Switching to Splenda

Dragongrl

I am a coffee addict and I cannot live without it or sweetener in it. Has anyone switched to Splenda and seen a signifigant difference on the scale?

jennypatch9

I enjoy Splenda, but my new love is Stevia. It's ALL NATURAL derived from a plant so it is calorie free and chemical free. i get mine at trader joes but it can also be found at whole foods or other health food stores. its VERY potent so a tiny bit goes a long way! I drink it in my herb tea every night

Lyadeia

Coffee is not bad for you, it's what we put into it that can make it bad. By taking out the sugar you are doing yourself a favor. I would suggest something like stevia instead of splenda though, since stevia is natural and splenda is artificial. I do not believe that a little splenda will hurt anyone, but since you have it all the time, I would think that something natural would affect your body better.

Cutting out the sugar should help you reach your goals anyway.

portexploit

Most sweetners are worse than real sugar. Try stevia...that's the healthiest one I know of.

Dragongrl

Hmmm... I must taste this Stevia... Thanks for the replies you guys!

change_happens

I am a coffee addict and I cannot live without it or sweetener in it. Has anyone switched to Splenda and seen a signifigant difference on the scale?

I use splenda, very sparingly. I tried Stevia and ended up in the emergency room because of an allergic reaction. I found that if you have an allergy to ragweed, you will have a reaction so Stevia. (I should say, "most likely")

AND

My husband uses Stevia without any associated issues. He loves the stuff.

seal57

I detest artificial sweetener.....I'm slowly cutting back sugar on my morning cereal so I can still have it in my tea.......

SetecAstronomy

I am a coffee addict and I cannot live without it or sweetener in it. Has anyone switched to Splenda and seen a signifigant difference on the scale?

While many will praise Stevia over Splenda, it's still relatively new and costs quite a bit more than Splenda does. So from a cost perspective, I think you'll be okay with Splenda (and there are generic forms available, saving you even more). Getting rid of sugar in general should help you see a difference on the scale.

auskelly

i use sugarless sachets. they dont have the bitter taste some others do. i like it. though i use splenda in cooking on occasion

Vegan_Chick

Stevia would be a better choice as it is all natural from a plant and Splenda is not.

iluvsparkles

yup Stevia is where it's at. It's worth mentioning that I got a splenda induced optical migraine the very first time I ever tried it. needless to say, I haven't tried it again, and no more migraines.

Shyloh1

I used to use Splenda in everything,but now I use Stevia. It takes a bit of getting used to...but it's not bad at all.

I prefer it now and knowing that it's chemical free..makes me feel better!

silkysly

I always have a little coffee with my caramel, vanilla, no sugar added creamer. It’s made with Splenda. I seem to do ok with it.

LorinaLynn

I'm not opposed to artificial sweeteners, but real sugar is only 15 calories per teaspoon. If you have one coffee a day, and put in two teaspoons, switching to Splenda isn't going to make any drastic difference. Over the course of one year, that would equal three pounds.

Now, if you're like my brother, who has been known to add 16 packets of sugar to his big gulp coffee... that's another story. :happy:

rissaface

I'm also a coffee addict and had to make the adjustment to fit my 2 cups of coffee into my daily calorie allotment. I tried the Truvia and I didn't care for it personally. I switched to Splenda and I love it now, I also found a great Sugar Free Creamer that only has 15 calories per serving (1 tbsp). It's made by coffee mate Sugar Free Vanilla Caramel. Yummy!!!!! Good luck!

Gennawest

I use a whole bunch (5 packets per day) of sweetner. Everytime I tear open a pack I get this horrible gut feelings that tells me, "you say you want to eat clean, this is not clean at all." But like an addict, I continue to hold, tear, and pour. I am dire need of replacing these awful yellow packets with....well..... nothing. I need to get use to not being a sweet fein. There you have it. A confession from a splenda queen.

sbwood888

I use splenda (generic) every day. I am hoping for the best as far as the chemicals are concerned. Chemicals are in almost everything, it seems. I have not jumped on the "no processed foods / no chemicals" wagon yet. Maybe some day I will be able to get that far. As for now, I enjoy my generic spenda.

dancingj2

I think that artificail sweetners are not good to use long term. I would suggest just using less sugar. I used to use 2 or 3 heaping teaspoons. I cut back to 1 for a while and them eventually none. If I remember right 1 teaspoon of sugar is only 16 calories.

ADDED
Just checked - its only 15 calories.

Coltsman4ever

This excerpt was taken from Splenda's website.

"SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener has no known side effects. Sucralose (or SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener) has been the subject of extensive safety testing, with more than 20 years of research and over 110 scientific studies.1,8-10 Its safety is well documented and the Food and Drug Administration, along with regulatory, health, and food safety authorities from around the world, have concluded that it is safe. It has been used throughout the world by millions of people since 1991, and there are no warning labels on the products to exclude anyone from enjoying SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener. Sucralose is approved for use in over 80 countries and is currently used in more than 4000 products worldwide."

Dragongrl

I use a whole bunch (5 packets per day) of sweetner. Everytime I tear open a pack I get this horrible gut feelings that tells me, "you say you want to eat clean, this is not clean at all." But like an addict, I continue to hold, tear, and pour. I am dire need of replacing these awful yellow packets with....well..... nothing. I need to get use to not being a sweet fein. There you have it. A confession from a splenda queen.

Okay. I can agree with ya there but coffee tastes like *kitten* without sweetener! And I am DEPENDENT on caffeine. I get headaches if I don't have enough. I work the graveyard shift so I need lots to keep me going....

agthorn

I use the Splenda+Fiber packets in my coffee. Each packet has a gram of fiber, so it gives me a little bump on my fiber goals with each cup.

seal57

I use a measuring spoon to measure my sugar......I was having one teaspoon on my morning cereal when I started MFP almost 3 weeks ago.....Last Monday I cut it back to 3/4 of a teaspoon....another week or so then I will cut back a bit more...........

jenswwjourney

from a medical stand point (ER RN) I heard that stevia is better for you b/c you need less. its like 81x sweeter then normal sugar. also splenda has been linked to brain tumors (but only if you are eatting like 8lbs per day haha) Personally I like agave necture. Also natural. Try some things out see what you like. I don't think 1 is particularly better per say then the other

carrie1128

I'm not opposed to artificial sweeteners, but real sugar is only 15 calories per teaspoon. If you have one coffee a day, and put in two teaspoons, switching to Splenda isn't going to make any drastic difference. Over the course of one year, that would equal three pounds.

Now, if you're like my brother, who has been known to add 16 packets of sugar to his big gulp coffee... that's another story. :happy:

Yep. I drink 2 cups a day and have weaned myself down to a half teaspoon of real sugar per cup so the extra 15 calories a day is completely worth it to me now. Artificial sweeteners taste nasty to me. I also don't drink any other calories in my day though - only water and seltzer.

carrie1128

It's actually something that you don't notice if you do it slowly. Just put a little less in every day or week. I'm at the point where a half teaspoon of sugar is sooo sweet to me. I cannot believe I used to use 2 packets of splenda in 1 cup!

dleithaus

not sure why people think that Stevia is called "natural". It is an extract of a plant. Does that make it natural?
It is a highly processed material.

This is stevia.....
The diterpene known as Steviol is the aglycone of stevia's sweet glycosides, which are constructed by replacing steviol's carboxyl hydrogen atom (at the bottom of the figure) with glucose to form an ester, and replacing the hydroxyl hydrogen (at the top of the figure in the infobox) with combinations of glucose and rhamnose. The two primary compounds, stevioside and rebaudioside A, use only glucose: Stevioside has two linked glucose molecules at the hydroxyl site, whereas rebaudioside A has three, with the middle glucose of the triplet connected to the central steviol structure.

In terms of weight fraction, the four major steviol glycosides found in the stevia plant tissue are:

5–10% stevioside (250–300X of sugar)
2–4% rebaudioside A — most sweet (350–450X of sugar) and least bitter
1–2% rebaudioside C
½–1% dulcoside A.

Rebaudioside B, D, and E may also be present in minute quantities; however, it is suspected that rebaudioside B is a byproduct of the isolation technique.[2] The two majority compounds stevioside and rebaudioside, primarily responsible for the sweet taste of stevia leaves, were first isolated by two French chemists in 1931.[3]

cedarhurst2006

I use splenda in my coffee, my hubby uses agave nectar.

Cbandelier

I used to be a big fan of Splenda; I started using a lot it when I had gestational diabetes with my first 2 pregnancies and just continued after that.

I eventually developed some annoying physical symptoms - joint aches, frequent headaches, tingling fingers and lips. I was afraid that I had MS or something.

I had read about side effects of Splenda a while back and figured it was alarmist and blew it off. I remembered the articles again when the symptoms really started to get to me.

I switched to the Stevia drops and stopped buying things with Splenda (like ice creams). The symptoms went away almost immediately. I really like the Stevia and use it in my coffee at home (at work I just use 1 tsp sugar) and for other things like oatmeal, etc. It looks expensive at first but you use so little that it ends up being affordable.

I think the drops taste better than the powdered form.

I know that most people are able to use Splenda without problems. I was really surprised by my reaction to it and wanted to let you all know about it, in case you happen to be sensitive to it as well.