Sugar or sugar substitutes?

I drink a couple of diet Pepsi's everyday. Don't buy the hoopla on cancer or holes in the brain. Show me the bodies...........:laugh: :laugh:


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I would show you the brain, but I don't have access to the magazine I found it in.
I'm not sure how much it takes for it to have any affect... or how long it takes for it to happen...
but did you know that Splenda replaces the caloric molecules in sugar with chlorine molecules?
I just read it on the website to make sure, and from what I read there it seems safe enough.
I know a few years ago I saw something on T.V that made a huge deal about it, though.
Of course the Splenda company won't say their product is bad, so it's really hard to know for sure.

I eat a lot of things made with sugar substitutes and aspartame...

I stick to using regular sugar for anything I make myself, though.
Better safe than having cancer! It's just a few extra calories. No big deal.

Of course, I could be completely wrong.
I don't feel like looking up a bunch of information right now to find out if I'm right or wrong.
No harm in me saying too much is dangerous, though.
Too much of anything is harmful to our bodies.

I would urge you to look at actual peer reviewed clinical studies on aspartame. There are lots of them done by Universities and Journals of Medicine.
I haven't found one yet that verifies the claims of many "holistic, natural, anti chemical" bloggers, writers, supporters. Scare mongering is common amongst the "natural" crowd, even here on MFP.
With claims of aspartame turning into formaldehyde in the body to scare people, they neglect to say that eating fruits turns into formaldehyde too.
Don't believe articles, opinions, blogs, etc. unless you have some very good studies by unbiased (that's why peer review) sources.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I'd rather be safe than sorry.
I couldn't help but to look something up about it real quick.
I read the health problems each type of sugar substitute caused in rats, and why it is still supposedly safe for humans.
I read what the FDA states about each kind of sugar substitute. They say it's safe for consumption...
but my personal opinion is that you can't always trust what the FDA says.
Sometimes something seems safe, but a few years later is dubbed hazardous to our health.
I think it's something people need to be aware of, and consume at their own risk.
I don't want innocent yet ignorant people dying because of something as simple as not eating Splenda, lol.
I'm not saying fake sugar is absolutely bad for you (besides the fact too much of ANYTHING is unhealthy)...
I don't trust the intelligence of the world as a whole.
People smoke, and die from cancers relating to that.
People choose to get so drunk that they abuse loved ones, drive drunk, and kill.
People claim that they are not bad, even when they abuse animals, loved ones, steal, cheat, etc.

I know I can be paranoid about a lot of things...
even though I know that, though, I believe it is better to be safe than sorry. (:
I've just had a problematic life the past 19 years, I try to protect my well-being from people's mistakes and poor choices.
If that makes any sense.

I obviously don't think all too much about sugar substitutes and their link to cancer...
if I was more worried about it, I would discontinue my consumption of Yoplait Light yogurt!
I'm just saying that I read things and saw things on T.V. that enhanced my awareness on this subject.
There's a good chance I'm just being extremely ignorant... and too lazy to search up more facts. (;

Nothing wrong with good intentions. If some feel they'd rather be safe than sorry, then that's an approach they feel better with.
What I feel is important is to ensure that misinformation doesn't get spread around because some site or article says it's true because of experience or anecdotal evidence. While some people have adverse reactions to sugar substitutes, the general population as a whole deals with them just fine.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Regular sugar but less of it is the solution for me.

Two reasons for this - one is that I don't like the taste of any of the substitutes - especially stevia, it's disgusting. The other point is that in the long term I want to get out of the habit of eating things that aren't naturally sweet. So, for me, using sugar substitutes doesn't help me get to where I want to be.

^^THIS.

My lifelong eating plan does not include having to buy 'substitutes' I need to learn how to eat properly. What happens when you travel and they don't have 'substitutes'? or when you go out, to a friend's house, to visit family? what about if you lose your job and can no longer afford them? or maybe they just are no longer available for another reason? Why would I create a dependency on things when it's just easier to learn to eat less or do without?

I drink a couple of diet Pepsi's everyday. Don't buy the hoopla on cancer or holes in the brain. Show me the bodies...........:laugh: :laugh:


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I would show you the brain, but I don't have access to the magazine I found it in.
I'm not sure how much it takes for it to have any affect... or how long it takes for it to happen...
but did you know that Splenda replaces the caloric molecules in sugar with chlorine molecules?
I just read it on the website to make sure, and from what I read there it seems safe enough.
I know a few years ago I saw something on T.V that made a huge deal about it, though.
Of course the Splenda company won't say their product is bad, so it's really hard to know for sure.

I eat a lot of things made with sugar substitutes and aspartame...

I stick to using regular sugar for anything I make myself, though.
Better safe than having cancer! It's just a few extra calories. No big deal.

Of course, I could be completely wrong.
I don't feel like looking up a bunch of information right now to find out if I'm right or wrong.
No harm in me saying too much is dangerous, though.
Too much of anything is harmful to our bodies.

I would urge you to look at actual peer reviewed clinical studies on aspartame. There are lots of them done by Universities and Journals of Medicine.
I haven't found one yet that verifies the claims of many "holistic, natural, anti chemical" bloggers, writers, supporters. Scare mongering is common amongst the "natural" crowd, even here on MFP.
With claims of aspartame turning into formaldehyde in the body to scare people, they neglect to say that eating fruits turns into formaldehyde too.
Don't believe articles, opinions, blogs, etc. unless you have some very good studies by unbiased (that's why peer review) sources.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Hear hear!
People make all kinds of claims without any evidence to back them up.
Think critically people.
Here's a starter:
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/aspartame-truth-vs-fiction/

Most, if not all, sugar substitutes can eventually lead to cancer.

False. Saccharine can lead to cancer in rats. But fortunately, you are not a rat. You process sugar substitutes using a completely different pathway, not the one leading to cancer in rats. Once there was an answer for why rats were getting cancer and how it was impossible for this to happen in humans, those warnings were removed from the fake sugar packets. I believe this was ten years ago.

neither.

honey!!

I actually don't use either sugar or substitutes... I occasionally use honey though, especially if I'm a bit sick (like now). otherwise I'm happy without sugar.

This is an excellent question - and I'm preparing a review on all sweeteners (as detailed as I can be) for a blog here in a month or so. Problem is that much of the questions we have - haven't been answered well enough to answer you question.

It's a very complicated issue and includes many natural sweeteners.

The most safe artificial sweetener to date appears to be Sucralose (Splenda). The reason it is so safe = thus far - and likely to remain so is that none of it is absorbed. It makes things taste sweet, but doesn't enter the body. Insulin levels don't spike. Bacteria in your gut don't use it to produce gas and increase osmotic pressure till you get the runs.

There is still ongoing debate over what all sweeteners that are natural and artificial do with respect to leptins and messengers like them that tell us "you're full". Part of the problem with sweeteners that enter the body but do not trigger rises in insulin levels is that they may not start the cascade of events that tell you you're done eating (ie glucose - rise in insulin - rise in leptins - stimulation of other proteins - feeling of saiety). Now I wish life were just that simple, but it's not. However, artificial sweeteners that enter the body and don't cause saiety may ultimately lead to ingestion of more food (unless you use MFP and make sure you don't eat more) because you don't feel full.

So that's the catch 22. Drink sugar drinks on a regular basis and your risk for stroke and heart disease go way up because of the inflammatory nature of what they turn into (triglycerides) in the liver and your risk of diabetes increases.

Drink artificial or natural sweeteners that don't stimulate insulin and you may get fat because you don't develop saiety.

There is some evidence in animals studies (I haven't read the research myself) of improving insulin resistance / reversing diabetes because stevia seems to tell the beta cells of the pancreas to produce insulin. Whether or not this proves useful in humans isn't known as far as I know.

So just be aware that whether natural or manufactured....we don't know the long term effects yet of many of these items, nor do we completely understand how they trigger other players.

That's why Sucralose - because it doesn't get absorbed at all - seems to be the safest bet for now. The answers are in our future. Great question.

Why is Splenda bad for you? What is different about Splenda than other sugar substitutes?

I see this argument as being very similar to the margarine/oleo versus butter debate that took place in the 70's, where 20 years down the road the scientists determine that the 'real' food was better for you in the first place.

I prefer butter and regular sugar, choose them over the substitutes whenever possible, and always try to eat them only in moderation.

Use stevia and love it. I don't get the " aftertaste" comments, to me it tastes like sugar, but it's relatively expensive.

I dont think its expensive at all. Yes, my very small shaker of powdered Stevia costs nearly 15 dollars, but I dont need much at all, and so it has lasted me for almost one whole year! Granted, I dont use it in everything, but it is so sweet, you really dont need much!

I love Stevia lol, can we tell! :P

I buy the organic Stevia, which is probably a bit more expensive, but it comes in individual packets and one tiny packet is PLENTY to sweeten an entire 10 oz smoothie and half a packet is more than enough to sweeten a bowl of oatmeal. It will last forever, promise! Switch now!

Stevia, for sure. That's my opinion. I haven't used sugar in years!

Most, if not all, sugar substitutes can eventually lead to cancer.
Aspartame has been proven to create super tiny holes throughout your brain.
Too much sugar can cause you to become a diabetic, though.

I usually get all or most of my store bought foods diet.
Like my Yoplait Light yogurt, and diet soda if I actually decided to buy soda.
I also like to order my Starbucks drinks with sugar-free syrups...

At home I always use regular sugar.
If you're eating right, sugar isn't going to harm you since you wouldn't be consuming it in insane quantities.

If you're really good with eating healthy, then I would avoid sugar substitutes as much as possible.
I have found that I enjoy the taste of 'diet' foods/junk foods more than the 'non-diet'...
but it really isn't very good for you.

When making such bold statements, please be sure to include proper citation so we can view these studies. I'm sure I'm not the only member that would like to see the research on this. Thanks!

Just wanted to share something a nutritionist told me about: Xylitol. It's a healthy low-cal sugar substitute. You can buy it on amazon. No toxicity, no aftertaste.

Sugar if you can afford the calories. Sugar has been around for a very long time - we know its effects on the body.

Any one of a number of various low-to-zero-calorie sweeteners if you can't afford them and must have a sweet taste. If you want to go artificial, go with one with a long safety record (saccharin is actually the one with the longest track record - it's been in use since the 1800s! - and other than a very flawed study in the 70s has an excellent safety record).

Stevia is a natural option, but just remember - just because it's "from a plant" doesn't mean it might not have side effects - Hemlock is also a plant, and Socrates might have an opinion on how effective the argument "it's a plant, therefore it is safe" might be. Well, if he was alive, of course. I don't go grazing on random leaves in my yard assuming that because it's a plant it must be safe. This is not to say it's UNSAFE, it just hasn't been around long enough as the latest sweetener fad for me to be confident that people won't start dropping like flies next year from it. But as a member of the non-Stevia-using "control group", I'd like to give a shout out to my "experimental group" peeps - thanks! If you're still alive in ten years, I'll consider it!

Best option, if you can manage it, is nothing at all... if you can learn to do without the sweet taste in whatever you are eating.

I like using turbinado sugar, agave nectar, maple syrup, honey... Anything natural and in moderation! The artificial stuff creeps me out and I don't enjoy the taste.

Stevia is a natural option, but just remember - just because it's "from a plant" doesn't mean it might not have side effects - Hemlock is also a plant, and Socrates might have an opinion on how effective the argument "it's a plant, therefore it is safe" might be. Well, if he was alive, of course. I don't go grazing on random leaves in my yard assuming that because it's a plant it must be safe. This is not to say it's UNSAFE, it just hasn't been around long enough as the latest sweetener fad for me to be confident that people won't start dropping like flies next year from it.

Yes, because the South American population has been dropping like flies from the Stevia plant! (Oh, wait, that's right! It's the war on drugs causing them to drop dead!) Thousands of years of use should be enough evidence, even for the brain dead.