Sugar vs. Splenda

By some of the accounts on this site, my daily use of Splenda packets should have left me riddled with cancer in my 20s.

So anyway...

I use both stevia and Splenda to save on calories.

I'm wondering everyone's thoughts on sugar vs. Splenda. I realize sugar has more calories, but I feel like Splenda is a chemically packet of ick that may not be great for me....despite not having calories. I've never tried truvia or anything like that. Thoughts!?

I know what you mean. I have been making some dukan bran muffins (although I'm not on the diet itself). They are very tasteless and I am thinking about adding some splenda and lemon essence,,, BUT i really don't want to develop an aspartame habit, as I may not be as thin as I'd like to be but I do feel healthy. Don't really want to deliberately dump crap into my body........ :8 Maybe just two spoons between 12 muffins would be ok............. ok-ish.

It is my understanding that splenda was created while trying to develop ant poison.

On the rare occasion I use sugar, I either use dates, sugar in the raw or blue agave.

That's a good idea to use a few dates. They are so unbearably sweet when you eat them neat. What on earth is blue agave?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_nectar

I went from Sugar to Splenda and then Truvia. I don't find Truvia to be bitter at all nor do I find it to be nearly as sweet as others have said. I didn't really have a problem with Splenda but my Dad, who is a chemist, really encouraged me not to use it. He and my mom use Stevia but I can't stand it. That's how I ended up with Truvia which is an acceptable alternative / compromise for me. When I am at a restaurant I use Splenda. I can honestly say, I don't miss sugar at all.

I'll eat any sweetener but sugar.

My goal is not only to lose weight but to eat a much more healthy diet. So I have eliminated all *added* artificial sweeteners.

I use stevia powder in my protein drinks and Truvia in my coffee and tea. Truvia doens't seem to have the little bit of bitterness that straight stevia can have in some things, but it does have 3 carbs per packet. So I use pure stevia when I can.

I use raw, unpasteurized honey (or maple syrup) on things like oatmeal, baked apples, etc. I really like the idea of raw, local honey: it's supposed to help with allergies, too. I haven't tried agave, but I've read good things about it, and if I do any baking, I plan to use that instead of sugar.

If I'm out somewhere and have to chose between sugar and a blue/pinkl/yellow packet, I'll chose sugar.

There are still some prepared foods that I occasionally eat that have artificial sweeteners in them (e.g. SF Jello), so I still get some of that in my diet. But since I've given up diet soda and many other "diet" foods I used to eat in exchange for whole foods, the totals are much less than what I used to consume.

Having said all this, I did a couple weeks of extreme low carbs (24 grams max per day) and it really broke my sweets cravings, so I don't need as much of any of this as before.

And that's my $.02!