Fake Sweeteners - seriously

JessicaLCHF

I have a FB friend who is on a mission against Splenda/aspartame. She's posting and tagging me in post after post. I DO thing they aren't the best choice, and maybe dangerous, but I think of them as the lesser of two evils.

Being a diabetic I can't do sugar or honey. Being a low carber, I don't want to waste carbs on them but I still want some sweet sometimes.

Her posts go to sites I don't consider real legit. But I am wondering if I'm doing serious damage to my body. Has anyone here studied this out and have real legit sources to share?

I'd include stevia in the fake stuff cause it's the processed stuff or TRUVIA which is readily available in foods I would buy (yes I'm aware you can grow it but I don't mean the plant).

wabmester

Different sweeteners have different effects. Pick the one of interest, and search for it in pubmed:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=aspartame

GaleHawkins

I read up on the subject over the last year and was confused by the research.

When I cut out carbs I went ahead and cut out fake carbs as well because it was easier for my simple mind not to deal with that added confusion. We know tricking the brain with chemicals is dangerous at best so why complicate life more by adding them?

With that being said I do think these kinds of chemicals will not shorten life by more than 20%.

Seriously who knows for sure about the long term effects of stevia, etc sweeteners. For me it is a mind over matter issue so just ditching them is one more matter not requiring my mind ever again to think about.

sweetteadrinker2

If you have access to a junior college, or state college/university they usually have access to some of the best health journals via the library. You can even ask a librarian to help you, they won't care that your not a student in most cases.

gaelicstorm26

I'm also a diabetic and I use sweeteners. To me, the potential risk of a sweetener to my body is much less of a worry than the very real and deadly complications that can come from diabetes. I still enjoy sweets sometimes and I want to have them. I think you have to analyze the risks for yourself and decide if it's worth it.

deksgrl

Personally I think it is fine in smaller amounts as long as you aren't eating/drinking a lot of it every day. The two packets of stevia I use in my two cups of coffee in the morning has to be a lot better than the 4 teaspoons of regular granulated sugar I used to use. And an occasional diet soft drink, not every day. But no, I don't have any legit studies on it, I think the alarmists are just doing what they do, alarming people.

chaoticdreams

Have a coworker the same way and just as pushy. Personally, I've drank diet soda for over a decade and I've never had any of the effects from it they claim. My mother is a type 1 diabetic and she's drank diet soda for 33 years and has never had any issues. She's used saccharin, aspartame, and splenda with no adverse effects to her BG. Up until 1982, she didn't have any soda options save for Tab and when Diet Coke hit the shelves, I think she was the first one to buy a case.

It's never made me crave sweets or given me headaches, etc etc etc. I didn't overeat because I had a diet coke. I overate because I like food LOL. Everyone is different though and some people are negatively affected by them I guess.

Every study I've seen was done on rodents or done by sugar companies. So..... Until I see a long term study that makes sense and is legit, I'm going to enjoy my once a week diet coke and my artificial sweetener in my coffee/tea.

canadjineh

If you get tired of it, you can block her posts from your newsfeed, and just go to her wall page when you want to take a look/connect with her. You can also set your personal privacy parameters to not allow tagging by other people.
(Can you tell I'm in the Security biz? lol)

KetoGirl83

I never had AS before this WOE. But I had tonnes of fruit, "healthy" sweets with honey, and plain white sugar with my tea or coffee (and icecream!). After I was diagnosed diabetic I cut the sugar, honey and most fruit.

Now that I am almost a year into this WOE I found myself craving sweets like crazy, especially fruit. I tried to consume it in a controlled way and found it impossible. Not only a little fruit quickly evolved into a lot of fruit as, predictably, my BG levels went haywire as did my portion control and hunger.

So, for the first time in my life, I'm consuming AS and a fair amount of it. I found some VLC gelatin (only 0.1g carbs per serving) but it does have AS (aspartame and acesulfame k) and also maltodextrin. I've been eating 4 to 6 servings a day. I'm not happy with this as I don't believe a bunch of chemicals is doing me any good. BUT, for now and until clear evidence to the contrary, AS are the least evil. Still, I hope that as the weather cools and the attraction of cooling foods diminishes, I'll be able to stop consuming AS (at least this much).

JessicaLCHF

wabmester wrote: »

Different sweeteners have different effects. Pick the one of interest, and search for it in pubmed:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=aspartame

Thanks! That's a great tool!

JessicaLCHF

gaelicstorm26 wrote: »

I'm also a diabetic and I use sweeteners. To me, the potential risk of a sweetener to my body is much less of a worry than the very real and deadly complications that can come from diabetes. I still enjoy sweets sometimes and I want to have them. I think you have to analyze the risks for yourself and decide if it's worth it.

That's my current position as well.

JessicaLCHF

canadjineh wrote: »

If you get tired of it, you can block her posts from your newsfeed, and just go to her wall page when you want to take a look/connect with her. You can also set your personal privacy parameters to not allow tagging by other people.
(Can you tell I'm in the Security biz? lol)

Oh I do that timeline thing! I usually love most of her posts. I think this is just a passing hobbyhorse.

AngInCanada

I'd be telling my "friend" to stop tagging me in posts. Unlessnyoyve asked for advice, she needs to stop.

I am neutral in terms of AS. To me , they aren't healthy but aren't the devil either. I have to pick my poison some days. Either I binge and have a chocolate bar that racks me up a LOT of carbs and leaves me craving more or I have an Atkins bar with 2 net carbs and leaves me satisfied with no lingering craving . It works for me and any unsolicited advice goes in one earn and out the other.

KETOGENICGURL

I will only comment that Aspartame ( which Coke is now removing totally, as sales are dropping, as with pepsi..people don't want it in their drinks) is a substance that was POORLY tested, and yet the FDA inner circle went ahead and approved it..much like the untested grain experiment on the Amerina people by Ancel Keyes.

In any reading you will find more than 20,000 complaints filed on Aspartame, then the FDA decided to hide the issue by lumping the complaints inside a different group name..so they disappear.

Dr. Mercola is totally against it..but Dr.bernstein ( diabetes expert) is FOR it… and against Truvia as it spikes his BG

I am not thrilled to consume it..if it gets really hot, then cools I am not certain it is the same chemistry….soldiers in the M.E. said the soda cans were boiling in heat…and tasted weird after….

I do have it on rare occasion….Dr. Fung believes any AS is too tempting and delivers insulin kicks… so it is difficult to lower our need for a sweet taste with something really 'safe'

I switched to liquid Stevia to avoid maltodextrose, then the KAL brand started ADDING maltodextrose to that too!!

Sunny_Bunny_

It may not be completely innocent but if you're choosing the best AFS choice you can and also consuming as little as you can live with in your life, I can't imagine there could be much to worry about. Unfortunately, who knows when we will know for sure if any real evidence ever comes out. But typically, the bad news is connected to over consumption when we learn about stuff. So you could just play it safe and use very sparingly.
I try to use as little as possible because I tend to get sweet cravings if I have too much. Lately I've noticed I'm adding an extra half pump of my Davinci coffee syrup... It's like I wasn't paying attention or something. So I will be working on cutting back on my use of those. I'm going to try to cut it in half as the long term goal. I tend to cut back little by little so I basically don't even notice.

KittensMaster

Also interesting is there is zero proof after billions spent on studies that second hand smoke is remotely cancer causing.

I read up on all of the pending lawsuits poised to jump after large NCI studies, but the govt proof was negative!

I have not seen one shred or real proof of anything bad regarding moderate intake of Splenda

Sugar intake on the other had has lots of negatives in excess

The evidence just isn't there

Cheesy567

What an annoying "friend".

The pubmed advice is great, but it can be time consuming to read enough articles fully to get a good look at the entire science of it. If you're looking for a reliable synopsis, I've found that PaleoMom (Sarah Ballantyne) does a good job interpreting science, overall. She has a few posts about artificial sweeteners with a focus on their affects on gut health and autoimmunity.

@KittensMaster there are some new studies looking at the metabolic effects of artificial sweeteners in obese and diabetic patients you might want to look into. Not regarding the cancer scares from past decades, but with respect to their metabolic impact and ability to impact the hormonal systems of hunger and satiety.

KittensMaster

I probably am not in the concerned group for the sweeteners now. In the past I was and eliminated all of them.

I do believe it may have helped in reversing my T2 diabetes

I have no real empirical evidence to offer.

Now I eat GU pure sugar energy packs when endurance training

Funny how it all flipped

I thought Splenda was received by my body like sugar, but without the calories

In a nutshell

auntstephie321

I've never had any real noticeable issues from AS and I love diet Pepsi, used to drink it daily, now only occasionally on hot days from an ice cold can.

I tried researching the claims it was bad for you after some quite heated threads on the main forums about sugar. I find it interesting that both sides are equally angered over it and thought I'd try to find my own answers. The more I read the more I find a lot of the studies were done on rats or mice and given insanely high amounts of AS, that equivalent in humans would be nearly impossible to intake. Some studies done with humans didn't seem to provide enough evidence that it was the cause of any issues.

I've had friends swear they can't have AS because they get headaches, but those friends are also heavy drinkers or heavy smokers and yet they don't feel any ill affects from that so I wonder how in tune with their bodies they are. I don't doubt they get headaches but don't have any reason to think it's from the AS or possibly a placebo effect.

Who knows really. I still use it. If someone feels it affects them negatively then by all means remove it, but I don't see a need to tell others who use it how bad it is for them, without actual proof. When others warn me about it, I just reply that it does not bother me in any way but I understand others may have different reactions than I do. And thank them for their input. Maybe addressing it head on with her respectfully will give her the hint you aren't interested.

That being said there are things I'm passionate about, I don't tag people in the posts, but I will never stop sharing them. Lol. So you may have to wait it out see if she moves on from this cause.

GaleHawkins

If one is 60 and checks out like one 30 then the diet department can not be very bad for that person.

If one is 30 and checks out like one 60 then everything that goes in one's mouth should be evaluated.

When I was so sick I was concerned about everything. Now with the IBS gone I do not have to freak over getting something less than idea for my body one time. It is the day in and day out abuse of the body that adds up fast as we age.

It is easy to go overboard with worry about diet when you are my age and always going to the funeral home where the person is younger than you.

Now when I see a person overweight like I was at my worst point they will be eating or drinking where driving or at their desk or the movies most of the time. It helps me understand I did the same and that was what made me get too large and wreck my health.

Actually it was doing a lot of small things wrong diet wise that got me in trouble. I sure do not want to reload my system is questionable food items in my case while I am recovering.

nvmomketo

I like stevia drops in my coffee and use it to sweeten baking for my kids. It seems relatively harmless, but I try not to use much anyways.

I also like some chocolate chips made with xylitol. That will spike my BG though, and it causes BM issues, so I limit it to once or twice a week, and use a small amount.

KittensMaster

I like how in our group we can share sanely on this and other similar topics.

I am drinking my third coke zero of the week right now.

The general awareness of what goes in my body now is good.

JessicaLCHF

KittensMaster wrote: »

I like how in our group we can share sanely on this and other similar topics.

I am drinking my third coke zero of the week right now.

The general awareness of what goes in my body now is good.

Agree. That's why I stay! I've left several heavy handed (aka stress inducing) groups. Not worth the trouble. Opinions can be shared and respected even if disagreed with here.

KETOGENICGURL

Confused on how second hand smoke studies relates to AS complaints filed with the FDA. I do believe SHSmoke is a straw man... a political football..…just like concerns over reducing carbon dioxide is now the rage in some eco-circles.

But when thousands of people do report problems with AS like aspartame I paid attention, i get a headache, red flushed/rashy cheeks, buzzy feeling on my tongue..so I avoid it. other will jump in and say they drank it for decades…this does not negate the issues many DO have.

Like many things we won't know the true effect of what ALL the 'unnatural' modern events in our culture will do to 4th generation.. EMF waves, radiation, food additives, meds, people bringing long dead diseases back into the country, etc. etc.

camtosh

I opened a bottle of Sweetleaf Coconut drops yesterday and used 5 drops in a protein powder/kefir shake... and later had diarrhea. Same thing this morning with 5 drops in my coffee. I didn't have any problem with the powdered stevia I have used in baked goods like MIMs and oopsie bread. Seems like this happens to some people -- anyone else had this?

GaleHawkins

I went heavy (an oz or two) of MCT oil last Aug and it was sad times about an hour later. Still can not do MCT to this day but go through a lot of coconut oil every month now. I have loved coconut for at least 60 years. Since I can remember mom made me a coconut cake (very moist) every birthday until I left home. We always had coconuts under the Christmas tree as a kid.

RockstarWilson

Ah. I am just going to say what I think. I try as hard as possible to avoid anything artificial. I drink water all day long. I drink plain almondmilk (a lot of people can't). I don't drink juice, rarely drink soda (once every couple months-literally). Yeah, I eat Carbmaster cultured dairy blend, which has a couple colors and AS, but also has real fruit and protein. Hard to find a decent lc friendly yogurt.

Anyways, anything that is not natural is bound to do some damage. If you only do it once in a while, or if it is minute compared to your daily food regimen of goodness, I think the body can handle it. It is when too much of that crap gets consumed that damage is caused.

If you drink soda all day long while sittin on your *kitten*, you deserve rotten teeth, diabetes and gout later on down the road, if it is an action of ignorance.

All in all...everyone is fascinated with the latest study, the latest documentation from some government or nutritional science source. Your (the average MFPer) mind can't be changed unless several studies say the same thing, and only if they are pristine in context. I say, just make a change that you want to make based on how it works for your goals, and what gives you results when you have none. Why do you need an opinion poll? 95% of us are idiots, myself included, when it comes to nutritional science and biochemistry when compared with the likes of Dr. Donald Layman, Dr. Eric Westman, Dr. Phinney or Dr. Richard Johnson, to name a few. Why come on here and ask us? We are just going to google, cut, and paste.

I have been attempting a high fat diet with moderate protein for the last year of my life. It has been a roller coaster ride, but I got to where I was going. In the last couple weeks, my goals have been changing because of new evidence that I have uncovered about myself, and questions I have asked that I didn't really care to seek answers for through the forums. The only time I do that is if I have done the research myself as much as possible, still am undecided on an action, and need input from testimony or a perspective I have yet to see in order to make that determination and experiment.

I want to build more muscle while dropping fat at the same time, and according to a leading nutritional science professor's laboratory research, this can be done if the macros are precisely measured and timed. I am going to try taking in protein based on fixed amounts, rather than a percentage, because the hypothesis is that protein should be held constant no matter who you are or what your weight loss goals are.

In closing, it doesn't have to be what an MFP member, study, or bunches of studies, have to say. Create a question, find out who the authorities are on the topic, and see what they have to say! Maybe they have something to say that isnt filled with a bunch of biochem jargon and incomprehensible variable values. Most of them are doctors, after all. They probably have websites, books, videos, etc. That's what I think.

Also, if you have to artificially sweeten whatever you are eating or drinking, that is something of comfort because you can't consume the food or drink the way it is. Unfortunately, that is a psychosomatic problem that has contributed greatly to obesity: things have to taste good to consume.

Food is fuel for the body, that is all. Anything else is just for entertainment purposes to keep us sane and happy. Most the foods I eat already have enough flavor in them, so I don't need to add to it. Also, I am one of the few that can drink from any water tap all day long. I taste very little difference in waters, so I can only decipher big differences.

Sorry for the long-winded monologue, but thank you for reading.

KittensMaster

Sugar alcohols do cause upset tummy in some more than others. There is some magic number to cross that seems to make bad things happen!

I have used stevia in drinks, especially protein powders I tried but they tasted like sawdust.

KenSmith108

I finally found a sweetener that isn't very sweet.
Great Value 0 calorie sweetener made with stevia extract.
1 packet in a 20 oz coffee is just about right.

Now and with all new foods I have to check my bg# 2 hours
afterwards to make sure it's a good fit.

KenSmith108

KenSmith108 wrote: »

I finally found a sweetener that isn't very sweet.
Great Value 0 calorie sweetener made with stevia extract.
1 packet in a 20 oz coffee is just about right.

Now and with all new foods I have to check my bg# 2 hours
afterwards to make sure it's a good fit.

Pre-breakfast 99
Post-breakfast 104

Coffee & stevia are in

JessicaLCHF

I only use fake stuff in my drinks and in a high fat jello pie I make when I'm trying to get extra fat in. Dessert I use berries to sweeten (same with smoothies) as my sweet buds are way down in sweetness level desired. I usually mix even diet drinks half half with ice or fuzzy (carbonated) water. Just can't seem to find a way around it that's practical.

My motto is moderation with them.