Aspertame

iluvsparkles
iluvsparkles Posts: 1,730 Member
in Food and Nutrition
i am addicted to sweet tea.

Ive noticed over the course of these few weeks that i get far too many of my calories from the sweet tea i drink.

Today, despite my aversion to artificial sweeteners, decided to get some of these crystal lite type packets to ad to water. They are made with aspartame. Though i don't like it anywhere NEAR as much as real sugar, it has a fraction of the calories...

I've read that aspartame was not passed for a long time by the FDA because of causing cancer in rats.
Is it worth looking for splenda alternatives (most of these things are made with aspertame) or some other option? What do you guys know about this?

Replies

  • iluvsparkles
    iluvsparkles Posts: 1,730 Member
    i am addicted to sweet tea.

    Ive noticed over the course of these few weeks that i get far too many of my calories from the sweet tea i drink.

    Today, despite my aversion to artificial sweeteners, decided to get some of these crystal lite type packets to ad to water. They are made with aspartame. Though i don't like it anywhere NEAR as much as real sugar, it has a fraction of the calories...

    I've read that aspartame was not passed for a long time by the FDA because of causing cancer in rats.
    Is it worth looking for splenda alternatives (most of these things are made with aspertame) or some other option? What do you guys know about this?
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
    You may want to check out stevia. Its a tree root which acts as a natural sweetener. It has a different flavor as most non-sugar sweeteners do, but its really good. It's also calorie free, and 100% all natural.

    I've been unnerved by aspertame because its history is speckled with very scary reports... the worst one I heard about was uncontrollable homicidal urges (which sadly I can't find the report on, I'm sure google will shed some light on it if you're curious). I just prefer all natural sugar, honey, or stevia :)
  • jpwarner
    jpwarner Posts: 194 Member
    There has been so many things written about aspartame on-line and I even stopped using it myself. All the Dietitians I have talked to say yes, part of it is true but not to the extent most write about. Personally I use Splenda which is made from natural sugar but still use aspartame now and then.

    John

    "As in all things in life, moderation is the key."
  • abbychelle07
    abbychelle07 Posts: 656 Member
    Try stevia or agave syrup. Both can be found in the health food stores or in the regular grocery stores in the healthy section.

    Agave is a plant and it's syrup is much sweeter than sugar. For example, in a recipe you would substitute 1/3 cup agave syrup for 1 cup sugar.
  • kratbe01
    kratbe01 Posts: 1
    Aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose (splenda) are ALL pretty nasty. The reality of it is, artificial sweeteners come at a price- and you'll have to decide what you're willing to go with.

    While cancer is NOT one of the bonified affects of these sweeteners, they have been shown to decrease cognitive function, the regenerative effects of the body, and have profound, though poorly understood, effects on the central nervous system.

    As with many things in life, moderation is going to be your friend- learning to cut back on the sweet tea and drink more water will be the best thing for your health. Either way, you're going to get calories, or toxic substitutes for them.
  • chris_in_cal
    chris_in_cal Posts: 2,520 Member
    edited July 2023
    .
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,216 Member
    edited July 2023
    abbychelle07 wrote: »
    Try stevia or agave syrup. Both can be found in the health food stores or in the regular grocery stores in the healthy section.

    Agave is a plant and it's syrup is much sweeter than sugar. For example, in a recipe you would substitute 1/3 cup agave syrup for 1 cup sugar.

    The reason why agave is sweeter is because normal table sugar is basically 50/50 glucose and fructose. Agave is around 90% fructose and glucose is not sweet and it's the fructose that gives sugars their sweetness and why those ratio's.

    Saying that, fructose is not metabolized the same as glucose. Glucose is the simplest of sugars which is used by every cell in the body for ATP (energy) and in the annals of obesity and diabetes, it's basically benign and only leads to subcutaneous fat, which is not harmful, it's what we've survived on for millennia, when we could find it.

    Fructose on the other hand is not used by any cell in the body and therefore not used for energy in this context, but every calorie of fructose is converted to a fatty acid and stored in the liver as a triglyceride for further distribution downstream through de novo lipogenesis, basically fructose is turned from a carbohydrate into a fatty acid and this added fat in the liver is what's called visceral fat, the bad stuff that is inflammatory and is for all intents and purpose the cause of most of the non communicable disease known as metabolic syndrome. The marker for this is in the amount of circulating triglycerides in the blood, ask your Dr. about it the next time you get a blood panel drawn. Anything over 150 is considered high, personally I think anything over 100 is high, but that's just my opinion.

    When too much fructose is consumed and in conjunction with someone over consuming calories in general this initially and directly contributes to fatty liver disease known as non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) which until the 80's the only fatty livers were only ever detected in people associated with alcoholism. The first case of NAFLD in a child was in the late 80's which basically surprised everyone simply because there were no cases up until then. Now of course with the amount of sugar being consumed which is around 2lbs a week children have around 5% but in the children with obesity that can be upwards from 40-80%, crazy really.

    I'm relaying this info simply to inform people that if your looking to sub a sugar anywhere in your diet, that sugar is either removed or replaced with a substitute and agave is probably the last thing someone that is obese and/or has diabetes wants to be consuming, let alone call it a health food. cheers.
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,755 Member
    neanderthin wrote: »
    abbychelle07 wrote: »
    Try stevia or agave syrup. Both can be found in the health food stores or in the regular grocery stores in the healthy section.

    Agave is a plant and it's syrup is much sweeter than sugar. For example, in a recipe you would substitute 1/3 cup agave syrup for 1 cup sugar.

    The reason why agave is sweeter is because normal table sugar is basically 50/50 glucose and fructose. Agave is around 90% fructose and glucose is not sweet and it's the fructose that gives sugars their sweetness and why those ratio's.

    Saying that, fructose is not metabolized the same as glucose. Glucose is the simplest of sugars which is used by every cell in the body for ATP (energy) and in the annals of obesity and diabetes, it's basically benign and only leads to subcutaneous fat, which is not harmful, it's what we've survived on for millennia, when we could find it.

    Fructose on the other hand is not used by any cell in the body and therefore not used for energy in this context, but every calorie of fructose is converted to a fatty acid and stored in the liver as a triglyceride for further distribution downstream through de novo lipogenesis, basically fructose is turned from a carbohydrate into a fatty acid and this added fat in the liver is what's called visceral fat, the bad stuff that is inflammatory and is for all intents and purpose the cause of most of the non communicable disease known as metabolic syndrome. The marker for this is in the amount of circulating triglycerides in the blood, ask your Dr. about it the next time you get a blood panel drawn. Anything over 150 is considered high, personally I think anything over 100 is high, but that's just my opinion.

    When too much fructose is consumed and in conjunction with someone over consuming calories in general this initially and directly contributes to fatty liver disease known as non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) which until the 80's the only fatty livers were only ever detected in people associated with alcoholism. The first case of NAFLD in a child was in the late 80's which basically surprised everyone simply because there were no cases up until then. Now of course with the amount of sugar being consumed which is around 2lbs a week children have around 5% but in the children with obesity that can be upwards from 40-80%, crazy really.

    I'm relaying this info simply to inform people that if your looking to sub a sugar anywhere in your diet, that sugar is either removed or replaced with a substitute and agave is probably the last thing someone that is obese and/or has diabetes wants to be consuming, let alone call it a health food. cheers.

    💯
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,327 Member
    There is nothing dangerous about aspartame. https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary/p1
  • Niteman3d
    Niteman3d Posts: 175 Member
    https://www.safetyofaspartame.com/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc
    OTH, do a search for morbid obesity as a cause of death. In my mind, the minuscule risk of artificial sweeteners is far less scary than the effects of obesity.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,281 Member
    Niteman3d wrote: »
    https://www.safetyofaspartame.com/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc
    OTH, do a search for morbid obesity as a cause of death. In my mind, the minuscule risk of artificial sweeteners is far less scary than the effects of obesity.

    yes that is the exact point I make in all these threads.

    the tiny hypothetical risk of artificial sweeteners is FAR less than the risk of obesity and/or poorly controlled diabetes

    of course one could do without artificial sweeteners and use no sugar sweetener either - but for most people using aspartame and co, that isnt the equation, they want things sweet or want products that there isnt a 'neither option' for ,such as soda's

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