Fake sugar. Good/Bad/Why, and would Abe Lincoln eat it?

I want to know the opinions of fellow MFP users on the subject of fake sugars and artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin, aspartame, etc. Is it a saving grace for us and an aid for weight loss or is it nothing more than a cancer bomb waiting to go off? Not to mention those sugar free gummy bears everyone talks about... Straight to the bathroom and lock the door I have heard. More so, would Abe Lincoln eat this stuff if he had the chance? LOL.

Replies

  • stylin
    stylin Posts: 54 Member
    No sugar is bad initially. But if a sugar starts hanging around with the wrong crowd, it can get out of hand pretty quickly. It starts innocently enough, bad language, dabbling with drugs, shoplifting... If the problem is not taken care of the behavior escalates and then you have a sugar on your hands that is committing misdemeanors and felonies, heavily into drugs, and the good in them becomes a distant memory.
  • Thank you! Everything in moderation.
  • summertime_girl
    summertime_girl Posts: 3,945 Member
    I won't touch them. If I need something sweet, I use agave or raw sugar. Nothing fake.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    I won't touch them. If I need something sweet, I use agave or raw sugar. Nothing fake.
    This...If it ain't real, it doesn't touch these lips.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    I won't touch them. If I need something sweet, I use agave or raw sugar. Nothing fake.
    This...If it ain't real, it doesn't touch these lips.

    Aspartame is a naturally occurring amino acid. Stevia comes from a plant.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Use whatever you want. All sweeteners (including table sugar) have been extensively researched and found safe to consume.
  • runforestrun35
    runforestrun35 Posts: 480 Member
    I feel that I would rather use honey, less real sugar, or keep drinking black coffee... artificial just screams bad things for me! plus the after taste sucks! Abe Lincloln would go for sugar..... manly sugar
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    Scientific studies have shown that aspartame has caused cancerous tumors in rats, but only in levels 4000x that recommended by the FDA. So having diet soda now and then isn't going to hurt you. Stevia and Truvia are plant derivatves, so also aren't going to hurt you. They are hundreds of times sweeter than actual sugar, so they can cause the body to crave sugar that it didn't actually get.
    Sugar is only 16 calories a teaspoon, so isn't bad in moderation. It can be inflammatory to people with cancer, so shoul be kept to moderate amount for them and for diabetics.

    the botttom line is, it's up to you what you are comfortable consuming. None of it is bad for you once in a while, just don't go hog wild and dump tons of it into yourself. Just like any other food.
  • jagh09
    jagh09 Posts: 555 Member
    Abe Lincoln got shot in the back of the head at the theater. Life is short and unpredictable - eat what you like. In moderation.
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  • mmm_drop
    mmm_drop Posts: 1,126 Member
    No sugar is bad initially. But if a sugar starts hanging around with the wrong crowd, it can get out of hand pretty quickly. It starts innocently enough, bad language, dabbling with drugs, shoplifting... If the problem is not taken care of the behavior escalates and then you have a sugar on your hands that is committing misdemeanors and felonies, heavily into drugs, and the good in them becomes a distant memory.

    Awesome.

    And, everything in moderation.
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
    Abe Lincoln got shot in the back of the head at the theater. Life is short and unpredictable - eat what you like. In moderation.

    Love this reply.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
    Abe Lincoln got shot in the back of the head at the theater. Life is short and unpredictable - eat what you like. In moderation.
    :heart: :drinker:
  • selfepidemic1
    selfepidemic1 Posts: 159 Member
    I consume fake sugars. I don't consume "real sugars" because of blood sugar spikes etc. I consume the products that I know don't make me ill.

    Its all about deciding what, for you, is okay. Some people can't eat meat, others can. Its entirely based on what you as an individual are okay with.
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
    Abe Lincoln got shot in the back of the head at the theater. Life is short and unpredictable - eat what you like. In moderation.

    And with this I'm off for a diet pepsi and a Total Zero Red Bull!
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
    (diet Coke + spiced rum) > (regular Coke + spiced rum)

    Since Lincoln is dead, (passed on, no more, has ceased to be, expired, gone to meet his maker, bereft of life, pushing up daisies, off the twig, kicked the bucket, shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible) I don't know. I'm thinkin' that he maybe didn't like to party.