This is a controversial subject and as far as I am concerned is a very important subject to be versed in, particularly if you are pregnant and or have children.

Lets start with artificial sweeteners. Good examples are Canderel, Nutrasweet and Splenda. Basically anything that contains an artificial sweetener like Saccharin, Sucrolose, Acesulfame K and ASPARTAME to name but a horrible few. There is all kinds of information out there about how nasty artificial sweeteners are for you. Just have a quick read online to make you throw that diet drink or shop bought iced tea out of the window.

They are neurological excito-toxins which amongst other frightening things can cause headaches and even seizures. Aspartame has recently been linked to diseases of the central nervous system like ALS (Motor Neuron Disease) and Alzheimer's! It's time to just say NO! Artificial and refined sweeteners are only a source of empty calories and not only are they extremely bad for you, they can also make you gain weight by increasing your craving for sugar. On top of all this they can also badly affect your baby's ability to regulate their own blood sugar. These are also used in foodstuffs, diet bars and sometimes even crisps! So, it is imperative that you check your labels.

My father passed away last year from Motor Neuron Disease (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease) He spent most of his adult life drinking a particular diet drink sweetened with Aspartame, amongst other things loaded with Aspartame and MSG, and because the diet soda was sugar free, he thought it must be healthier. Did this contribute to his developing this terrible illness? New research indicates that long term exposure to these excito-toxins are a major contributing factor to the onset of these dreadful illnesses. Why on earth would anyone risk it?

MSG or mono sodium glutamate also falls into this list and is as dangerous as the sweeteners. It is also a neurological excito-toxin and studies have found lesions on the developing brains of embryos which have been associated with large intakes of MSG. The food industry cloaks the fact that MSG appears in the ingredient list on food products as: malt flavourings, natural flavourings, barley malt extract, calcium, yeast, sodium casinate, skimmed milk powder, hydrolyzed protein, hydrolyzed vegetable protein etc etc. The list goes on.

This isn't good news considering that these intakes are not normal...they are big intakes when MSG is in almost every second food item in your cupboard! I cannot stress this enough - Always Check The Labels!