You go to a restaurant, get your dish and when you ask the waiter for salt, the waiter looks down at you and, in a tone of disdain, he tells you, "Sorry, Miss, we do not do salt here, salt is really bad for you".
Ridiculous, no?
Now, it is becoming trendy amongst certain cafes, bakeries and restaurants in Perth to reply to my "flat white with a sweetener" in a disdainful flipping tone "we do not do sweetener here" or "sweetener is cancerogenous and kills".
The funny thing is that some of the same people who preach about sweetener would drink huge amounts of fizzy or caffeine-concentrate drinks, smoke, drink alcohol, would not exercise or consume tons of natural products like, say, sugar. In fact, it sounds ridiculous to me that sugar (too much sugar) could be thought a very healthy food at all. But it is not trendy to say so because our culture is very much sugar-coated and we all love our candies, cakes and chocolates.
I am not saying that sweetener is the most natural healthy wholehearted food on the Planet, or that you have to consume it in great quantities without worry. I am saying that there are different types of sweetening products to start with (chemical derived and plant derived), and that having a sweetener with my coffee or having a fizzy sugar-free drink now and then is OK - in moderation. Why? Because the scientific debate -which is the one that matters to me- has been long and inconclusive regarding the cancerogenous properties of sweetener unless consumed in huge quantities. A summary of the debate can be found at the Wikipedia in Aspartame or Stevia or just visit The Cancer Council of the USA.
Having a healthy lifestyle the whole year around does more for your health and for inhibiting your cancer risks than anything else. On the other hand, we do know that if you have a nasty gene, you are prone to develop any disease or cancer no matter how much you take care of yourself. Yes, it sucks, but that is science, not BS or mass hysteria.
The fact is:
Too much sugar do kill even if you do not consume sweetener.
Too much salt do kill ditto.
Too much water, yes water, do kill ditto.
Too much fatty food do kill, ditto.
Too much tobacco do kill, ditto.
Too much alcohol do kill, ditto.
Too much Love do Kill, ditto.
Anger do kill, ditto.
Obesity do kill, ditto.
Sedentarism do kill, ditto.
Depression do kill, ditto.
Religious fanatism do kill, ditto.
Political fanaticism do kill, ditto.
Bad traffic signs do kill, ditto.
Domestic violence do kill, ditto.
Poverty do kill, ditto.
Your inherited genes do kill.
I do no want to die before my time, and I do take care of my body and soul all the year around, but limiting my options is not cool or even sensible when it comes from a preaching patronising position.
Unless the consumption of sweetener is forbidden by the health authorities and proven lethal in small quantities, I do want to have the option to consume sweetener, sugar or nothing when I fancy. I do not want to be treated as a retarded because I order my coffee with a sweetener, preached by people who make of their personal approach to life and food a pseudo-religion. I do not want food Messiahs or a nanny restaurant, just my coffee the way I order it....
On the other hand, if you are diabetic, just tell me what are you going to do without sweetener?
