What is the advantage of these new half sugar and half synthetic baking sugars that are on the market? These drink products made with ? the sugar carbs and ? synthetic sweeteners and foods marketed and eaten by our kids, does it really give the consumer that much more of an advantage?

There was a national news story on NBC Nightly News with Tom Brocaw (11.08.04)last week on the waters in Colorado not being so "clean". High estrogen was found to be in the waters and streams, and it was changing the biology of the fish. In the report, the last statement was that they did not know what the long term outcome of this contamination would be in humans...let see, why are women who are susceptible to cancer told not to take birth control pills...could it be that high estrogen levels are a known contributer to breast cancer and suspected in other types of cancers as well?

Okay, so if our drinking water has this characteristic, what else has these characteristics? Did you know that Sugar is a know estrogenic? Why... Sugar, which breaks down to glucose, goes into the blood streams, and escorts estrogen to the heart muscle and to the other cells. Glucose is a companion to a lot of chemicals in the body, and to some chemicals that shouldn't be in the body in high supply.

So if Glucose can escort estrogen, and you have an abundance of estrogen in the water that you drink, and the birth control pill that you take, and you are drinking and eating foods that have an abundance of elements that cause the glucose to rise in your blood, doesn't it stand to reason, that you would increase your chances and risks of cancer?

So, back to the original question, what is the advantage of a ? sugar and ? synthetic sweetener? The sugar will spike your glucose levels, and the synthetic has a better escort system to make the body absorb chemicals it was never designed to absorb, for example, chlorine, or glutimates that increase the production of insulin. Both chlorine and glutamic proteins are found in the top synthetic sweeteners used in the United States by manufacturers. Add on top of this, processed flours to make the cakes, cookies, and pies taste better, and you have even more "sugar" going into your system.

No one gains anything from these hybrid sweeteners, especially those who are already suffering from blood glucose issues and children. We don't know what these synthetic sweeteners will do to those who consume them for 20 to 30 years, but we do know that the probability of cancer is extremely high for each of us, including our kids, here in the U.S., where health of a food product is not necessarily an important factor in marketing.

D.S. Epperson is the top formulator for Home Blend Gourmet / South Pacific Health, a leader in the functional food industry in the U.S.. With 20 years of experience in Nutritional Biochemistry, she has written reference books on botanicals and manufacturing of medicines from botanicals, and published articles on health, fitness and foods. She has formulated over 240 formulas and inventions for health, the environment and agricultural uses, and continues to research and study microbial advantages in nutraceuticals and functional foods. For more information or to view the articles that she has written: http://www.sugarblend.com