Artificial Sweeteners.

anovasjo · January 2011

Artificial sweeteners are bad for you. Perhaps it may seem to keep you personally from gaining weight, but consider these points:

"Unfortunately, [artificial sweeteners] are all linked to cancer and various other medical problems. The body treats them, and many other chemicals, like toxins."

"[Sucralose, aka Splenda] was shown to cause shrunken thymus glands (shrank as much as 40%), as well as enlarged and calcified kidneys. Nevertheless, the FDA approved it for use. Since then animal research has suggested it may cause problems with caecal enlargement and renal mineralization"

"Aspartame, aka Nutrasweet or Equal, has been shown to cause lymphoma and leukemia in rats. It is considered the most dangerous artificial sweetener."

"A Purdue University study released Sunday in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience reported that rats on diets containing the artificial sweetener saccharin gained more weight than rats given sugary food, casting doubt on the benefits of low-calorie sweeteners. "There's something about diet foods that changes your metabolic limit, your brain chemistry," said ABC News' medical contributor Dr. Marie Savard."

"Sucralose was actually discovered while trying to create a new insecticide. It may have started out as sugar, but the final product is anything but sugar. According to the book Sweet Deception, sucralose is made when sugar is treated with trityl chloride, acetic anhydride, hydrogen chlorine, thionyl chloride, and methanol in the presence of dimethylformamide, 4-methylmorpholine, toluene, methyl isobutyl ketone, acetic acid, benzyltriethlyammonium chloride, and sodium methoxide, making it unlike anything found in nature. If you read the fine print on the Splenda web site, it states that "although sucralose has a structure like sugar and a sugar-like taste, it is not natural." "

"The presence of chlorine is thought to be the most dangerous component of sucralose. Chlorine is considered a carcinogen and has been used in poisonous gas, disinfectants, pesticides, and plastics. The digestion and absorption of sucralose is not clear due to a lack of long-term studies on humans. The majority of studies were done on animals for short lengths of time. The alleged symptoms associated with sucralose are gastrointestinal problems (bloating, gas, diarrhea, nausea), skin irritations (rash, hives, redness, itching, swelling), wheezing, cough, runny nose, chest pains, palpitations, anxiety, anger, moods swings, depression, and itchy eyes."

I'm not suggesting people choose to consume a litre of regular soda a day because the artificial sweetener in diet soda is bad for you- having that much sugar or artificial sweetener a day is awful for you, no matter which one you choose. I'm just trying to shed a bit of perspective on the whole diet-whatever phenomenon.
Please feel free to disagree!

sources:
http://www.medicinenet.com/artificial_sweeteners/article.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/Story?id=4271246&page=1
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/232266/why_you_should_avoid_artificial_sweeteners.html

SamanthaBarber · January 2011

Ever try Truvia?

abalina · January 2011

yes yes! i herd they are super horrible for you!

Sweeteners have aspartame in them and when you put these sweeteners into youre body the aspartame turns int formaldehyde because of youre bodys core temperature.! yuck!

Jaedynmoon · January 2011

I completely agree with you! I kicked out everything with artificial sweetener...I hate how it is in everything but I already have to check levels for dairy content (dairy free diet due to lactose intolerance) so artificial sweeteners are on my list to check for. Plus, that stuff always made me crazy bloated, moody, craving sweet things...all sorts of stuff. I don't even have a sweet tooth anymore since I kicked the artificial sweeteners. I wish more people would realize a little bit of real sugar is less harmful than the massive quantities of artificial sweeteners that people consume these days! Great post!

cardbucfan · January 2011

I've pretty much cut out all artificial sweeteners but I need splenda in my coffee. I've tried, tried, tried to like Stevia (my husband uses it) but it has a funky aftertaste to me. So, I'll risk my 4 splenda packets a day so I can be a civilized human being!

Yeah, and I do still eat Weight Watcher's ice cream bars and they have splenda.

swermund · January 2011

I had all kinds of problems that have now been linked to aspartame. I was misdiagnosed as having Lyme Disease. I was treated with antibiotics, including an IV every day for 2 weeks. Nothing worked. A year later I found out that my results were a false positive and I never really had Lyme Disease! I began researching what else it could possibly be and decided to cut out aspartame because of this. I feel normal agian! I spent an entire year with joint and muscle pain that could not be treated and it's all gone! I had sleep issues, memory issues, as well as just feeling bad. I was always tired and HAD to take a nap each day to survive. I'm telling you all, cut out the aspartame now! It's bad news!!!

anovasjo · January 2011

Ever try Truvia?

Never tried it. I don't really even eat regular sugar. :embarassed:
Truvia is actually not even available in Canada because of how few tests have been conducted on it.

"Health Canada doesn't allow stevia or its extracts to be used as a food additive in this country because of insufficient evidence to support its safety. " (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/stevia-is-sweet-but-is-it-safe/article1333389/)

According to wikipedia, Truvia was developed by Coca-cola and is a stevia-based sweetener.
Since it's so new, no long-term studies have been conducted at all.

anovasjo · January 2011

Re: truvia/stevia

“There are a lot of risks and none of the big players seem to care,” said Curtis Eckhert, professor in the environmental health sciences and molecular toxicology department at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Dr. Eckhert helped prepare a report last year for the U.S.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest that urged more testing on stevia extracts before it is widely introduced into the population.

He said evidence of possible genetic mutations in animals caused by stevia extracts is alarming and that companies should launch rigorous studies on the effects in humans to determine the potential risk.

“We thought the risk was high enough because of the data that's out there, this study should be done before [stevia] is added in such a wide variety of products,” Dr. Eckhert said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/stevia-is-sweet-but-is-it-safe/article1333389/

anovasjo · January 2011

I had all kinds of problems that have now been linked to aspartame. I was misdiagnosed as having Lyme Disease. I was treated with antibiotics, including an IV every day for 2 weeks. Nothing worked. A year later I found out that my results were a false positive and I never really had Lyme Disease! I began researching what else it could possibly be and decided to cut out aspartame because of this. I feel normal agian! I spent an entire year with joint and muscle pain that could not be treated and it's all gone! I had sleep issues, memory issues, as well as just feeling bad. I was always tired and HAD to take a nap each day to survive. I'm telling you all, cut out the aspartame now! It's bad news!!!

Holy ****. Glad you're feeling better. :flowerforyou:

nilisabel · January 2011

interesting about truvia.

swermund · January 2011

Thanks! :flowerforyou:

tassles · January 2011

thanks for posting this!!...I cant believe that the rats having artificial sweeteners actually got fatter than the ones on real sugar!!! now that's scary!!

I have always had a sweet tooth and have recently switched to "diet" drinks etc to help me still get the sweet fix that i need!

Now I will have go with out sweeteners of any kind to lose this stubborn tummy fat!! .....

anovasjo · January 2011

thanks for posting this!!...I cant believe that the rats having artificial sweeteners actually got fatter than the ones on real sugar!!! now that's scary!!

I have always had a sweet tooth and have recently switched to "diet" drinks etc to help me still get the sweet fix that i need!

Now I will have go with out sweeteners of any kind to lose this stubborn tummy fat!! .....

Moderation is key! Don't deprive yourself ENTIRELY of satisfying your sweet tooth or you'll just be miserable. Have a little treat and be satisfied.

I find adding cinnamon (without the sugar) helps give the impression of sweetness. Ditto for nutmeg.

bettyboop573 · January 2011

i have been reading up also on artificial sweeteners so thanks for more helpful info

Bakkasan · January 2011

Never had an issue with any form of artificial sweeteners. I'm not putting sugar in my coffee and I am not drinking it black/unsweetened. We make our choices.

jenbk2 · January 2011

I literally just put Stevia raw in my coffee and it tastes amazing. I will not do sugar or on the flip side no sweetener in my coffee. I am a diabetic so I limit my carbs.

kimiel · January 2011

I have tried all of the sweeteners and have never liked any of them. They all have an after taste to me, so I will continue to use sugar in moderation. I have an occasional Sprite or Dr. Pepper and that is very rare. In my opinion there is no good substitute for real sugar. But that's just me!

noltes2 · January 2011

Thanks for the helpful info, with credible sources! I hate it when people post this type of thing and don't back it up with sources or personal experience.

I was literally drinking a Propel (which contains sugar AND sucralose) and almost spit it out when reading! It's common knowlege that the more natural something it is the better, but when we aren't aware of the consequences it's easy to brush off.

I gave up diet soda a while back, but I still drink Propel and the occasional skinny vanilla latte. Water it is

and

Artificial Sweeteners.

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