Now an additional environmental issue has surfaced in recent years: genetically modifying crops, such as soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola. They're called "GM foods" or "biotech" crops.
All living things have a genetic code in their cells that make them grow a certain way. Since the 1990s, scientist have discovered how to change the genes in plants to make them grow higher, larger, denser, and more resistant to insect infestation - but others fear that genetic engineering will unleash an environmental disaster on the public. Critics have called genetically modified crops "Frankenfood" or "agricultural asbestos," and I wouldn't knowingly eat a product made from a GM crop.
I don't think more than a handful of people are aware that almost a third of the agricultural land in the United Stated is planted with gene-altered crops, even though 41 percent of Americans claimed they knew that GM foods were sold in grocery stores, according to Pew Research. Many shoppers unwittingly fill their shopping carts with genetically modified foods because roughly 75 percent of processed foods - cooking oils, boxed cereals, grain products, and frozen dinners - contain some GM ingredients, according to the Grocery Manufacturers of America. This news is another reason to only eat foods that God created, in a form healthy for the body.
If you are the person who usually does the food shopping for the home, I urge you to buy organic as far as your food budget will take you. As Consumer Report magazine said, "A growing body of research shows that pesticides and other contaminants are more prevalent in the foods we eat than we thought. And studies show that by eating organic foods, you can reduce your exposure to potential health risks associated with these chemicals.
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In an interesting trend piece, the Los Angeles Times Magazine noted the start of a burgeoning movement called "sustainable food." which means the establishment of a shorter food chain by restaurants and consumers eager to buy meat, fruits, and vegetables produced locally. Currently, only 1 to 2 percent of America's food is locally grown, and the produce you eat is shipped an average of 1,500 miles to your local supermarket, according to a 2001 study by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.
The leaders of the sustainable food movement urge consumers to seek out organic alternatives to mainstream food from co-ops, natural food stores, farmers markets, roadside stands, and backyard gardens and fruit-bearing trees. As for the higher cost of buying local, proponents say that you can pay your farmer now, or you can pay your doctor later. Nothing truer was ever said about the virtues of eating organic.