Is Splenda good or no?

NO!!!!!!!! Stay away from sugar substitutes. Any manmade sugar alternatives are horrible for us. Although there haven't been enough studies conducted to difinitively say yes or no, anything that is a manmade chemical is not good for you. It a poison. Here is one article that may help you to decide. http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx

I for one am not going to take the chance. There are so many things that go into our bodies that we can't control, but this is one we can. I would much rather use real sugar and just control the amount I use.

NO.
Sugar substitutes like aspartame were put up to the FDA no less than EIGHT TIMES and was denied because it's so unhealthy. (It gives rats cancer, so it might give you cancer, too...) Here is a video on why sugar substitutes are so awful. Copy and paste in your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hpoAtwVyzZI
There are plenty of substitutes for sugar that do not spike your glycemic index like raw sugar does. You can buy a bottle of agave nectar (there are many varieties, each one has its own subtle and different flavor) for like $7 which lasts a really long time. Maple syrup in moderation is better than sugar. HONEY! Is better than sugar. If you really want to go ZERO calories, try stevia. You can buy it at your health food store, and it is natural, and it doesn't resemble battery acid in pH like Splenda or Equal do.

Do some research, and eat as NATURALLY as you can ))
xo

An

Splenda gives me horrible gas; if eaten in say a splenda ice cream bar.

I say stay away and stick to real sugar.

I try to avoid all artificial sweeteners along with high fructose corn syrup.

No!! Raw sugar is much better! How much sugar do you use on a daily basis? I'm assuming not cups of it, so it is probably isn't going to affect your calorie intake that much if you use the raw sugar.

Agreed. This is my thought on fake sugar: If you are using so much added sugar in your daily life that one teaspoon of real sugar at 15 calories is breaking your diet, then the real issue is your diet, not the sugar. Look inward to see why you are eating so much added sugar and what you can do to reduce your intake.

With that said, I will never give up my one teaspoon of real sugar every morning in my coffee

Depends. Are you diabetic? Does your family have a history of diabetes? If you can use sugar safely and have the calories to do so, use it. If you are diabetic or have a low calorie threshold use one of the low calorie sweeteners.

I'm diabetic, so I use aspartame. Splenda isn't sweet at all to me, so it's pretty much useless.

Depends. Are you diabetic? Does your family have a history of diabetes? If you can use sugar safely and have the calories to do so, use it. If you are diabetic or have a low calorie threshold use one of the low calorie sweeteners.

I'm diabetic, so I use aspartame. Splenda isn't sweet at all to me, so it's pretty much useless.

Being diabetic or having a family hx of diabetes is not an automatic reason to use artificial sweetners. A tsp of sugar is = 5 grams of carbohydrate. The body sees 5g of CHO coming from sugar the same as 5g CHO coming from starch..BTW

I use Splenda (sucralose) for my coffee, because it's lower in calories than the real stuff. Tastes as good, in my opinion. I think raw sugar is more natural, so if you can afford the extra calories I would pick that.

Scientists are not too sure about the long term effects of sucralose on the human body, so to be honest I am considering giving it up too. It's also made with aspartame... Recent studies in Europe show that aspartame use can result in an accumulation of formaldehyde in the brain, which can damage your central nervous system and immune system and cause genetic trauma. The FDA admits this is true, but claims the amount is low enough in most that it shouldn’t raise concern. Scary.

Some people have pretty bad side effects from that substance. Nothing too serious, but migraines, cramps, mood swings... Never experienced any of those, but it's worth being concerned about.

Here is a very honest article about this: http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx

You are confused here...Splenda (brand name) is Sucralose...Nutrasweet (brand name) is Aspartame. There is NO aspartame in Splenda.

I think I got this from SideSteel, just want to give credit where due:

Aspartame is broken down into phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol. Phenylalanine and Aspartic Acid are amino acids and there's a much higher concentration of these aminos in a measly 4oz chicken breast than there is in diet soda. 1 Banana will yield more methanol than a 12oz can of soda. The dosage limits that can cause any issues are VERY HIGH, and you'd have to consume massive amounts to even detect any increased levels in a blood test. Cliffs: Diet soda is fine if you don't get headaches from it, and a very small % of people do.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17828671

Depends. Are you diabetic? Does your family have a history of diabetes? If you can use sugar safely and have the calories to do so, use it. If you are diabetic or have a low calorie threshold use one of the low calorie sweeteners.

I'm diabetic, so I use aspartame. Splenda isn't sweet at all to me, so it's pretty much useless.

Being diabetic or having a family hx of diabetes is not an automatic reason to use artificial sweetners. A tsp of sugar is = 5 grams of carbohydrate. The body sees 5g of CHO coming from sugar the same as 5g CHO coming from starch..BTW

Except it doesn't. Starches and simple sugars such as glucose and sucrose do not metabolize at the same rate or exactly the same way. So I know how best to proceed with the explanation, may I ask how much college biology and chemistry you have in your background?

Yes, you can. I have a Bachelors of Science in Nutrition Science and a Masters of Science in Human Environmental Sciences. I have been a Reg. Dietitian and Board Certified Diabetes Educator for almost 18 years...Thanks for asking.

I have bad reactions to it. I use xylitol or stevia.

Depends. Are you diabetic? Does your family have a history of diabetes? If you can use sugar safely and have the calories to do so, use it. If you are diabetic or have a low calorie threshold use one of the low calorie sweeteners.

I'm diabetic, so I use aspartame. Splenda isn't sweet at all to me, so it's pretty much useless.

Being diabetic or having a family hx of diabetes is not an automatic reason to use artificial sweetners. A tsp of sugar is = 5 grams of carbohydrate. The body sees 5g of CHO coming from sugar the same as 5g CHO coming from starch..BTW

Except it doesn't. Starches and simple sugars such as glucose and sucrose do not metabolize at the same rate or exactly the same way. So I know how best to proceed with the explanation, may I ask how much college biology and chemistry you have in your background?

Yes, you can. I have a Bachelors of Science in Nutrition Science and a Masters of Science in Human Environmental Sciences. I have been a Reg. Dietitian and Board Certified Diabetes Educator for almost 18 years...Thanks for asking.

I am so happy this just happened.

Depends. Are you diabetic? Does your family have a history of diabetes? If you can use sugar safely and have the calories to do so, use it. If you are diabetic or have a low calorie threshold use one of the low calorie sweeteners.

I'm diabetic, so I use aspartame. Splenda isn't sweet at all to me, so it's pretty much useless.

Being diabetic or having a family hx of diabetes is not an automatic reason to use artificial sweetners. A tsp of sugar is = 5 grams of carbohydrate. The body sees 5g of CHO coming from sugar the same as 5g CHO coming from starch..BTW

Except it doesn't. Starches and simple sugars such as glucose and sucrose do not metabolize at the same rate or exactly the same way. So I know how best to proceed with the explanation, may I ask how much college biology and chemistry you have in your background?

Yes, you can. I have a Bachelors of Science in Nutrition Science and a Masters of Science in Human Environmental Sciences. I have been a Reg. Dietitian and Board Certified Diabetes Educator for almost 18 years...Thanks for asking.

Good. :bigsmile:

You understand how blood glucose levels affect insulin release rates then. The simpler the carbohydrate, the fewer enzymes must be employed to break it down, the faster the BG rise, the more robust the insulin response rise. Some monos are worse than others for insulin response rate (looking at you lactose). Even among starches there is variation in rate of metabolism.

PubMed is rife with human studies, both on glucose and insulin response to just about any saccharide you could wish. There's also investigation of the insulin response to the various low cal sweeteners. The body of evidence does not support an insulin response to non nutritive sweeteners (confining myself to those, instead of including the sugar alcohols for simplicity's sake).

Those with impaired insulin response (I'll confine the conversation to Type II) cannot afford to tax their insulin production apparatus. To do so inevitably leads inexorably to exogenous insulin dependence. That is the end result to be avoided at all reasonable costs. In pursuit of that goal intake of simpler sugars is counter productive. Those with normal metabolic responses to sugar can pretty much have at it within reason. Diabetics do so at their peril.

I would avoid it at all costs.

Use Stevia, Xylitol, or Nectresse.

They all taste different so you can try them out and see which agrees with you. I prefer Nectresse.

Don't use it! switch to stevia!

Personally, I don't use enough sugar to make calories a big issue- But when cooking/baking I tend towards using local honey or a stevia product (truvia usually). Both of which I might use in my occasional coffee or to sweeten oatmeal. I do get some of the artificial stuff though- I use water flavoring packets sometimes and the brand I use uses the fake sweeteners. I already plan on ditching that brand once I finish what's in my cabinet.