ROSIE - Sweetener - or sickly after taste?

Although I lead an otherwise healthy life (well, of course, most of the time that is), I do have one serious diet blunder which I commit every day, several times a day and have done since my first year at uni. Finding myself several pounds heavier due to copious amounts of beer and chips and desperately looking for ways to lose said several pounds (without, of course, ditching the chips and beer and actually exercising), I discovered the beauty of.... artificial sweetener.

I have inherited several things from my father, one of them being his legs and the second being his INCREDIBLY sweet tooth. So, discovering sweetener was a revelation. Yes, really, I could STILL have my tea as sweet as you like with no calories! I could still add loads of sugar to my cereal without adding calories. BRILLIANT!

Still, to this day, do I add three sweeteners to my 5+ daily cups of tea. So, that would be 15 teaspoons of sugar I am saving myself. Or, perhaps, I could just hit the root cause of the problem and take it OUT of my tea. Having studied nutrition for some time, I discovered just how dangerous sweetener can be - not just physically but psychologically.

However, let's take it down to simple terms. A can of diet coke (any, not just the famous brand) contains approx 1 kcal. Standard coke = 140 kcal. That's not rocket science for me. Someone who is addicted to coke and drinks 2 litres per day, this is a massive saving - not just on the belly of that person, but also long term as the national bill for obesity rises.

In 1988, the Scientific Committee on Food, the main body providing advice about food safety to the European Commission, found that aspartame was safe at acceptable daily intakes of 40mg/kg/day. In the real world 40mg/kg/day equates to more than 14 cans of sugar free drink every day, assuming that the can drink was using aspartame at its maximum permitted level.

However, the dangerous thing for me is that studies have shown that those who indulge in sugar free items, be they food or drink, stimulate their taste buds so much that they actually find they are hungry, even though they aren't necessarily. Result? Overeating.

Speaking from a professional point of view; it's simple - cut out the crap of our diets, any processed disgusting additive such as this which melts and fizzes when you add it to tea is surely not good for our bodies. If you really need that much to satisfy your sweet tooth then you have other issues which need addressing! Anything in moderation, of course, is fine.

From a personal point of view? The thought of adding 15 teaspoons of sugar into my daily allowance fills me with horror, this is what I would have to do if I gave up sweetener. A battle of heart over mind! Some personal development needed here I think... just give up the damn sweet tea and drink it without!