Can Splenda really cause...?

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katieacor
katieacor Posts: 43 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Recently I tried MIO flavored drops. Thought they were terrific! I see that they contain sucralose and heard that this is a natural sugar. Since I liked it so much I searched the sugar isle at the grocery store and found that Splenda is sucralose and maltodextrin, so I purchased a box. I have added it to my tea and coffee for the last 3 days. Since then I have a tight feeling in my chest, swelling in my lower legs (2+ pitting edema on my shins!) and have been exhausted. I had exercised more than my normal routine over the weekend and thought that I had just overdid it. But could Splenda be the culprit?
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Replies

  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
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    it's possible. there are plenty of "DON'T USE ANYTHING WITH CHEMICALS!!!111ONE!" people out there. for the majority of the population, splenda and the like won't have any adverse effects. but some people's bodies do respond differently.

    i would say switch off of it and do everything else the same. see if it leaves. if it does, go back on for a little bit. see if it comes back. if so, you've probably found your culprit.
  • seebeachrun
    seebeachrun Posts: 221 Member
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    Splenda causes me gastrointestinal distress within an hour or two of ingesting it. It's bad stuff. That said, I now use generic equal in my coffee with no noticeable side effects.

    By chance, have you increased your intake of tea and/or coffee recently? Or changed brands? The symptoms you relate are similar to those for high blood pressure which can be caused by caffeine.
  • Jedi_Jewel
    Jedi_Jewel Posts: 83 Member
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    By chance, have you increased your intake of tea and/or coffee recently? Or changed brands? The symptoms you relate are similar to those for high blood pressure which can be caused by caffeine.

    Good call. :smile:
  • rmhand
    rmhand Posts: 1,067 Member
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    A friend of my experienced similar symptoms. After about 2 weeks he had a rash on his stomach, after brief google search it came up Splenda. He stopped using it and all his issues disappeared.
  • xButterflyEffectx
    xButterflyEffectx Posts: 40 Member
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    Try stevia
  • lg3703
    lg3703 Posts: 190
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    I've read the reason Splenda is zero calories is because they've taken the sugar molecules and altered them so dramatically, your body doesn't know what to do with it! Lol.. I guess if it could process it, it WOULD be caloric. IDK... I'm an organic girl, myself. Lots if water and a treat of local honey or agave in my tea =]
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    I honestly don't understand the obsession with everything having to be sweet. Personally, it just makes me hungrier.

    And once you back off the sweetener for a month or so, you find that there are subtle, beautiful, and complex flavors out there that you've been totally missing out on my dumping sugar or substitutes into your drinks and onto your food.

    Explore FLAVOR, not sweet.
  • Yetta729
    Yetta729 Posts: 68 Member
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    Splenda caused yeast infection for me ... for months I could not get rid of it ... then I stopped Splenda and I was in the clear ... to make sure that Splenda actually caused the YI I started using it again, did not even take a week for the YI to return ... Stopped using Splenda, been off it since then and never had any problems again
  • PeaceCorpsKat
    PeaceCorpsKat Posts: 335 Member
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    There are some pretty heated opinions on either side of this debate on MFP. There are the "Clean food" aholics who refuse to touch additives. They think artificial sweetners are the devil. And conversly there are people who will defend the fake sugars to thier dying breath.

    My Doctor said that Spenda is a sugar molocule that is treated with cholorine that makes it impossible for the body to absorb or use it. For a lot of people it like eating wheat or lactose when they are intolerant. It's really, really bad for them. It absolutely causes Diarrhea, however some people are more sensitive to that than others.

    Truth of matter is there is no major scientific study saying the stuff is going to kill you (and think about it, who would fund that study?). However, as a reasonable consumer I don't think you can trust the studies that call them "safe." And the simplest of logic would tell us taking out fake sugars and unneccesary sugar additives all together would be highly beneficial.
  • manasunshine
    manasunshine Posts: 130
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    my doctor once told me zero calorie sweetners sold on the shelves are bad for health in the long run. theyre not good if you use them regularly. occasionally is okay but not preffered. since then i stopped.sorry i dont know the science behind it
  • montana_girl
    montana_girl Posts: 1,403 Member
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    it's possible. there are plenty of "DON'T USE ANYTHING WITH CHEMICALS!!!111ONE!" people out there. for the majority of the population, splenda and the like won't have any adverse effects. but some people's bodies do respond differently.

    i would say switch off of it and do everything else the same. see if it leaves. if it does, go back on for a little bit. see if it comes back. if so, you've probably found your culprit.

    ^^This!

    Everyone reacts differently (or not at all) to certain foods/chemicals. Personally, I have major problems with aspartame (too much gives me chronic migraines) but I have never had any problem with Splenda.

    Do what the poster suggested and see if that is the culprit, if it is, then dump it.

    Hope you get to feeling better!! :flowerforyou:
  • christenwypy
    christenwypy Posts: 335 Member
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    I heard recently that the fake sugars like splenda and sweet and low actually make you gain weight and increase your blood sugar over time. I forget all the science but it somehow tricks your body because it tastes like sugar. And anything that is overprocessed is harder for our bodies to process. So real sugar might be safer. That being said, I use Stevia mostly when I have a choice. It is a plant. Now who is to say that a few years from now people won't find that Stevia ia bad too? But for now I feel like it should be okay because it is an herb that just happens to be sweet. I do sometimes eat or drink fake sweetened things though because I don't want the calories and I am out and about with limited choices. But I have to say when I read your symptoms I have experienced them as well and now I wonder if it could be the same thing. Let us know if it stops after you stop splenda!
  • eklopez14
    eklopez14 Posts: 23 Member
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    Try stevia
  • chris5389
    chris5389 Posts: 9
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    DON'T USE ANY CHEMICALS! ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS CAUSE CANCER!
  • becoming_a_new_me
    becoming_a_new_me Posts: 1,860 Member
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    Maltodextrin is a corn complex carbohydrate. If you have any allergies to corn products, it can cause this type of problem. Sucralose by itself is not necessarily bad unless in excessive quantities - as with all things in life.
  • dedarlin
    dedarlin Posts: 41 Member
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    STEVIA if you have the option!
  • jpsgrl
    jpsgrl Posts: 32 Member
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    I heard recently that the fake sugars like splenda and sweet and low actually make you gain weight and increase your blood sugar over time. I forget all the science but it somehow tricks your body because it tastes like sugar. And anything that is overprocessed is harder for our bodies to process. So real sugar might be safer. That being said, I use Stevia mostly when I have a choice. It is a plant. Now who is to say that a few years from now people won't find that Stevia ia bad too? But for now I feel like it should be okay because it is an herb that just happens to be sweet. I do sometimes eat or drink fake sweetened things though because I don't want the calories and I am out and about with limited choices. But I have to say when I read your symptoms I have experienced them as well and now I wonder if it could be the same thing. Let us know if it stops after you stop splenda!

    I was a Splenda addict and have noticed a significant change in my body composition (mostly belly fat) from getting rid of the Splenda and using only Agave Nectar or Truvia.
  • katieacor
    katieacor Posts: 43 Member
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    By chance, have you increased your intake of tea and/or coffee recently? Or changed brands? The symptoms you relate are similar to those for high blood pressure which can be caused by caffeine.
    [/quote]

    I agree this was a great thought, but it's funny I have really starting drinking much less coffee and tea lately. And that's a blessing in itself! I think everyone's advice has been terrific. I will stop using the Splenda and just use real sugar for when I want a cup of joe! Maybe I will try stevia ???

    I find it CRAZY that there are so many wide and varied side effects out there for Splenda. Thanks again Everyone!
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
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    DON'T USE ANY CHEMICALS! ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS CAUSE CANCER!

    see? told ya.
    :)
  • zombie_meg
    zombie_meg Posts: 149 Member
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    I just started using Truvia. I like it. Nothing weird has happened, yet.

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