Sugar or Splenda

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  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    Hi there,

    Thanks for all of the replies. It's really interesting to read your thoughts/habits.

    Regarding, Stevia, I've never heard of it so decided to Google it. http://www.stevia.com/ The website states that it's "natural" yet has zero calories....even lettuce has calories, so I find it hard to believe that Stevia is natural? It sounds like it's another cooked up substitute to me?

    My understanding is that Stevia (which is an herb) is many (several hundred) times sweeter than sugar. This means that you can use less of it, so there are fewer calories for the same level of sweetness. Agave is a little sweeter than sugar, again meaning you can use less of it. This is the same way that the common artificial sweeteners work.
  • MrsKunz
    MrsKunz Posts: 151 Member
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    The chemicals in them really effect the brain and nervous system. My dad still to this day has random seizures, dizziness, and has had 1 stroke and 3 heart attacks!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I'm really sorry to hear about your Dad. It sounds to me though like maybe there is something else going on since he is still having symptoms. I know you are saying that the sweeteners permanently damaged his nervous system but do you have any proof of this? I wouldn't really accept the answer that doctor gave you as fact, it sounds a tad dodgy to me.

    Studies have shown that there are no significant long term effects of approved sweeteners when consumed on an 'everyday' basis - ie if you are drinking 4 litres of diet coke each day you might want to rethink things.


    See the reason why it bothers me so much when you say this is cause it seems like when people find 1 answer they wanted they stop researching keep researching cause there are studies that say there are long term effects. The long term effect that he suffers from now is the part of the part that has been damaged can never be repaired so there for he continues to have such sensitivity to seizures. I would love to say that there was a possibility that it could be something else causing them but we have tested everything.
    Examples 2 weeks ago he was having so heartburn so naturally he grabs 2 tums and gets rid of it simple enough but no 30 mins later he starts getting dizzy and has another seizure. Ok so we just thought it was another nothing we could do. Next day same thing heartburn, tums, seizure, don't know again. Ok 3rd day same routine, this time check everything all his food drinks everything and we checked the tums and of course artificial sweetener. So the next day no seizure but heartburn and he decided to take pepcid. Ok another example a couple months back he hasn't had anything but real sugar and not a seizure great we feel good but he is a funeral director so he is a funeral and he has a random seizure and this it lasted a long time so he is rushed to the hospital a hospital he hasn't been to and the NEW doctor he has never seen talks to him about the same studies that have found the damaging effects of long term use of artificial sweeteners.

    Now you have the freedom to think what you will i'm just trying to share to hopefully help someone else from having the same issues. As his Daughter i'm devastated every time and hope one day this will get better all though the doctors have said don't be surprised if this never goes away....
  • jsokolow3
    jsokolow3 Posts: 16 Member
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    For example, I know I need to also find a more natural substitute for my morning oatmeal...just looking at the powder in the bowl with the oats tells me they have done a lot of processing....

    I assume you are eating instant oatmeal? You can make your own oatmeal in the microwave in 2 minutes. 1 part whole old-fashioned oats to 2 parts water. I also add a sprinkle of oat bran and wheat germ. Nuke on high 1 minute, stir, then nuke 1 more minute. Voilà, real oatmeal in almost the same time as instant!

    My mom taught me this a few years ago

    PS, this is my first post ever, so apologies if it's not exactly right.
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,449 Member
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    I am not sure what is in truvia, but they have added something tasteless to bulk up the stevia and give it a sugar like consistency.

    This would not surprise me - from a commercial perspective, it not only makes sense to do this to sell more to consumers as it makes it look more like something they are acclimated to consuming, but also probably makes the plant go further - i.e. they can make more money from a harvest.

    I have some "stevia extract" and a box of truvia. 1 packet of truvia = the sweetening power of a tiny pinch of my stevia extract. It comes with the tiniest scoop. The measuring spoon labeled "pinch" in my set is about 3X the amount that is in this little scoop in my stevia extract. When I used the liquid, I found that an entire drop from the eyedropper was too much.

    This is why I am suspicious. But the packet is easier to carry around than the stevia extract pack in my purse.
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,449 Member
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    For example, I know I need to also find a more natural substitute for my morning oatmeal...just looking at the powder in the bowl with the oats tells me they have done a lot of processing....

    Get the plain oats or steal cut and make your own flavors. If you have trader joes, I love the "quick steel cut oats" they have. They take about 8 minutes to cook.
  • shiseido_faerie
    shiseido_faerie Posts: 771 Member
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    I use plain on sugar. I don't like the taste of the substitutes and they trigger migraines for me.
  • MelissaWI
    MelissaWI Posts: 133 Member
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    I use sun crystals 5 calories a pack, it has stevia and pure cane sugar and also Florida Crystals. 10 calories a pack. I used to use splenda till i found out it was bad for me.. I am wondering if it is the same with crystal light and things of that sort...
  • Jenninedinburgh
    Jenninedinburgh Posts: 70 Member
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    For example, I know I need to also find a more natural substitute for my morning oatmeal...just looking at the powder in the bowl with the oats tells me they have done a lot of processing....

    I assume you are eating instant oatmeal? You can make your own oatmeal in the microwave in 2 minutes. 1 part whole old-fashioned oats to 2 parts water. I also add a sprinkle of oat bran and wheat germ. Nuke on high 1 minute, stir, then nuke 1 more minute. Voilà, real oatmeal in almost the same time as instant!

    My mom taught me this a few years ago

    PS, this is my first post ever, so apologies if it's not exactly right.

    Hey there - thanks so much for posting. Your first post is great and I am thankful that you decided to share with me first :). I ordered some organic oats for delivery this week and will try them out with your suggestion :).
  • Jenninedinburgh
    Jenninedinburgh Posts: 70 Member
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    I am not sure what is in truvia, but they have added something tasteless to bulk up the stevia and give it a sugar like consistency.

    This would not surprise me - from a commercial perspective, it not only makes sense to do this to sell more to consumers as it makes it look more like something they are acclimated to consuming, but also probably makes the plant go further - i.e. they can make more money from a harvest.

    I have some "stevia extract" and a box of truvia. 1 packet of truvia = the sweetening power of a tiny pinch of my stevia extract. It comes with the tiniest scoop. The measuring spoon labeled "pinch" in my set is about 3X the amount that is in this little scoop in my stevia extract. When I used the liquid, I found that an entire drop from the eyedropper was too much.

    This is why I am suspicious. But the packet is easier to carry around than the stevia extract pack in my purse.

    Yeah, sounds suspicious - but like other posters have said, we can do what we can to eat better - but unfortunately it's near impossible to eat totally organic or non-chemical, non-processed foods - our societies thrive on them and sometimes in a good way.
  • Jenninedinburgh
    Jenninedinburgh Posts: 70 Member
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    For example, I know I need to also find a more natural substitute for my morning oatmeal...just looking at the powder in the bowl with the oats tells me they have done a lot of processing....

    Get the plain oats or steal cut and make your own flavors. If you have trader joes, I love the "quick steel cut oats" they have. They take about 8 minutes to cook.

    Thanks for the suggestion. We don't have Trader Joes here in Scotland, but I did order some organic oats to try this week. I have my groceries delivered and they should be here tomorrow.
  • jsokolow3
    jsokolow3 Posts: 16 Member
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    For example, I know I need to also find a more natural substitute for my morning oatmeal...just looking at the powder in the bowl with the oats tells me they have done a lot of processing....

    I assume you are eating instant oatmeal? You can make your own oatmeal in the microwave in 2 minutes. 1 part whole old-fashioned oats to 2 parts water. I also add a sprinkle of oat bran and wheat germ. Nuke on high 1 minute, stir, then nuke 1 more minute. Voilà, real oatmeal in almost the same time as instant!

    My mom taught me this a few years ago

    PS, this is my first post ever, so apologies if it's not exactly right.

    Hey there - thanks so much for posting. Your first post is great and I am thankful that you decided to share with me first :). I ordered some organic oats for delivery this week and will try them out with your suggestion :).

    You're welcome! Enjoy! :-)
  • Loves418
    Loves418 Posts: 330 Member
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    I try to not sweeten my beverages. On the rare occassion that I do sweeten my beverage, I use sugar. The tiny amount of calories in a tsp of sugar is really not worth eating chemicals ove.r

    Amen......:drinker:

    Well said..I used to use splenda started having weird chest pains feeling dizzy the only thing I could think of was that I had started using splenda as soon as I stopped it went away and never came back...bring on the sugar...1 or 2 tspns can be worked into my calories when need be!!
  • hickman71
    hickman71 Posts: 5
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    I'm glad I stumbled across this post. I started using Splenda over the weekend, by Monday night I just felt off. I went to bed early and woke with a dull headache in the middle of the night. I ended up throwing up a few times and going back to bed. Today (Tuesday) I have been having stomach issues (pains and diarrhea). I suppose I could have a virus but as soon as I got sick in the night I wondered if it was the Splenda. I have been using it in my iced tea. Today I made some with just a small amount of sugar. I think I will stick with sugar and just try to get used to drinking my tea unsweetened.
  • calliope_music
    calliope_music Posts: 1,242 Member
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    i use Splenda because it takes less of it to make things sweet for me.

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