5 Before 5 is a series of 5 shows to educate and inspire runners to take their nutrition more serious! Be sure to tune in for Season 5 in the month!
On the show:
An increasing body of quality scientific evidence is linking artificial sweeteners with very damaging changes in gut bacteria. These sweeteners - aspartame, sucralose, maltodextrin, and acesulfame K - are all found in very high quantities in almost any sports nutrition product you care to pick up. From whey powder to energy gel, from hydration tablets to electrolyte blends. Our gut is the most concentrated ecosystem on the planet containing 100,000 billion bacteria. Messing with these seriously derails health (they are responsible for our digestion and absorption of nutrients) and is linked to obesity, diabetes, chrohn’s, dementia and much more. Gut bacteria are also the heart of our immune system, losing the good ones leaves us open to more illness. Bad on a good day, terrible when you’re training hard and knocking out the immune system anyway. Messing with these bacteria also messes with our minds. With the gut now understood as the second brain (it contains 200 million neurons, the same as a dog’s brain), and one which heavily influences our moods, emotions and feelings (the gut and brain share the same neurotransmitters, and are directly connected via the vagus nerve), disrupting gut bacteria can also produce negative mental side effects. As an example, 95% of our seratonin is produced in the gut. Sports products containing these sweeteners (check the labels, they’re in over 90% of products on sale today) aren't just causing stomach upset and perfrmance hiccups on race day, they’re causing major longterm health damage.