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Sweetener - Good or Bad?

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  • alexpn wrote: »
    I do have a taste for Diet Coke, but I'm trying to stop drinking it because it's sweetened with Aspartame, and it's supposed to be very bad for your insides when it's metabolised. I think the jury is out about Insulin response and Sweeteners, but a lot of main stream diets do say to avoid sweeteners because they `can' stall your progress. Best to try it and make your own mind up.

    The jury has already made their verdict, had coffee, got married, built a house, died and their grandchildren are still screaming at the population at large that it's settled.

    http://seriecientifica.org/sites/default/files/scl_enc_butchko.pdf
    https://examine.com/nutrition/do-artificial-sweeteners-spike-insulin/

    I looked at these. The second link didn't say a lot, but the first had over 90 pages. I couldn't help but notice NutraSweet had heir hands all over this one. So that one may have just a smidgen of bias.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    edited September 2016
    I'm struggling to understand it myself.
    Sugar = Bad, Artifical = worse???

    I've been using either stevia in the raw, or regular sugar in the raw. I also like raw honey.

    Nope. Not true at all.

    Totally true depending on whom you ask. I say yes it's worse. The stomach problems and funky neurological side effects do not make artificial sweeteners in any way a good choice for me or my kids. The putrid after taste that doesn't go away for over 2 hours is also a massive annoyance.

    Neurological side effects?

    And is this something the general population has to worry about, or a select few, who should avoid consuming whatever it is causing their uncommon problem (similar to how someone allergic to peanuts should avoid peanuts)?

    Sounds like unnecessary fear mongering to me.

    I am not speaking for the population, I am speaking for myself. Hence the words "I say yes it's worse." Not "it's worse for us ALL." I did not attempt to apply this to everyone in any way.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    alexpn wrote: »
    I do have a taste for Diet Coke, but I'm trying to stop drinking it because it's sweetened with Aspartame, and it's supposed to be very bad for your insides when it's metabolised. I think the jury is out about Insulin response and Sweeteners, but a lot of main stream diets do say to avoid sweeteners because they `can' stall your progress. Best to try it and make your own mind up.

    The jury has already made their verdict, had coffee, got married, built a house, died and their grandchildren are still screaming at the population at large that it's settled.

    http://seriecientifica.org/sites/default/files/scl_enc_butchko.pdf
    https://examine.com/nutrition/do-artificial-sweeteners-spike-insulin/

    I looked at these. The second link didn't say a lot, but the first had over 90 pages. I couldn't help but notice NutraSweet had heir hands all over this one. So that one may have just a smidgen of bias.

    Want another? http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3496/full

    Or do we have to call on Aaron again?
  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
    I'm struggling to understand it myself.
    Sugar = Bad, Artifical = worse???

    I've been using either stevia in the raw, or regular sugar in the raw. I also like raw honey.

    Nope. Not true at all.

    Totally true depending on whom you ask. I say yes it's worse. The stomach problems and funky neurological side effects do not make artificial sweeteners in any way a good choice for me or my kids. The putrid after taste that doesn't go away for over 2 hours is also a massive annoyance.

    Neurological side effects?

    And is this something the general population has to worry about, or a select few, who should avoid consuming whatever it is causing their uncommon problem (similar to how someone allergic to peanuts should avoid peanuts)?

    Sounds like unnecessary fear mongering to me.

    I am not speaking for the population, I am speaking for myself. Hence the words "I say yes it's worse." Not "it's worse for us ALL." I did not attempt to apply this to everyone in any way.

    So you and your children have suffered neurological side effects from ingesting artificial sweeteners?
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    edited September 2016
    Aaron is a molecular biologist (I think. Sorry if I didn't get your job description right). He could if he wanted to write you whole essays worth of how compounds like that are broken down in your body. If you don't believe science reviews, maybe someone you can directly talk to would help.
    And who was being rude and condescending? Or a jerk for that matter?

    I did not say anyone was being a jerk I ASKED IF he was a jerk when you said "Do we need to call Aaron in." Also, I said the one study was biased because the NutraSweet people had their hands all over it. You understand that I'm sure. Nothing wrong with differing views. I don't need any "experts" trying to force me into sharing their opinion.

    At any rate, I don't need to be muscled into believing the opposing view. I didn't come to argue.
  • I'm struggling to understand it myself.
    Sugar = Bad, Artifical = worse???

    I've been using either stevia in the raw, or regular sugar in the raw. I also like raw honey.

    Nope. Not true at all.

    Totally true depending on whom you ask. I say yes it's worse. The stomach problems and funky neurological side effects do not make artificial sweeteners in any way a good choice for me or my kids. The putrid after taste that doesn't go away for over 2 hours is also a massive annoyance.

    Neurological side effects?

    And is this something the general population has to worry about, or a select few, who should avoid consuming whatever it is causing their uncommon problem (similar to how someone allergic to peanuts should avoid peanuts)?

    Sounds like unnecessary fear mongering to me.

    I am not speaking for the population, I am speaking for myself. Hence the words "I say yes it's worse." Not "it's worse for us ALL." I did not attempt to apply this to everyone in any way.

    So you and your children have suffered neurological side effects from ingesting artificial sweeteners?

    I did and my child had a serious stomach problem that was caused by sucralose. So FOR US, we say it's worse than sugar. To each his or her own.
  • jondspen
    jondspen Posts: 253 Member
    I know there are a lot of people who will say aspartame is safe...but for me it was causing severe leg aches. I try to stay away from them as much as possible. I either go without, substitute with something else (honey, agave, etc.), or use the sugar and just adjust my calories for the day.

    Luckily, I have never been big on sweets. We owned a grocery store growing up, but instead of raiding the candy isle, I always wanted a slice of longhorn colby....love cheese! :)
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    edited September 2016
    Aaron is a molecular biologist (I think. Sorry if I didn't get your job description right). He could if he wanted to write you whole essays worth of how compounds like that are broken down in your body. If you don't believe science reviews, maybe someone you can directly talk to would help.
    And who was being rude and condescending? Or a jerk for that matter?

    I did not say anyone was being a jerk I ASKED IF he was a jerk when you said "Do we need to call Aaron in." Also, I said the one study was biased because the NutraSweet people had their hands all over it. You understand that I'm sure. Nothing wrong with differing views. I don't need any "experts" trying to force me into sharing their opinion.

    At any rate, I don't need to be muscled into believing the opposing view. I didn't come to argue.

    Well here's the thing, scientific fact has nothing to do with opposing views. There's truth and then there's fearmongering. Who paid for the study does not change its contents unless you imply they completely faked it.
    jondspen wrote: »
    I know there are a lot of people who will say aspartame is safe...but for me it was causing severe leg aches. I try to stay away from them as much as possible. I either go without, substitute with something else (honey, agave, etc.), or use the sugar and just adjust my calories for the day.

    Luckily, I have never been big on sweets. We owned a grocery store growing up, but instead of raiding the candy isle, I always wanted a slice of longhorn colby....love cheese! :)

    I'm always surprised at experiences like that. Because aspartame doesn't even leave your digestive tract as aspartame, it gets immediately broken apart into its parts and those parts you ingest in quantities thousands of times higher every single day. How is it supposed to do anything in your legs? Or for the other poster their neurological system?

    No one is fear mongering. Gave MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE as my reason for my opinion on artificial sweeteners vs sugar. Do not twist my words. Also I was not speaking on just one of the many artificial sweeteners, I was speaking on them all. Be it aspartame, sucralose, Acesulfame-K.

  • I'm only going to talk about your second link since your first is, well, pretty insubstantial.

    It talks about what the components of aspartame are and what they do, so far so good.
    It seems to keep out the little fact that aspartame is consumed in amounts of fractions of a single gram while your diet contains amounts thousands of times higher of any of them, yes even methanol.

    http://www.andeal.org/topic.cfm?cat=4089

    Weird how the very important information of dosage is sort of just... left out in your source and the one time I see it mentioned they talk about aspartame in a vaccuum with absolutely nothing else consumed and even there they don't compare it to amounts commonly found in the human diet.

    For example, a single glass of milk will have 3 times the amount of phenylanine and 5 times the amount of aspartic acid they say is in a diet soda.

    Good then. You see how anyone can post any link as support to what they believe. Glad you see that. At least mine wasn't a biased "study". At any rate, my position stands. The jury is still out as to this side or that side. A biased study is not enough to win me over. Also, I don't even think it matters what the studies say. Artificial sweeteners taste like garbage. Whether they harm the body or not.

  • I'm only going to talk about your second link since your first is, well, pretty insubstantial.

    It talks about what the components of aspartame are and what they do, so far so good.
    It seems to keep out the little fact that aspartame is consumed in amounts of fractions of a single gram while your diet contains amounts thousands of times higher of any of them, yes even methanol.

    http://www.andeal.org/topic.cfm?cat=4089

    Weird how the very important information of dosage is sort of just... left out in your source and the one time I see it mentioned they talk about aspartame in a vaccuum with absolutely nothing else consumed and even there they don't compare it to amounts commonly found in the human diet.

    For example, a single glass of milk will have 3 times the amount of phenylanine and 5 times the amount of aspartic acid they say is in a diet soda.

    Good then. You see how anyone can post any link as support to what they believe. Glad you see that. At least mine wasn't a biased "study". At any rate, my position stands. The jury is still out as to this side or that side. A biased study is not enough to win me over. Also, I don't even think it matters what the studies say. Artificial sweeteners taste like garbage. Whether they harm the body or not.

    If you can find a fault in the safety review as fast as I can find what makes your links worthless, go ahead and tell us. If you just said you don't like the taste, no one would be arguing.

    Says the one who posted a 90+ page biased study. So again, I say my comments stand. Until you have some unbiased, reliable and concrete evidence from a reliable and trustworthy and unbiased source that has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that artificial sweeteners are in no way, shape or form harmful to those who consume them you just can't convince me otherwise. I know how they have affected me personally and you can't tell me that they did not affect me negatively because you don't live in my body. Although you seem think that somehow you can argue away my personal experience which is all I was ever speaking on to start with. Post any study you like. I know my body and what happens when I consume something that makes me feel poorly.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I tried stevia and splenda once, and threw them both away straight after :confounded: I've never tried diet soda, so cant speak of the taste or aftertaste of those, i drink regular soda on the rare occasion. I used to have 3tsp of sugar in each cup of tea, and i drink a lot of tea everyday, Ironically i was at my thinnest then. I now have my tea with NO sugar, even 1/2 a tsp added is too sweet. I'll stick with real sugar if I'm going to have it.
  • I find that in most of these debates that the people who believe artificial sweeteners are bad in some way are so firmly set in their beliefs that there's no point in discussing things further with them. I've seen the science, I'm convinced they're safe. I've been drinking diet soda since the 60's.

    I have a place for regular sugar, sucralose, stevia, and xylitol in different places in my diet. I like them all for different things.

    There are some others who think they are okay and so set in THEIR beliefs they refuse to believe that people who avoid them have had a bad reaction. This making them BAD for THAT person.
  • richln wrote: »
    Aaron is a molecular biologist (I think. Sorry if I didn't get your job description right). He could if he wanted to write you whole essays worth of how compounds like that are broken down in your body. If you don't believe science reviews, maybe someone you can directly talk to would help.
    And who was being rude and condescending? Or a jerk for that matter?

    I did not say anyone was being a jerk I ASKED IF he was a jerk when you said "Do we need to call Aaron in." Also, I said the one study was biased because the NutraSweet people had their hands all over it. You understand that I'm sure. Nothing wrong with differing views. I don't need any "experts" trying to force me into sharing their opinion.

    At any rate, I don't need to be muscled into believing the opposing view. I didn't come to argue.

    You posted your unquantifiable anecdotes in a debate thread, but you don't want to argue, learn the basis for opposing views, review relevant science, or read the opinion of experts in the field? I'm not sure that is a good way to participate in a debate. Do you consider the vast body of decades worth of established science all invalid because it was biased? If so, how was it biased?

    I posted PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. NOT "anecdotes".
  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
    richln wrote: »
    Aaron is a molecular biologist (I think. Sorry if I didn't get your job description right). He could if he wanted to write you whole essays worth of how compounds like that are broken down in your body. If you don't believe science reviews, maybe someone you can directly talk to would help.
    And who was being rude and condescending? Or a jerk for that matter?

    I did not say anyone was being a jerk I ASKED IF he was a jerk when you said "Do we need to call Aaron in." Also, I said the one study was biased because the NutraSweet people had their hands all over it. You understand that I'm sure. Nothing wrong with differing views. I don't need any "experts" trying to force me into sharing their opinion.

    At any rate, I don't need to be muscled into believing the opposing view. I didn't come to argue.

    You posted your unquantifiable anecdotes in a debate thread, but you don't want to argue, learn the basis for opposing views, review relevant science, or read the opinion of experts in the field? I'm not sure that is a good way to participate in a debate. Do you consider the vast body of decades worth of established science all invalid because it was biased? If so, how was it biased?

    I posted PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. NOT "anecdotes".

    That is what anecdote means in this context.

    You presented anecdotal evidence to your claim, none of it backed by any science. Just your personal beliefs and feelings.
  • dmwh142
    dmwh142 Posts: 72 Member
    Diet coke does make a diet coke sweetened with Splenda. I have only found it in the 12 pack can version. As for artificial sweeteners I believe all things in moderation (except for aspartame due to recurring migraines). I like Truvia, liquid Stevia, Splenda, Agave Nectar and Sweet'n low. Sugar on the other hand is like Crack to me and if I ever have any of I tend to crave it again and again so in weight loss mode I completely avoid it.
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