Sugar or Splenda

Jenninedinburgh

Hi there,

I am taking my health step-by-step - exercising more and eating better. After a trip to my mother's house in Mississippi and seeing her pantry full of PROCESSED foods, I came back home to Scotland and decided that I need to do even better at eating better (I started cutting processed foods a few years ago by about 70%, but I think it's time to add to that). First move - cut out diet coke. I always considered it a treat, but have read up on it and I don't think it's a good thing. It got me to thinking - maybe I should cut out Splenda as well as I use it often in coffee and tea. It prompted me to look at the calories and a teaspoon of sugar is ONLY 16 calories!!! I ask myself, is 16 calories worth forgoing in order to put a teaspoon full of chemicals in my body??

What do you do? What do you think about sugar versus splenda?

Loves418

I use sugar even if its 2 teaspoons because the splenda twice I have tried made me sick, can't explain why..it makes me feel just ill all over. I would rather cut back somewhere during the day and put the two sugars in my hot tea in the morning.

cramernh

Honestly... if sugar is not in its natural form (found in real foods), I dont consume it.
I definitely cannot consume artificial sweetners and junk such as Splenda due to some medical complications..

BrendaLee

I can't stand the aftertaste with artificial sweeteners, and I actually feel like I'm ruining beautiful, natural food by adding chemicals. I stick with sugar.

CyberEd312

Use Domino Pure Cane sugar, it is only 15 calories a spoon full................

RobinLoren

I don't add sugar or splenda, if I want to add something to my food I add Stevia.

vs1023

I avoid artificial sweeteners. I stopped Splenda because it made me crave more sweets and i think it messed with my body a bit. I felt a lot of anxiety when I was using it and when I started it was 2 packets and then eventually I needed like 4 in my coffee. Wasn't good. I switched to Stevia extract and don't have the same issues. FWIW, I only use sweetener in my coffee.

Priincess_Natalie

I skip all sugar and artificial sweeteners. If I use anything at all, I use Stevia.

jnet0222

I haven't noticed an after taste with Splenda but I believe everything in moderation. I only use it twice a day. One cup of coffee in the a.m. and one cup of tea after work. The rest of the day is plain water.

waxon81

I swapped sugar for splenda (sweet and low) about a month or so ago. Cant even tell the difference now, apart from its alot less cals

WifeMomDVM

As others said, stay away from the fake sweeteners or chemically altered ones. Just sugar in moderation. Try some honey for some added anti-viral benefits.

beamishcas

I also started to use Stevia and prefer it over Splenda

KeepOnMoving

check out some web sites like Health.com they have info on sweeteners.

Have you heard about Agave? It's sweeter than sugar therefore, you use smaller amounts, saving calories.

busterbluth

I usually use Stevia, but I can't tell the difference in taste between that and Splenda. I hate Sweet n Low or Equal.

Jenninedinburgh

Hi there,

Thanks for all of the replies. It's really interesting to read your thoughts/habits.

Regarding, Stevia, I've never heard of it so decided to Google it. http://www.stevia.com/ The website states that it's "natural" yet has zero calories....even lettuce has calories, so I find it hard to believe that Stevia is natural? It sounds like it's another cooked up substitute to me?

MrsKunz

Ok i love sugar and splenda but i just use a mixture of both but i know i shouldn't due to some medical things that have now happen to my father i encourage everyone to read what i am about to tell you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My father at the age 50 started having random seizures. No doctor could tell us why.... I went to 3 brain doctors and 4 different hospitals, and several other doctors. Tons of tests and probes and trial and errors. It was a never ending cylce until one day we went back to square one started with our small town family doctor and he asked do you drink diet drinks??? My dad said of course i have been drinking them for 25 years!!! the doctor said stop NOW!!! No artificial sweeteners at all!!!!!! The doctor was currently doing study work on the long term effects of sweeteners. The chemicals in them really effect the brain and nervous system. My dad still to this day has random seizures, dizziness, and has had 1 stroke and 3 heart attacks!!!!!!!!!!!! He is my life and i hope that everyone hears me when i say if you use them read up on the ones you use extensively before you use them. My dads brain and nervous system will never be the same.

TazzytheMotivator

I love spenda, but you are correct what can your body do with chemical.I can't seems to put it down. But you are correct in your thinking. After i finished this last package i will not buy it anymore . Thank you for bring it to my attention .

christibear

Why not honey, its actually good for you in moderation and it can be a substitute all the time but most of the time it works great and it tastes good and its all natural.

Dawn22s

I have a horror story with Splenda. I loved Yoplait Whipped Yogurt and two years ago in January, I stocked up due to a sale so it was the mainstay of my diet for breakfast / snacks. By February I was so sick I went to my doctor and he couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I went thru several tests to rule out cancer or other problems such as Crohn's or IBS and nothing was found. (I was still eating the stupid yogurt).

Then I started to track my food and started looking up everything I was eating on a friend's advice that maybe I was developing an allergy to the dye or something else in the food.

So I stopped eating all processed foods (including the yogurt) and in about 3 days started to feel much better. I waited for another couple of days and started adding back in foods that I normally eat and waited 2 days to introduce a new food. When I got to the yogurt within 3 hours I was nearly back to the level of sickness I was in previously.

I looked their label and of course, the flavors I enjoyed (especially Lemon) had Splenda.

I haven't touched the Cr@p Splenda since.

MrsKunz

As others said, stay away from the fake sweeteners or chemically altered ones. Just sugar in moderation. Try some honey for some added anti-viral benefits.

this just made my coffee glorious!

Janelle31

There seems to be more information coming out in the news that indicates that artificial sweeteners can really mess with our brains. One thing about them is that they are hundreds of times sweeter than actual sugar, which is why you can use so little and still get that sweetness. Unfortunately our bodies don't register them the same way that it registers sugar, which can actually increase our cravings for sweet stuff. I'm just not sure I want to buy into the hype that comes along with the artificial stuff.

Personally I try to avoid artificial sweeteners as much as possible. I rarely drink anything besides water and milk, so when I do occasionally want a glass of pop or whatever, I don't worry too much about what's in them, although I will always choose the "real" thing over a diet version. Also, in baking, you can easily cut back the amount of sugar called for in a recipe by half. There are the occasional things that take some trial and error, but you won't even notice a difference most of the time.