The body is a wonderful thing, isn't it? If we quit abusing it with sugar, booze, drugs, or exercise it starts sending us clear messages about what we should eat and do! We start craving broccoli or meat, we stop when we're full, we feel creaky and crave a walk--what a wonderful system!

No one needs artificial sweeteners, Mother Nature did not provide them for us (with the possible exception of stevia), and there's no rational reason to keep using them if they're hurting you. They hurt lots of people--causing cravings, stalling weight loss, causing headaches, resulting in who knows what other long-term effects--so especially in the face of noticeable ill effects why use them?

Well....partly because we're used to treating emotional distress with sweets, a habit we likely learned in childhood. But that is a habit that can be changed. There are a lot of books out there on emotional eating and binge eating--I've used several and continue to work through such issues on a regular basis. YMMV, of course, but it's worthwhile to at least ask yourself why you can't imagine a life without sweets.

If you quit using all artificial sweeteners, the most amazing things are going to start tasting sweet. Not just berries, carrots, red bell peppers or winter squash (which ARE sweet), but green peppers, grean beans, celery, broccoli, romaine lettuce. As those things started tasting sweet to me, a lightbulb went off: hey, this is why I was given sweet taste buds! To identify healthy, edible foods! (d'oh.)

Instead of a sweet dessert, I find myself truly enjoying a dozen excellent olives and a half-ounce of soft cheese..."dessert" can be other things than sweets. "Treats" can be long baths, watching a favorite old movie, sitting by a lake and listening to the birds, making love, or whatever else you find enjoyable.

HTH