Artificial Sweeteners?

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RPerkins726
RPerkins726 Posts: 23
in Food and Nutrition
All right, folks. Tell me about your sweetener of choice. For the last 8-9 years I've been drinking diet soda (only one/day most recently) but switched my coffee creamer and sweetener for oatmeal to Splenda as well, which when I look at it, really adds up to a lot of fake sugar in my body. Now, I preface this by saying I am not into organic food. I like normal, balanced eating and stay off the hype bandwagons. In the last week my ears have been ringing, though, and I read online (because EVERYTHING you read online true, of course!) that too much sucralose can have neurological side effects (like ears ringing...). Anyone else have any experience with this? Also wanted to know if anyone incorporated normal sugar back into their diet since losing weight and if it's been a problem to maintain that weight?
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Replies

  • tamrod2
    tamrod2 Posts: 83 Member
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    SIGH...such a controversial topic...I would love to say that eating organic sugars and honey etc is the way to go and maybe it is for a lot of people.BUT for me the calories add up too fast. I use TRUVIA in my ice tea and BLUE SKY makes some pretty good sodas with TRUVIA...I also use splenda in my coffee and for baking. I refuse to wipe all of it out of my diet so that is the best for me that I have come up with. :happy:
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    Splenda
  • RPerkins726
    RPerkins726 Posts: 23
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    Everything in moderation--and Splenda was a very useful tool when I was watching every calorie. That being said, I am essentially at goal and interested to know what changes other people have made in their diets once they're at goal to maintain.

    Also interested to know if anyone has noticed any "side effects" from artificial sweeteners? My husband was drinking a ridiculous amount of diet dr pepper a day and around Christmas he had such terrible heart burn he quit cold turkey. He says he feels 100% better. Weird!
  • chasetwins
    chasetwins Posts: 702 Member
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    :( Equal in my coffee / tea - I have tried a few others...artificial and so called natural. Splenda - strong dis like for even with baking I can taste it. I am not a huge sweet person so I think i am sensitive to sweet things and they separate from the flavor of the item. (weird I know) (think if I experimented more and maybe used less?!?!)

    I do not use artificial anything when baking / cooking unless it is just for me. My kids have a sensitivity to certain artificial stuff.

    Tried the advertised "all natural" ones and they taste more artificial than Splenda and Equal..go figure!
  • kevinrbarger
    kevinrbarger Posts: 87 Member
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    I stay away from aspartame because it is a migraine trigger for me, and too much of it can induce a panic attack. I haven't had a problem with other artificial sweeteners, though, and I honestly don't see a problem with any of them. You have to know what works for your particular body and not worry about the subjective experiences and opinions of other people. If Splenda causes ringing in your ears, stay away from it.
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
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    When searched this topic has probably hundreds of threads here. It seems to be a very popular topic and of course everyone has their own opinions. Some people believe it's absolutely terrible for you and will kill you. Some think it's ok in moderation... some won't touch it... some will consume it daily.

    Personally, I drink diet pops regularly. I some use various sweeteners in my coffee in the morning. I don't have an issue with it. I don't see anything majorly wrong with it. There have been so many things in the past that were terrible for us and cause cancer, etc etc. I have yet to see any real, valid research that states sweeteners are bad for us (except those who have issues with them... some people get migraines and such). The only tests and studies have been done on rats and in extreme quantities.

    I don't use regular sugar and really don't consume too much sweeteners but I think everything is fine in moderation.
  • samntha14
    samntha14 Posts: 2,084 Member
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    I use Stivia/Truvia at home and get splenda when I'm eating out, most restaurants don't carry stivia yet. I was asking the same question today. I'm trying to cutout food made with aspartame. That's the really dangerous one supposedly.
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
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    Sweet'n'Low has always been my go-to. It's also been around the longest, I think.
  • skinnyme47
    skinnyme47 Posts: 805 Member
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    Splenda or Monk Fruit Sweetener.:smile:
  • supermodelchic
    supermodelchic Posts: 550 Member
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    I only use Stevia....
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,992 Member
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    Natural sugars, the ones with calories. Don't consume any artificial sweeteners of any kind, not that I'm against them, they just don't have the taste I enjoy, and actually imo they just ruin the taste of otherwise good tasting food.
  • gramanana
    gramanana Posts: 762 Member
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    I've had ringing in my ears for most of my life and it was diagnosed as tinnitus. Nothing food/sugar substitute was ever mentioned even during all my research into the subject. Anyway, I had to give up diet sodas and anything else containing aspartame recently because of an allergy. I am a Truvia/Stevia user now.
  • MirandaDeCrane
    MirandaDeCrane Posts: 78 Member
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    Stevia or organic sugar is all i use...
  • haroon_awan
    haroon_awan Posts: 1,208 Member
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    Artificial sweeteners have unfair rep. They are blamed by overweight people for their weight gain or lack of weight loss. The fact is, people need to be accountable for what they put into their mouth in terms of overall nutrition, not whether they've taken a packet of sweetener. If you want to put some in your tea or coffee or oats, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing so. You won't get sick, you won't get cancer and you certainly won't get fat.

    That said, I would not recommend diet sodas in place of plain water. But if you want to drink one, then go for it. Just don't go consuming 20+ cans a day.

    Aspartame Not Linked to Cancer
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1797853/

    - Saccharin
    ...there is no clear evidence that saccharin causes cancer in humans, saccharin was delisted in 2000 from the U.S. National Toxicology Program’s Report on Carcinogens...
    - Aspartame
    ...Subsequently, NCI examined human data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study of over half a million retirees. Increasing consumption of aspartame-containing beverages was not associated with the development of lymphoma, leukemia, or brain cancer (2).
    - Acesulfame potassium, Sucralose, and Neotame
    ...Before approving these sweeteners, the FDA reviewed more than 100 safety studies that were conducted on each sweetener, including studies to assess cancer risk. The results of these studies showed no evidence that these sweeteners cause cancer or pose any other threat to human health.
    http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/artificial-sweeteners

    Does aspartame cause cancer?
    ...But studies in people can sometimes be hard to interpret, because there may be other factors affecting the results that are hard to account for.
    http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/aspartame
  • RPerkins726
    RPerkins726 Posts: 23
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    You guys are awesome, thanks for the input!

    For those of you who use Stevia or Truvia, do they leave any kind of after taste? Also wondering if anyone has used ZSweet?
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
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    You guys are awesome, thanks for the input!

    For those of you who use Stevia or Truvia, do they leave any kind of after taste? Also wondering if anyone has used ZSweet?

    I personally don't like Stevia or Truvia. I find they have an after taste... especially truvia as it's more processed. I've never heard of ZSweet.
  • tamrod2
    tamrod2 Posts: 83 Member
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    I don't like stevia in my coffee or baking..bitter taste..wish I did so I use splenda for coffee and baking.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
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    None. I can go without.
  • WeightHacker
    WeightHacker Posts: 260 Member
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    i dont use any sweeteners.
    cause... i personally dont like em.

    i prefer organic sugar or honey.

    *shrugs* simple as that.
  • Lunachic77
    Lunachic77 Posts: 434 Member
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    For my coffee I use a German artificial sweetener called Sussli that comes in tablet form. For iced tea and corn flakes I use Sweet n' Low or Stevia in the Raw. The only time I use sugar is the organic kind and I use it when I bake.

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