Welcome back to another episode of Arnold's Pump Club. I want to start today's episode with a little secret. I've been using artificial sweetness for years. I started putting it in my coffee a long time ago. I liked it and I kept doing it when I'd see my doctors, there were no issues. So I thought nothing of it. Then many people started insisting that artificial sweetness make you fat or cause disease. And I didn't get the big deal because
it was never an issue for me. So when we started the newsletter on podcast, I asked Adam to look into it. And as we've shared in this podcast, we found that most of the fear was not backed by research. If you don't like artificial sweetness, then don't use them. But if you have them sometimes, there's no reason to worry. But the debate didn't end. Like so many things in wellness, people insist on proving a point rather than
figuring out what works for them. Our job here and in the newsletter isn't to tell you what to do. It's to show you all the different ways you can be healthy, understand your different options, cut through the bullshit and make it easier for you to take action.
One of the biggest arguments against artificial sweetness is that they make you crave sweet foods despite their absence of calories. Despite the theories, recent research suggests artificial sweetness do not make you crave more sweet food or increase hunger. That's not all eating foods with artificial or plant-based sweetness might also help reduce your blood sugar and insulin.
While this might seem surprising, the benefits of non-calorie sweetness aren't new. Prior review found that non-nutritive sweetness, the name for calorie-free sweetness, do not increase appetite or caloric intake. It's probably why so many studies have found that sugar-free beverages tend to result in weight loss. In 152 weeks, randomized controlled trial, people who had sugar-free drinks daily lost more weight than those drinking water, that's not to say you should replace water in your diet.
And if you don't like artificial or plant-based sweetness or they disrupt your stomach, there's no need to consume them. But if you're concerned about appetite, hunger or weight gain, dozens of studies insist artificial sweetness are likely safe and could help support your health goals. Now, let's discuss another study.
Yesterday, we discussed how lycopene can make your dentist smile because it can improve oral health. As a result, doctors worldwide contacted us and encouraged us to share that lycopene has more benefits than we mentioned. So we went digging and the research suggests it's true. People who add lycopene to their diet are more likely to avoid cardiovascular diseases and have healthier skin.
The study suggested lycopene works in many ways to help protect your heart. It has antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-therogenic, cardioprotective, and anti-platelet benefits. You might know what all of that means, but it's a hit list of heart-healthy outcomes and research suggests that supplementing with lycopene can even help lower your blood pressure.
Studies have also found that lycopene rich diet offers skin protection, can help you recover from sun damage and prevent sunburns and could even increase procolytion levels, giving you more youthful-looking skin. If you want to pump up your lycopene intake, sun-dried tomatoes or tomato purers or tomato puree are the great options, but you can also get lycopene from regular tomatoes, watermelon, grova, and grapefruit.
The benefits start with as little as 6 milligrams per day with all benefits accomplished with up to 20 milligrams daily. That's it for today's episode. I created this podcast because I believe that fitness is for everyone. I'm using the power of machines to help me deliver news, information, and support that will make you healthier.
I am not a cybernetic organism, but I do have an important mission to build the positive corner of the internet and lift up the world. There's too much negativity online, and I want this podcast to give you the support you need to become a little bit better.
I want to thank our editors in chief Adam Boenstein and Daniel Ketchall, who helped me with this podcast in our daily newsletter, as well as our producers' pen name consulting. We value all your feedback, and the three of us are here to support you. If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a review. We love hearing from you. Together, we have the strength to lift up the world.