Splenda, Sweet and Low....

IllianaIman
IllianaIman Posts: 131
in Food and Nutrition
Hey everyone,

I was wondering if Splenda, Sweet and Low...are good for you. I have been taking them with my coffee, tea... also, it says 0 calories, so does that mean I can take as many as I want? :wink:

Have a great day!
«13

Replies

  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
    Sweet and Low I thought had studies that showed a high correlation with cancer


    I used to use sweet and low, I use splenda now. Whatever the health risks obesity is a greater one and I have a horrendous sweet tooth.
  • pixelish
    pixelish Posts: 54
    If you can get used to drinking and eating things with slightly less sweetness to them, it'll make other food decisions easier. An artificial sweetener here or there isn't likely to "cause" cancer, but it's not a healthy food.
  • Bethyann7793
    Bethyann7793 Posts: 22
    I was told that they were like artificial sweeteners. So they were as bad for you as diet pops.
    But I'm not sure on that.
    They seem fine to me though in moderation :)
  • Dnsnyder
    Dnsnyder Posts: 263 Member
    You could try stevia extract sweetener, such as Stevia In The Raw or Truvia. It's an all natural zero calorie sweetener from the stevia plant.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
    I avoid artificial sweeteners like the plague. Splenda/sweet-and-low are made with aspertame, same as diet soda.

    Based on what I've read in the past couple of years, I would not personally say that they are "fine in moderation". Eat them if you like, but there is a lot of controversy surrounding aspertame and it's a really wise idea to avoid foods that were created in a lab.
  • kschr201
    kschr201 Posts: 208 Member
    You could try stevia extract sweetener, such as Stevia In The Raw or Truvia. It's an all natural zero calorie sweetener from the stevia plant.

    I've switched to stevia recently. Just have to adjust amounts. Man, that stuff is sweet!
  • nakabi
    nakabi Posts: 589 Member
    You could try stevia extract sweetener, such as Stevia In The Raw or Truvia. It's an all natural zero calorie sweetener from the stevia plant.

    This
  • nala0517
    nala0517 Posts: 6
    I use truvia in my teas and regular sugar in my coffee. I know it is weird but to each there own u know:)
  • My1985Freckles
    My1985Freckles Posts: 1,039 Member
    I avoid artificial sweeteners like the plague. Splenda/sweet-and-low are made with aspertame, same as diet soda.

    Actually Splenda is made with aspartame, but Sweet and Low is made with sorbitol. S&L is not to be consumed by pregnant women because it is unsafe for them, but Splenda, Stevia, etc. are safe for pregnant women.

    I just read this and as soon as my S&L is gone, I'm switching to Splenda. If it isn't okay for a pregnant woman it can't be too good for the rest of us can it?
  • phillieschic
    phillieschic Posts: 615
    I use Stevia in the raw...a healthier alternative and no after-taste. :smile:
  • Abells
    Abells Posts: 756 Member
    Sweet and Low I thought had studies that showed a high correlation with cancer


    I used to use sweet and low, I use splenda now. Whatever the health risks obesity is a greater one and I have a horrendous sweet tooth.

    according to morning news everything causes cancer

    I use splenda and sweet and low all the time
  • PeaceCorpsKat
    PeaceCorpsKat Posts: 335 Member
    There may not be definiative proof they are harmful - but that seems to be the way scientists are leaning... But there is no proof that they are safe!

    Have the sugar - just because something has calories doesn't really mean it's bad for you. Or better yet - NO SUGAR! Drink it black :)
  • Ralphrabbit
    Ralphrabbit Posts: 351 Member
    The main problems with manufactured artificial sweeteners are with the nerves & they are strongly discouraged for those with neurological problems like Parkinson's disease & Multiple Sclerosis. (I have MS) Alternative natural sweeteners are no problem but it is really hard to avoid the aspertame as it seems to be in everything now & that is the worst of the lot!
    Generally it is better to wean yourself off the really sweet stuff if you can & use natural sweeteners in small amounts if necessary.
  • diddyk
    diddyk Posts: 269 Member
    I avoid artificial sweeteners like the plague. Splenda/sweet-and-low are made with aspertame, same as diet soda.

    Actually Splenda is made with aspartame, but Sweet and Low is made with sorbitol. S&L is not to be consumed by pregnant women because it is unsafe for them, but Splenda, Stevia, etc. are safe for pregnant women.

    I just read this and as soon as my S&L is gone, I'm switching to Splenda. If it isn't okay for a pregnant woman it can't be too good for the rest of us can it?

    Actually, Splenda is Sucralose, not aspartame.
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
    there is nothing wrong with them. and they have been deemed safe for consumption. any tests that have shown ill effects have been done on animals and with massive amounts.

    some people have bad reactions to them, true. but for probably 98 percent of the population, there's nothing wrong with using any of them. don't let the sky-is-falling mentality worry you. some people here just seem prone to alarmism.
  • thrld
    thrld Posts: 610 Member
    I avoid artificial sweeteners like the plague. Splenda/sweet-and-low are made with aspertame, same as diet soda.

    Based on what I've read in the past couple of years, I would not personally say that they are "fine in moderation". Eat them if you like, but there is a lot of controversy surrounding aspertame and it's a really wise idea to avoid foods that were created in a lab.

    Splenda is not made with aspertame. It is scuraloseThe majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body and therefore it is non-caloric. Sucralose is approximately 600 times as sweet as sucrose (table sugar),[4] twice as sweet as saccharin, and 3 times as sweet as aspartame. It is stable under heat and over a broad range of pH conditions. Therefore, it can be used in baking or in products that require a longer shelf life. Common brand names of sucralose-based sweeteners are Splenda, Sukrana, SucraPlus, Candys, Cukren and Nevella.

    The issue with some sweeteners is how the body treats them. Despite the zero calories, the body reacts as if sugar has been ingested & the metabolism and insulin levels can be affected just as if sugar had been ingested.
  • danasings
    danasings Posts: 8,218 Member
    there is nothing wrong with them. and they have been deemed safe for consumption. any tests that have shown ill effects have been done on animals and with massive amounts.

    some people have bad reactions to them, true. but for probably 98 percent of the population, there's nothing wrong with using any of them. don't let the sky-is-falling mentality worry you. some people here just seem prone to alarmism.

    ^^Agreed!^^

    Also, I use Xylitol because there is no aftertaste. Not exactly zero calories, but it works for me.
  • roachhaley
    roachhaley Posts: 978 Member
    I use Splenda to sweeten things like tea, cereal etc and I haven't dropped dead yet ;)

    However, splenda tastes strange when used for baking.
  • Terri_Wickwire
    Terri_Wickwire Posts: 149 Member
    Stevia is great, but sometimes the sweetness has a bit of an aftertaste; I avoid Splenda, Equal, Sweet n Low as often as I can and do not use any of them on a regular basis. If I "must" choose one when I'm out, I do gravitate towards Splenda. I enjoy either a cup of detox tea or coffee, and find I would prefer to have a spoon full of raw cane sugar than any other sweetener. I used 2 packets today in my coffee for 40 calories with my unsweetened coconut milk. Seems like a lot, but it's soothing, feels like a treat and doesn't leave the taste in my mouth that sometimes stevia leaves.
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
    The issue with some sweeteners is how the body treats them. Despite the zero calories, the body reacts as if sugar has been ingested & the metabolism and insulin levels can be affected just as if sugar had been ingested.

    Care to show this none fact with some form of proof? I can show you they don't give a noticeable spike with a wet fart in a tornado. Eating most macro's release a small amount of insulin.... no difference here.
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
    The issue with some sweeteners is how the body treats them. Despite the zero calories, the body reacts as if sugar has been ingested & the metabolism and insulin levels can be affected just as if sugar had been ingested.

    Care to show this none fact with some form of proof? I can show you they don't give a noticeable spike with a wet fart in a tornado. Eating most macro's release a small amount of insulin.... no difference here.

    exactly. sugar is sugar when it comes to the chemical breakdown in the body, also.
  • e_tasia
    e_tasia Posts: 2 Member
    I don't think they really know whether artificial sweeteners are totally safe for consumption. They are manufactured in a factory....out of chemicals...probably not this best thing to be putting in your body. There have also been studies that suggest artificial sweeteners can actually cause weight gain.
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
    Sucralose - http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7921865 -
    The commercial version of sucralose, Splenda, is cut with dextrose as a bulking agent. Dextrose is essentially glucose, which certainly elicits an insulin response, so there’s definitely the potential for a slight insulin response to Splenda, but there’s not much if any evidence that sucralose has an independent in vivo effect on insulin.

    Acesulfame K - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2887503
    Acesulfame K appears to affect insulin levels, although this effect has only been shown in contrived settings – either in the presence of glucose in isolated cells (in vitro), in isolated cells in without glucose (in vitro), or by direct transfusions without the presence of glucose (in vivo). We haven’t seen people orally taking acesulfame K in a fasted state and having an insulin response.

    Aspartame - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1946186
    Overall, the evidence seems to suggest little, if any, effect on insulin secretion as a result of tasting or consuming aspartame.
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
    I don't think they really know whether artificial sweeteners are totally safe for consumption. They are manufactured in a factory....out of chemicals...probably not this best thing to be putting in your body. There have also been studies that suggest artificial sweeteners can actually cause weight gain.

    A load of hog wash. Artificial sweeteners cannot alter the law of physics e.g. energy cannot be created, only transferred.

    I've already shown they don't increase insulin, what is/where does the energy being transferred come from exactly? As for manufactured in a factory, that puts most foods we eat out the window!
  • bugaboo2503
    bugaboo2503 Posts: 9 Member
    I get sick with a headache from those things so I canno't use them. I use STEVIA or TRUVIA. You can use them they are natural from a plant leaf with out the side effects! ;) Good luck! ;)
  • bashiera
    bashiera Posts: 140 Member
    I avoid artificial sweeteners like the plague. Splenda/sweet-and-low are made with aspertame, same as diet soda.

    Actually Splenda is made with aspartame, but Sweet and Low is made with sorbitol. S&L is not to be consumed by pregnant women because it is unsafe for them, but Splenda, Stevia, etc. are safe for pregnant women.

    I just read this and as soon as my S&L is gone, I'm switching to Splenda. If it isn't okay for a pregnant woman it can't be too good for the rest of us can it?
    You're also not supposed to eat liver or bleu cheese when pregnant, but those are okay foods. Everything in moderation. Correlation does not equal causation. I avoid artificial sweeteners because they taste bad to me, other than stevia. I use the whole leaf of stevia because I grow it and freeze it to use over the winter and it tastes fine to me compared to other sweeteners that leave a bad taste in my mouth. Just don't go overboard and drink 10 cups of coffee a day with it or 2 liters of diet coke a day and you'll probably be fine.
  • thomassd1969
    thomassd1969 Posts: 564 Member
    Medically I have no real data but I stopped eating or drinking anything with articial sweetners in it and feel so much better.
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
    I get sick with a headache from those things so I canno't use them. I use STEVIA or TRUVIA. You can use them they are natural from a plant leaf with out the side effects! ;) Good luck! ;)

    Stevia and truvia are about as natural as splenda and sweet and low.
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
    I don't think they really know whether artificial sweeteners are totally safe for consumption. They are manufactured in a factory....out of chemicals...probably not this best thing to be putting in your body. There have also been studies that suggest artificial sweeteners can actually cause weight gain.

    everything you eat is a combination of chemicals. and studies cannot show that a 0 calorie item can increase weight. because, well, calories are what cause weight loss or gain. some people seem to think they feel more hungry after ingesting artificial sweeteners. for them, they just need to show self control and choose a better option to eat or just, you know, don't eat. for others, they do add weight while having a diet coke -- because they use their diet soda choice to justify super sizing their meal.
  • nycalison
    nycalison Posts: 51 Member
    I actually just had a bad reaction to splenda, so when I looked online to see side effects, one thing that I read was that it's not a food that's why it's no calories, it's supposed to just pass through your system. A "lucky" few I guess like me will have bad side effects because our bodies ingest some of it, the site I read said that a lot of times it's actually because you have a clean GI tract. If it just passes through though I don't see how it could harm you, but long term studies haven't been done. As for me, I'm going to stick with sugar if it fits in with my day, and skip it if it doesn't :)

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