Photo: Bekathwia, Flickr

If you're trying to lose a few pounds, trading your regular soda for the diet version could be doing more harm than good. True, swapping a can of Coke Zero for the regular kind slices 139 calories from your daily intake, but research from the University of Liverpool in England suggests that your body processes artificial, calorie-free sweeteners the same way it does regular sugar.

Just as your taste buds can't differentiate between regular and artificial sweeteners (aside that chemically aftertaste), the receptors in your intestines aren't able to tell the difference either. Once the intestines sense sweetness, they seek out glucose to absorb. So even though that Equal is calorie-free -- your body may still take calories from somewhere else if these receptors are activated.

"Artificial sweeteners can also activate the glucose sensor and increase the capacity of the intestine to absorb more sugar," Soraya Shirazi-Beechey, lead author of the study and a professor of Molecular Physiology and Biochemistry at Liverpool University, tells the Daily Mail. "If someone wants to lose weight, I don't think artificial sweeteners are going to help," she says. "My recommendation is to eat natural foods, but to eat less of them."

It's unclear from Shirazi-Beechey's research whether the amount of glucose absorbed after sensing an artificial sweetener would equal the calorie-equivalent of a regular soda.

Kristen told us about the recently-launched high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) ad campaign. By now, you've probably seen the commercials. The ads bother me to no end. Not only because they imply that HFCS is natural ("it's made from corn") but because of the disturbing way the people are portrayed.

The people who are concerned about HFCS in the commercials come off rude, condescending, and uninformed. Seriously. Would you actually tell a friend that you don't think they care what they feed their kids? On the other hand, the people who think HFCS is fine are knowledgeable and polite. Personally, I think the commercials poke fun at people who are health-conscious and care about what they put in their bodies.

CBS News launched an investigation and found that three of the six studies supporting the Corn Refiners Association's claim that HFCS is no different than sugar were funded by organizations that stand to profit from HFCS acceptance. It's not unusual for parties with a vested interest to fund studies, but it does give reason to raise a questioning eyebrow.

[via FitSugar]

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I try to steer clear of sugar. I first ditched the sweet stuff to cure headaches -- it worked -- and then realized I feel so much better, headaches aside, without the refined stuff sailing through my veins. I credit some of my recent weight loss to my sugar ban too.

What do I do about artificial sweeteners, though? RealAge says I should be cautious, because stuff like saccharin-sweeteners can lead to overeating and weight gain too.

Studies on lab animals tell us that those fed with no-sugar-added yogurt packed on more pounds than those fed with full-sugar yogurt. Seems that no-calorie substitutes put the brain and body at odds. The brain is happy. The body wants more. Time will tell if humans gain like animals do. Chances are, we do -- studies linking diet soda to excess weight already exist.

Your best bet for satisfying a sweet tooth: Go natural -- dive into a bowl of berries -- or indulge in just a bite of the real thing, like an ounce of rich dark chocolate.

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After having personally lined up all available sweeteners myself in the last year, there are plenty of choices beyond refined table sugar that give a decent (but not stuffed) amount of calories while tasting great. And, they're not synthetic chemicals also.

Agave nectar and stevia are two of my favorites. You can completely replace refined sugar in most recipes with agave nectar and use it in tea and even water. But for sweeteners like maple syrup, avoid them unless you want a huge dose of calories in addition to that sweet taste.

Get up to speed with some of the better alternatives to sugar here. Then, get set to stock your pantry with them.

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There's lots of hype out there about what's healthy and what's not and honestly, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between the two. But thankfully, eDiets has put together a list of what so-called 'health' foods aren't actually that great for you, like:

• Energy bars: I once heard these described as 'Peanut M&Ms with a multivitamin' and I don't think that's far off. These are mostly sugar and protein with some nutrients added in. And they're high in calories.
  
• Juice: Even if it's 100% natural, you're still better off eating an whole fruit

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Tis the season for baking and sweets, that's for sure. Unfortunately, typical white table sugar most commonly used in cooking, along with corn syrup usually found in store-bought sweets, is stripped of its few nutrients during the refinement process. In the quest for healthier alternatives without sacrificing flavor or the indulgent spirit of the holidays, you might want to consider some natural and slightly more nutritious sugar substitutes in a few of your baking recipes this year. Naturally milled sugar, for example, goes through a much simpler refinement process -- therefore several of the trace nutrients from the cane sugar are still present. Molasses is a byproduct of making sugar and can make for rich flavor in desserts and entrees alike. It's rich in potassium and also has calcium, iron, and magnesium. And of course there's honey, the most common and versatile sugar substitute with antibacterial and enzyme properties.

I don't know that I'll try molasses instead of sugar in my next batch of chocolate chip cookies, but the idea of a more nutritious sweet dessert inspired me to look up a new recipe to try this year. There were lots out there, but one easy looking one that caught my eye was honey brownies, I'll have to give it a try!

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