Aquaponics USA/World
September 2015 Newsletter
#21
Table of Contents
The first of the 3 most popular Sugar Alcohols, Mannitol
The second of the 3 most popular Sugar Alcohols, Sorbitol
Xylitol is the the most popular of all the Sugar Alcohols. Why is it dangerous?
Aquaponics USA NEWS!
Check Out our 7 Part Aquaponics 101 Tutorial!
A Word from our Editor, Grace Sylke
We've done it again! We've added yet another Month to the Obesity in America Series to make it a 7 Month long story.So look for more on Sugar Substitutes in October. WOW! At this point, we're considering just going for the full year. We'll see. 

This Month is all about something we hadn't even heard of before doing this research--Sugar Alcohols-- and the results are not looking good. We're also using a wider format, which is allowing me to make even bigger Pixton Cartoons. 
Follow Grace on Instagram at
If you're on a desktop or laptop, just click this Instagram Link to see what she's uploaded today!

If you're mobile, go to Instagram and Follow: Aquaponics_Grace

At this point, the word is out, Grace is a Food Activist who is doing her best to create more Food Activists because if we sit around and do nothing, we'll all die sooner and lead lives of sickness with Big Pharma's pills flooding our medicine cabinets and Big Foods poison filling our cupboards.
Get Links to all of our 2014 Newsletters from our December 2014 Edition. This is also the Newsletter where Obesity In AMERICA, Part 1 Starts!
Here they are all in one place. Our fist year of Newsletters full of incredible information about Aquaponics and our Food System.
Here's our August 2015 Newsletter in case you missed it. It's Part 5 of the Obesity In AMERICA Series.
Don't miss this important information about Artificial Sweeteners. This is a must read for anyone addicted to these sugar substitutes. You're quite literally administering your own poison.
Here's our July 2015 Newsletter in case you missed it. It's Part 4 of the Obesity In AMERICA Series.
Don't miss this important information about GMO's. How they've invaded our Food System, why they're bad for us and what we can do to fight against the House of Representatives who just voted to Ban States from demanding labels on GMO's.
Here's our June 2015 Newsletter, in case you missed it. It's Part 3 of the Obesity In AMERICA Series.
Don't miss this important information about how our Fast Food Nation is ruining our health and our longevity. Read about the history of Fast Food, where it's been and where it's going.
Here's our May 2015 Newsletter, in case you missed it. It's Part 2 of the Obesity In AMERICA Series.
Don't miss this important information about High Fructose Corn Syrup. HFCS is in just about everything that's processed and packaged. Beware, it's as bad as alcohol for our livers.
Here's our April 2015 Newsletter in case you missed it.
We declared April to be Food Revolution Month in honor of the Annual Food Revolution Summit sponsored by John and Ocean Robbins. Then we gave the history of Earth Day in honor of that day, April 22, 2015.
Here's our March 2015 Newsletter in case you missed it.
To honor National Nutrition Month, we look at all of the Food related Programs that we are running in the U.S. including who these programs serve and the costs of those services.
Here's our February 2015 Newsletter in case it was missed.

This Newsletter is all about our enclosed growing and fish raising areas, which include our Growroom and our Fishroom featuring our latest evolution in Seed Germination, the SIT (Seed Incubation Table).
Here's our January 2015 Newsletter in case you missed it.
This Newsletter features our latest change in the Greenhouse, and it's a real innovation. Our retired Aerospace Engineer turned Aquaponics System Designer, Oliver Duffy, just keeps improving his designs. See what he's up to now in this informative Newsletter.
Be sure to get the Ap for the Aquaponics Digest Magazine!
Catch all 4 Parts of Grace's Series on the FOOD REVOLUTION! To read her Food Revolution Series in Newsletter format, click on the December 2014 Newsletter and it will guide you to Food Revolution Parts 1-4.

The Aquaponics Digest Magazine features an advanced digital magazine and publishing and marketing platform for the 21st century; and it's just getting started.

Click on the Link to learn how/where to get the Ap for iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices.

Aquaponics Digest Magazine is a must read for any and all Aquaponics enthusiasts.

It features articles by the field's leaders like:
Sylvia Bernstein
Aaron Woolf
Glenn Martinez
and our own
Grace Sylke
Check Out our TV Channel
We have several Videos on How To Do Aquaponics including two on installing our Food Forever Growing Systems in two schools in Tucson, AZ.
Aquaponics 101 is here and people are loving it! Get it Free on our Aquaponics USA site under the Education Menu Bar.
This is some of the best information you'll ever find about Aquaponics and How to build an Aquaponics System. It's on our website complete with Quizzes and a Certificate of Completion. 
Be Sure to Visit our Pinterest Wall
It's full of Original Art by our Editor, Grace Sylke, including the new Pixton Cartoons designs she created for this Newsletter.
Watch for the new Food Documentary THE NEED TO GROW
It's still in production but coming out soon. It features famous food activists like we discuss in this Newsletter including Jeffery Smith and Vandana Shiva and we're in it. Click the Link to Check out the Trailer.
We now have QUICK KITS!
And they're all about saving money on one of our Food Forever Growing Systems and saving money to get it shipped!

"You Build A Little,
We Ship A Lot For Less!"
Obesity In AMERICA Part 6
The Continuation of our Strange, Mysterious and Dangerous World of Artificial and Substitute Sweeteners.
 
Dear Subscriber:

Little did we know when we opened the can of worms called Artificial and Substitute Sweeteners that so many of them would come crawling out into the open. The above list covers only the most popular Sugar Alcohol Substitute Sweeteners that we didn't cover in our August Newsletter. If you're not interested in this Series on Obesity In AMERICA, just scroll down to the bottom of  our Newsletter and take a look at our lovely new upgraded Food Foreverâ„¢ Growing Systems. 

At some point, we just had to say enough is enough so we're only talking about the three most popular and frequently used of the multitude of Sugar Alcohol Sweeteners. For the American consumer, however, there doesn't seem to be an end to our appetite for sweetness; and it appears we're willing to ingest just about anything to satisfy it. We gleefully throw caution to the wind and consume substances with names like Acesulfame K, Advantame and Sucralose without reading labels or even trying to figure out what these strange sounding substances contain. We'll be covering the oddities we listed above plus Stevia (we're praying we'll have a good Stevia report) in our October Newsletter as the three most popular Sugar Alcohols alone are providing us with more than enough information for one Newsletter.

As Big Food comes up with the next chemical concoction to place in our food, we find ourselves in the middle of an Obesity Crisis that will not abate; and researchers are predicting that the millennial generation will be the first generation that lives a shorter life than their parents. "The proportion of people ages 19 to 29 who are obese has more than tripled from 8 percent in 1971 to 24 percent in 2003." (Quote taken from Scripps Howard Foundation Wire article entitled, "Millennials facing shorter life expectancy due to obesity")

So let's see what horrors are coming out of the mouth of our lovely, plus size cartoon, cover model. There are so many Artificial and Substitute Sweeteners on the market and in our food that you'd think they grow on trees. The truth is one of them, Mannitol, one of the sugar alcohols, used to grow on trees and "was originally isolated from the secretions of the  flowering ash (tree) and called  manna after its resemblance to the Biblical food." (Quote taken from Wikipedia Page on Mannitol

Mannitol, Sorbitol and Xylitol are the most popular sugar alcohols, although there are many more. "Sugar alcohols usually do not need to be labeled when present in a food item. Manufacturers that do want to indicate the amount of sugar alcohols present in a food, may do so in the Carbohydrates section. If the manufacturer claims that a product is "sugar-free" and the product contains sugar alcohols, this must be labeled."  (Quote taken from the Fooducate website page about Sugar Alcohols, 10 Things You Need To Know)

"A sugar alcohol is a kind of  alcohol prepared from  sugar. These  organic compounds are a class of  polyols, also called polyhydric alcohol, polyalcohol, alditol or glycitol. They are white, water-soluble solids that occur naturally [with a caveate] and are used widely in the food industry as thickeners and sweeteners." (Quote taken from Wikipedia page on Sugar Alcohols ) Compared to artificial sweeteners, which we discussed in our  August Newsletter, sugar alcohols appear to be safer and less harmful to the body; but some studies have associated them with weight gain rather than weight loss. So let us introduce the first sugar alcohol on our list, Mannitol.
If Mannitol looks like a bottle of medicine, that's because it is a bottle of medicine.

It's even on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Doctors use it to prevent or treat "excess body water in certain kidney conditions, reducing swelling of the brain, or reducing pressure in the eye. Mannitol is an osmotic diuretic. It works by increasing the amount of fluid excreted by the kidneys." (Quote taken from Drugs.com Page on Mannitol)

Mannitol is also used for industrial applications and "is occasionally used as an adulterant or cutting agent for illicit drugs like heroin or methamphetamines. When mannitol is used for this purpose it is often referred as baby laxative in many films or television shows depicting drug culture. Mannitol is sometimes sold as laxative for children (in larger doses more than 20 gm it acts as a laxative); and due to its sweet taste, children consume it easily."

"During a cardiopulmonary bypass mannitol is commonly used in the circuit prime of a heart lung machine. While a patient is on a bypass, the presence of mannitol helps to preserve renal function during the times of low blood flow and pressure." (Quotes taken from the Diet Health Club website page on Mannitol)

What are the concerns regarding the safety of this drug that has snuck into our food supply as a sugar substitute? "It has a laxative effect. Also some people can be allergic to it. It occurs naturally in plants, but in small amounts. So care should be taken to avoid high consumption. Additionally, because it has powerful medical effects on the body, large doses can be particularly serious, leading to renal failure and even heart failure. This does not mean that small quantities are harmful in any way, but that it should be treated as a medicine and given the same respect. Side effects to excessive consumption can include nausea, cramps, and excessive urination. Allergic reactions can occasionally occur and can include rashes or dizziness. It is similar in this regard to most medications." (Quotes taken from the  Diet Health Club website page on Mannitol)

Also, "it is not known whether mannitol passes into breast milk or if it could harm a nursing baby." In spite of this, it's being used in children's laxatives. (Quote taken from the Everyday Health website page called What Is Mannitol?)

So why in the world did this drug get in our food supply? Even the Select Committee on GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) Substances expressed concern regarding the prevalence of Mannitol in our food. "The lack of experimental data on long-term studies, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, or effects on reproduction merits special attention. This is pertinent because of the rapidly increasing use of mannitol in food products." (Quote taken from the FDA's GRAS Substances(SCOGS)Database) FDA GRAS Substances Database)

Mannitol is not sold as a packaged sugar substitute like Equal or Sweet N' Low at this time, thank goodness; but it's coating lots of pills and slipping into a variety of food products aimed at the ever growing Diabetic Consumer because it can "be used by diabetics as a sweetener as it does not affect the blood sugar and insulin levels. People with diabetes can thus have a wide variety of foods to choose and satisfy their sweet tooth."  Imagine that. A terrible and reversible disease that is affecting almost 10% of our population, which is about 30 million people in the U.S., has turned those people into a targeted consumer group; and they are being targeted to consume questionable sugar substitutes like Mannitol. (Statistics taken from the CDC's (Center For Disease Control) website page covering the 2014 National Diabetes Statistics Report

The good news is "The FDA requires the following label statement for foods whose reasonably foreseeable consumption may result in the daily ingestion of 20 grams of mannitol: 'Excess consumption may have a laxative effect.' " Notice this label is not on all foods containing Mannitol. It's only on those foods "whose reasonably foreseeable consumption may result in the daily ingestion of 20 grams of mannitol". One hint for avoiding this drug is to stay away from foods in the Diabetic consumer target group. 

 
Now let's go to the second sugar alcohol on our list, Sorbitol.
Mix Sorbitol with some Potassium Nitrate and you can launch a rocket!
No kidding. Some amateur rocketeers have successfully launched their home made sky flyers using Sorbitol and Potassium Nitrate. By now, we are all privy to the fact that alcohol can be a gas. So apparently sugar alcohol in the form of Sorbitol will do. So that's not exactly an endorsement for gobbling up a bunch of Sorbitol when you consume your next Di et or Diabetic treat.

The next nail in Sorbitol's coffin is that it's mostly derived from corn; and since "currently, up to 93% of U.S. corn is genetically engineered (GE)" then you're surely getting a dose of GMO's with every exposure to U.S. produced Sorbitol. (Quote taken from the Center For Food Safety page About Genetically Engineered Foods)

The good news (if you choose to see it that way) is China is one of the world's largest producers of Sorbitol and they rejected several billion tons of GMO Corn from the U.S. back in December of 2014 so maybe if you're eating Sorbitol from China, you're not ingesting GMO's. But who knows what you're eating as China does not have a good reputation when it comes to food products (remember the Melamine scandal). Oh, the tangled webs we weave as we desperately try to deceive the taste buds into believing they are encountering sugar.

Other than that, Sorbitol's not so bad. "It is a slow-metabolizing sugar alcohol derived from fruits, corn and seaweed [mostly corn]. It's a sugar substitute found in foods such as frozen desserts, sugar-free chewing gum and diabetic candies. Sorbitol is only about 60% as sweet as sugar, however. It is also used as a thickener and moisturizer in beauty products" and is used in the preparation of imitation crab.
"Since it's very slow to be metabolized by the body,  sorbitol does not cause insulin levels to increase as much as sugar. It also doesn't lead to tooth decay and is used in many sugar-free cough syrups. It is a popular addition to gel toothpastes as it helps add transparency."

"Sorbitol is added to soaps, especially transparent  glycerin bar soaps. It has moisturizing qualities and may be found in lotions and moisturizing soaps. The sugar alcohol has been used in cosmetic products for close to a century and is a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) product by the United States Food and Drug Administration ( FDA)." So ladies, the next time you have a sugar craving, maybe you should just eat your lipstick. (Quotes taken from the wiseGeek website page, What is Sorbitol?)

What's the down side for the body? "This sweetener can have a  laxative effect, and it is not recommended for consumption by children and those with sensitive digestion symptoms or a gastro-intestinal condition such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome ( IBS).  Sorbitol can cause diarrhea, bloating and gas unless it's consumed in small quantities. It may also cause abdominal pain in some cases." (Quotes taken from the wiseGEEK website page, What is Sorbitol?)

Then there's the big bad contraindication problem of combining Sorbitol with calcium/sodium polystyrene sulfonate, which will kill gut tissue and is called intestinal necrosis. We definitely don't want that bad boy. (Information garnered from U.S.gov website page, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. Library of Medicine, Intestinal Necrosis due to Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate (Kayexalate) in Sorbitol)

So what's the skinny on Xylitol?
After scouring the net for negative information on Xylitol (with a name like that how could it be good for us?) and not finding it, I actually thought, as I approached this section of the Newsletter, that I was going to be giving it a good report until I found this statement by the Healthy Home Economist: "Don't Fall for Xylitol!"

Upon reading Sarah's article (she's the Healthy Home Economist), everything I suspected about Xylitol came forward. Unlike Sorbitol and Mannitol, Xylitol has made the big time in the sugar substitute industry. It's a rock star and has been wholeheartedly endorsed by The American Dietetic Association. Even Dr. Mercola has positive things to say about it: 
"Of the various sugar alcohols, xylitol is one of the best. When it is pure, the potential side effects are minimal, and it actually comes with some benefits such as fighting tooth decay. All in all, I would say that xylitol is reasonably safe, and potentially even a mildly beneficial sweetener.

As an aside,  xylitol is toxic to dogs and some other pets, so be sure to keep it out of reach of your family pets." (Emphasis is ours)


Toxic to dogs? Now that's interesting. Another website, Authority Nutrition, after touting its benefits, talked about how it's "Highly Toxic to Dogs" and explained that "Xylitol may also have detrimental effects on liver function in dogs, with high doses causing liver failure."

So what is a high dose? Another website weighed into the Xylitol-dead dog controversy and said that "just three grams of Xylitol can kill a  65-pound  dog". It's not just getting into a bag full of it that's the problem. Dogs pilfer things that contain Xylitol too--things like sugar-free gum. "Because the amount of sweetener used in sugar-free chewing gums varies by manufacturer and product, the number of sticks of gum that would prove fatal to a pooch of that size (65 lbs.) can't be stated with precision. As a general rule of thumb, between eight and ten pieces of gum might be deadly to a  65-pound  canine, but a smaller dog could easily die after ingesting far less (perhaps as few as two sticks of gum)." Two sticks of sugar-free gum is possibly a high and deadly dose. EGAD! (Quote taken from the Snopes.com website article on Xylitol Danger)

Because it's a rock star in the sugar substitute world, 5 lb. and 2.5 lb. bags of it, like the one pictured above, are sitting on kitchen tables and counter tops all over the U.S. and gum is innocently left everywhere, so we're wondering how many dogs have already died because they pilfered the Xylitol.

But our concern in this Newsletter is not really for dogs. It's for the humans who are purchasing 5 lb. bags full of Xylitol by the millions. Granted dogs age and die seven times faster than humans so it stands to reason their livers are much more vulnerable than ours; but just as a matter of course, we would question the wisdom of consuming a product that could cause liver failure in a 65 lb. dog if he eats just 3 little grams of it. 

Apparently, this product doesn't affect glucose levels in humans with the resulting and dangerous surge of insulin that happens in dogs; but there are some major health concerns we all need to understand regarding human consumption of this sugar alcohol.  As you can see from the statement on the above picture of the packaging, Xylitol is a naturally occurring substance. "Manufacturers of xylitol market it as derived from xylan, which is found in the fibers of many plants including corn, berries, oats, beets, sugar cane and birch." The FDA gave it a GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) classification. (Quote taken from the Healthy Home Economist website page on Xylitol)

But in order to get the xylan out of these natural foods, it has to be broken down in a process called acid hydrolyzing. Here's how one Xylitol Manufacturing Patent describes that process: The following is a quote taken from the Natural News website page about Xylitol.

"1. First the xylan needs to be broken down in a process called acid hydrolyzing. The results of this process leave us with xylose and acetic acid. The process of hydrogenation is carried out at higher pressures and temperatures ranging from 158 degrees Fahrenheit and higher. Hydrogenation needs a catalyst, so a substance called Raney nickel can be used which is a powdered nickel-aluminium alloy.

2. The acetic acid needs to be removed as the material safety data sheet describes it as, "Very hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of eye contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. Hazardous in case of skin contact (corrosive, permeator), of eye contact (corrosive)."

3. Then the hydrolyzing acid and organic residues must be removed, this is done by heating the mixture and evaporating it.

4. The resulting syrup is now free of acetic acid, hydrolyzing acid, nickel-aluminum and other residues.

5. The syrup is crystallized by stirring ethanol into it.

6. The crystalline xylitol is now separated in a centrifuge from the ethanol and from the sorbitol remaining in the solution." 

The result of all this is xylitol.

We don't know about you, but our idea of natural doesn't involve acidic acid, nickel-aluminum and ethanol. Xylitol is considered to be hydrogenated sugar; and the very nature of producing hydrogenated sugar (as described above) is a complicated industrial process that we would call a manufacturing process. Xylitol isn't natural--it's manufactured; and one of the cheapest ways to produce it is by using corn cobs. That brings us back to the already shared statistic that 93% of all the corn grown in the U.S. is GMO. So unless the bag of Xylitol you purchase specifically says its GMO free, then odds are it's a GMO delivery product. 

"Sugar alcohols like xylitol are not broken down in the stomach like other sweeteners. Rather, they arrive intact into the intestines. At that point, a process called "passive diffusion" takes place whereby the xylitol draws water into the bowels. This results in only a partial breakdown of the xylitol. The un-metabolized portion ferments creating the perfect environment for undesirable bacteria to grow." And, as if that wasn't enough, there's more below. (Quote taken from the Healthy Home Economist website page on Xylitol)

"While it is true that xylitol itself does not feed candida directly like sugar does and is even promoted as a useful part of the  Candida Diet, the fermentation of undigested xylitol in the gut most definitely can exacerbate yeast problems, so  don't be fooled by that argument!" (Quote taken from the  Healthy Home Economist website page on Xylitol) This is why xylitol can make some people so gassy and even trigger cramping and diarrhea. Xylitol can also exacerbate acid reflux problems, which is no minor ailment, as acid reflux can lead to cancer of the esophagus and larynx. And all people who suffer from seizure disorder need to avoid it like the plague because it has been known to increase the frequency of epileptic attacks.

Have you heard enough yet? Sad to say, when a product like Xylitol comes along claiming to be the healthy, harmless answer to all of your sweet cravings, it's probably a man-made manufactured concoction that compromises your health in favor of Big Food's bottom line. So what is Xylitol good for?


It makes great rat poison. Two little pieces (about 1.65 grams) of xylitol gum will kill a l00 gram rat 50% of the time. (Stats taken from the  Healthy Home Economist website page on Xylitol) Think about it. Do we really want to be purchasing 5 lb. bags full of it and putting it on everything in sight?  

Rami Nagel, author of  Cure Tooth Decay, doesn't even recommend xylitol gum to prevent tooth decay because his research came up  with the following:

Epidemiology: No information found
Teratogenicity: No information found
Reproductive Effects: No information found
Mutagenicity: No information found
Neurotoxicity: No information found"

Zip! Nada! No short or long-term use studies. It's not looking good for Xylitol except, of course, unless you have a rat invasion. 

Oh wait, there are a couple of positive things I can say about Xylitol. It has been known to alleviate ear and nose infections. "There is evidence that xylitol can indeed help encourage a healthy balance of beneficial bacteria found in the ear canal and sinus cavities and that a therapeutic dose of xylitol can help resolve an infection in these areas quickly with no medication required." (Quote taken from Healthy Home Economist website page on Xylitol)
Now For Some Aquaponics USA News!
In case you haven't checked out our website lately, you'll be pleased to discover our lovely new pedestal designs. They even have a USA themed border trim on the top. Aquaponics Systems can be as beautiful as they are functional. But mostly, these new pedestal designs are about sturdiness and safety because once these pedestal tables are put together, according to our easy to follow Assembly and Start Up Manual, they aren't going to budge. And what's even better, we haven't changed the price!

Just Click over to our FFGS-EZ22 Page or our FFGS-20 Page to see these incredible Growing Systems for Schools and Homes. They come with everything you need to raise fish and plants in your Aquaponics USA Food Foreverâ„¢ Growing System. 

Teachers! Scroll down on the above pages to the Aquaponics in the Classroom School Package. You can even bundle everything including lights, fish and the fish food into a single Order.

But the look isn't our only upgrade. We've improved our Siphons! We no longer use Siphons that take up space right in the middle of your Grow Beds. The entire bed is available for planting and these improved siphons work like a charm.

Ready to LEARN or TEACH Aquaponics? Just go to our 7 Part Aquaponics 101 Tutorial!
You'll find everything you need to Learn or Teach Aquaponics in a Deep Media Grow Bed System like the ones we sell on our website. This 7 Part Tutorial even comes with Quizzes and a Completion Certificate. Teachers, it's a great Aquaponics in the Classroom tool; and it's FREE!
Last month we told you we would be publishing a List of the Angelic Websites out there that can help us navigate the Shark infested waters of Big Food. That List is being back-burnered until our October Edition; and it's growing.  

Please FORWARD this email to your colleagues, friends and family who need to become aware of the dangers of Sugar Alcohols. We can't make the changes we need to make without first understanding why the changes are so important. We can save lives with this information--human lives and the lives of our dogs and cats.

Thank You for following our Newsletters. We so appreciate your interest in our two cutting edge Aquaponics Companies, Aquaponics USA and Aquaponics World, LLC. We'll continue to bring you important information about Aquaponics, our Food and our Food System, which, right now, is broken and has turned us into subjects of Big Food. 

Please help us turn the tables around se we can declare our Food Freedom again and become the healthiest country on the planet instead of the sickest.

Sustainably,
Aquaponics USA/World
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