Artificial Sweeteners linked to cancer?

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parisianskies002
parisianskies002 Posts: 88
in Food and Nutrition
I have been researching on artificial sweeteners because that is what l use instead of the usual regular granulated sugar and l have found lots that has been linked to cancer, weight gain (oops), and side effects. Does anyone believe this is true, and if so - what other sweeteners is best to use? l drink quite a lot of tea and coffee and l cannot have it without any sugar so this has been a bit of a *health* scare for me.

Link:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/artificial-sweeteners
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Replies

  • chels1605
    chels1605 Posts: 206 Member
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    do you mean Aspartame?
  • ChristyP0303
    ChristyP0303 Posts: 212 Member
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    My dietian says NO NO NO to fake stuff. Maybe honey would be a good option for you?
  • doobabe
    doobabe Posts: 436 Member
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    Artificial Sweetners can cause cancer and definately weight gain (among the huge list of other issues)- ABSOLUTELY. Aspartame is number one! Dont use them because they are CHEMICALS!
  • menacingsprite
    menacingsprite Posts: 37 Member
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    My mother in law had an aspartame tumor removed from her optic nerve in her brain. This stuff is bad and it can lead to all kinds of problems. I don't recommend using artificial sweeteners. If you can't drink tea or coffee with out it perhaps you can use less or rethink whether the benefits outweigh the bad stuff. If not, then maybe cutting out all those things is best.
  • SoCalSwimmerDude
    SoCalSwimmerDude Posts: 480 Member
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    Ya, Diet Coke has aspartane in it and supposedly causes brain rot... though my parents, who are Diet Coke addicts, seem to be doing well in their 60's. Many of the 'sugar free' options you see out there have some type of artificial sweeteners like various forms of corn syrup, etc. If you look at Jello pudding, they have a fat free chocolate pudding at 100 cals and a sugar free chocolate pudding at 60 cals. I go w/ the fat free at 100 cals just to be on the 'healthier' side (if you want to call it that). To each his/her own, but you can find that just about everything causes cancer these days. Not be harsh about it, and while I try to have things w/ out artificial sweeteners, I'm not going to eat carrots and apples for the rest of my life.
  • sarahbeth17
    sarahbeth17 Posts: 100 Member
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    Use stevia, its more expensive but it's not artificial and it's 0 calories, comes from a plant! It tastes a lot better than splenda too.
  • gillianjoon
    gillianjoon Posts: 96 Member
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    For better information regarding this please read this

    http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/artificial-sweeteners
  • annacataldo
    annacataldo Posts: 872 Member
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    Ive heard from two doctors that say if your going to drink pop, drink regular and stay far away from diet; the chemicals in them r very bad for you, help u gain weight, bloat, and are really unhealthy for you.

    other than that, i dont have knowledge of them; i looked up stevia once i think it was and it was linked to not being able to reproduce (have kids), cancer, and several other scary things.

    Its hard for me cuz sugar free items dont interest me, but lower calorie options do; however you look at sugar free syrup which is 20calories a 1/4 cup, but regular sugar syrup is 210 calories for the same serving..i cant have pancakes or french toast if i use regular syrup cuz i cant afford that many extra calories but if i use sugar free i dont need to worry about the calories... but then what am i putting in my body? ugh
  • sariflor
    sariflor Posts: 1
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    I really don't wish to sound rude, but all that information about the aspartame-cancer link is utter drivel and just pure ignorance and scaremongering.
    Aspartame is one of the most researched substances in the world, and there is yet a link to cancer to be found. Nothing has been found (in reputable, proper scientific studies of course) that would suggest a link between aspartame and cancer.
    The same goes for other artificial sweeteners. However, there is a very direct link to certain cancers between many lifestyle factors such as drinking alcohol, eating certain things (too much red meat, etc) or a lack of certain foods such as fibre for colon cancers, etc..
    Basically, cancer is a complicated thing, that can be affected by many factors, often also genetic ones, and it's not as simple as saying "such and such causes cancer".
    Having said that though, as I said before, nobody has found a proven link between aspartame and any cancers.

    On the "getting fat" side of things, this depends on how one interprets information. It has been found that certain artificial sweeteners cause the desire for more sweet stuff, so IF ONE GIVES INTO THE DESIRE they will eat more and hence gain fat. But again, that is dependent on the individual. You don't need to eat more if you choose to.

    The only sweetener (albeit not artificial as such!) to my knowledge where the subscance itself has been linked to weight gain was the fructose syrup that they add to many fizzy drinks. When given freely to rats, they gained more weight than the rats drinking water with sugar.
    But, of course, this is not a "low calorie" or diet sweetener, and fructose comes from fruit, so it doesn't fall under the artificial sweeteners category.

    So, in short, don't believe everything you hear, and always go to a reputable source of information for facts. And look for things that have been found in proper, scientifically backed studies. Any Tom **** or Harry can post anything on the net and that doesn't make it fact ;-)
  • kitchenfairy
    kitchenfairy Posts: 36
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    I avoid them like the plague ever since it was determined they caused my migraines and hearing loss. That being said I've simply cut back on sugar entirely, rarely drink soda and use natural sugars.. sucanant, maple syurup, honey.. it all works out. And once you do drop the amount you use, you can actually taste the food more. :wink:
  • Jeana81
    Jeana81 Posts: 5
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    I have always stayed away from fake sweeteners not only because of cancer risk but also because they have been linked to memory diseases. Aspertame, for example has been found coating the dendrites (sp) of brain nerves. That is all bad if you ask me! I use honey or raw sugar in smaller amounts to sweeten my tea, coffee, even yogert. Just slowly learn to take things a little less sweet. Your palate will adapt.
  • SenorToenails
    SenorToenails Posts: 23 Member
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    I really don't wish to sound rude, but all that information about the aspartame-cancer link is utter drivel and just pure ignorance and scaremongering.
    Aspartame is one of the most researched substances in the world, and there is yet a link to cancer to be found. Nothing has been found (in reputable, proper scientific studies of course) that would suggest a link between aspartame and cancer.
    The same goes for other artificial sweeteners. However, there is a very direct link to certain cancers between many lifestyle factors such as drinking alcohol, eating certain things (too much red meat, etc) or a lack of certain foods such as fibre for colon cancers, etc..
    Basically, cancer is a complicated thing, that can be affected by many factors, often also genetic ones, and it's not as simple as saying "such and such causes cancer".
    Having said that though, as I said before, nobody has found a proven link between aspartame and any cancers.

    On the "getting fat" side of things, this depends on how one interprets information. It has been found that certain artificial sweeteners cause the desire for more sweet stuff, so IF ONE GIVES INTO THE DESIRE they will eat more and hence gain fat. But again, that is dependent on the individual. You don't need to eat more if you choose to.

    The only sweetener (albeit not artificial as such!) to my knowledge where the subscance itself has been linked to weight gain was the fructose syrup that they add to many fizzy drinks. When given freely to rats, they gained more weight than the rats drinking water with sugar.
    But, of course, this is not a "low calorie" or diet sweetener, and fructose comes from fruit, so it doesn't fall under the artificial sweeteners category.

    So, in short, don't believe everything you hear, and always go to a reputable source of information for facts. And look for things that have been found in proper, scientifically backed studies. Any Tom **** or Harry can post anything on the net and that doesn't make it fact ;-)
    And strangely enough, that is pretty much what the link posted in the OP says...so I'm not sure what they were confused about.
  • Jill_newimprovedversion
    Jill_newimprovedversion Posts: 988 Member
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    One of the men who was on the engineering team who developed aspartame ( Nutrasweet) would not permit his family to consume it. THAT was enough "proof" for me. If he knew EVERYTHING about it, tells me there's LOTS of stuff NOT disclosed.
    Just my 2 cents.
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,319 Member
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    Ready a the yourself when amount is no returned outlet carpet solution, electronics club class appliance word.
  • fh1951
    fh1951 Posts: 441 Member
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    parisian, from the link you provided:

    Sucralose (also known as Splenda®) was approved by the FDA as a tabletop sweetener in 1998, followed by approval as a general purpose sweetener in 1999.

    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.

    but believe what you wish...
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
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    From everything I've read from trusted sources, including the link you've posted, while there was some concern initially there's been 'no clear scientific evidence' that any of the artificial sweeteners on the market today are linked to cancer or have any negative medical effects. There are, however, tons of sites out there with misinformation about them that a lot of people take as 'fact'. Certainly some people don't like the taste of the artificials, and others are sensitive or allergic to them, but none of this means they're dangerous to use.

    My suggestion is do your research, decide what sources you trust, and make your own decision about what you want to put in your body.

    Me, I don't worry about them.
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
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    They have NEVER been proven to cause cancer,and as for weight gain I drink 1 to 2 everyday an ive lost 55 pounds
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
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  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
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  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
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