Splenda..?

Options
Nic529
Nic529 Posts: 69 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How bad is it for you?
And what zero or extremely low cal sweeteners can I use?
«1

Replies

  • thomassd1969
    thomassd1969 Posts: 564 Member
    Options
    To be perfectly honest I gave up all sweetners because I tried them all hoping to keep at least one. Since then I have dropped weight, feel much better, and I am not bloated at all. There is so much about them that they dont know I wont put it in my body. I miss my tea and crystal light but its not worth it. Try honey or just plain old sugar if your not diabetic.
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
    Options
    How bad is it for you?
    And what zero or extremely low cal sweeteners can I use?

    The sky-is-falling brigade will be here soon. But the answer to your first question? It isn't bad for you, most likely. Only a small portion of the population have real adverse effects. The second? Use whichever you prefer. They all have the same health risks of zero. (Again, for the majority.)
  • SunshineT83
    SunshineT83 Posts: 158 Member
    Options
    Honestly, I'm not a fan of artificial sweetners anyway. They go through an rigorous chemical process to be made (even the commercial Stevia products) If you must use a zero calorie sweetner try stevia that is sold as a supplement rather than a sweetner. The Stevia sold in the supplement section are there because they are too unprocessed to be sold as a sweetner according to FDA regulations. personally, I prefer to use fruit, honey, raw sugar, or no sweetner at all. Good Luck and remember read the ingredients list on Everything Always.
  • mtaylor1980
    mtaylor1980 Posts: 135 Member
    Options
    Use Truvia, or any stevia based sugar.It is zero calorie, and doesn't mess with your body like artificial sweeteners. It is for the Stevia plant I believe. The only issue is that it may be too sweet for some people. I personally love it!
    A lot of reputable nutritionists recommend Stevia!!!
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    Options
    For me, it wasn't about giving up the sweeteners, it was about giving up the SWEET.

    Health benefits/risks of the actual artificial sweetener has nothing to do with it. If I eat everything sweetened, I expect everything to be sweet, and sugary sweet things will be more tempting to me. So I stick to known sweeteners with lots of calories for anything sweet I want to eat, because that forces me to moderate my intake of sweet things. I keep maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, and white sugar at the house. I do not have any fancy sweeteners. When I want my pancakes sweet, I put on some extra-dark amber real maple syrup. Loaded with calories. Which means I use small amounts. And damn does it taste good, because it's a treat, and may be the only sweet thing I eat the whole day.

    Then, when confronted with something like the donuts my well-intentioned project manager brought in for our project status meeting early this morning, I was able to sit there through an hour-long meeting without any real temptation to dig in to the box of donuts that was sitting directly in front of me the whole time.

    Embracing other flavors and just enjoying flavor in and of itself was my key to getting my diet under control and in balance.
  • Nic529
    Nic529 Posts: 69 Member
    Options
    Honestly, I'm not a fan of artificial sweetners anyway. They go through an rigorous chemical process to be made (even the commercial Stevia products) If you must use a zero calorie sweetner try stevia that is sold as a supplement rather than a sweetner. The Stevia sold in the supplement section are there because they are too unprocessed to be sold as a sweetner according to FDA regulations. personally, I prefer to use fruit, honey, raw sugar, or no sweetner at all. Good Luck and remember read the ingredients list on Everything Always.

    This is what I have been considering.. I have a few packets of Pure Via (Stevia extract) to try.. So we shall see :)
    Thanks for all the feedback!
  • Nic529
    Nic529 Posts: 69 Member
    Options
    For me, it wasn't about giving up the sweeteners, it was about giving up the SWEET.

    Health benefits/risks of the actual artificial sweetener has nothing to do with it. If I eat everything sweetened, I expect everything to be sweet, and sugary sweet things will be more tempting to me. So I stick to known sweeteners with lots of calories for anything sweet I want to eat, because that forces me to moderate my intake of sweet things. I keep maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, and white sugar at the house. I do not have any fancy sweeteners. When I want my pancakes sweet, I put on some extra-dark amber real maple syrup. Loaded with calories. Which means I use small amounts. And damn does it taste good, because it's a treat, and may be the only sweet thing I eat the whole day.

    Then, when confronted with something like the donuts my well-intentioned project manager brought in for our project status meeting early this morning, I was able to sit there through an hour-long meeting without any real temptation to dig in to the box of donuts that was sitting directly in front of me the whole time.

    Embracing other flavors and just enjoying flavor in and of itself was my key to getting my diet under control and in balance.

    Also something I have been wanting to do.. I feel like maybe if I cut out sweet maybe I wont crave it so much..?
  • mamamc03
    mamamc03 Posts: 1,067 Member
    Options
    Stevia
  • ChristiH4000
    ChristiH4000 Posts: 531 Member
    Options
    If my choices are real sugar or fake, I pick splenda because it doesn't have the bitter aftertaste, blue packets/equal is always my 2nd choice. I don't know if it's building up a mass of health problems for me later, but sweets are my downfall. If I can see Dt. Dr. Pepper or splenda in my ice tea as a treat, maybe I won't pick up that damn cookie.
  • butterfliespink
    butterfliespink Posts: 121
    Options
    Realistically, if you don't consume Splenda in large quantities, there are no known adverse reactions. The majority of tests done on lab rats were given 5x the amount of Splenda than the vast majority of the population would consume daily. I love it. I use 2 packs in my coffee instead of creamer most days, and I use the sugar/splenda blend for cooking. Honestly, it's up to you. Some people will say it is a horrible thing to ingest and others will say it's not. Read the research for yourself and the ingredients and weigh out your options. Thats what I do
  • DianatheRed
    DianatheRed Posts: 41
    Options
    For me, it wasn't about giving up the sweeteners, it was about giving up the SWEET.

    Health benefits/risks of the actual artificial sweetener has nothing to do with it. If I eat everything sweetened, I expect everything to be sweet, and sugary sweet things will be more tempting to me. So I stick to known sweeteners with lots of calories for anything sweet I want to eat, because that forces me to moderate my intake of sweet things. I keep maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, and white sugar at the house. I do not have any fancy sweeteners. When I want my pancakes sweet, I put on some extra-dark amber real maple syrup. Loaded with calories. Which means I use small amounts. And damn does it taste good, because it's a treat, and may be the only sweet thing I eat the whole day.

    Then, when confronted with something like the donuts my well-intentioned project manager brought in for our project status meeting early this morning, I was able to sit there through an hour-long meeting without any real temptation to dig in to the box of donuts that was sitting directly in front of me the whole time.

    Embracing other flavors and just enjoying flavor in and of itself was my key to getting my diet under control and in balance.


    This is pretty much how I feel, too. If I want sweet, I just have some of the real deal and figure it into my calories. Worth every bit :)
  • Zumbagurl64
    Zumbagurl64 Posts: 155 Member
    Options
    i used splenda forever and recently changed to stivia, when I do use sweetener, I'm trying to cut it out all together....
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    Options
    Splenda has like 3.8 cals/packet. Be careful! I was very very pissed when I found out.
  • zions_daughter
    zions_daughter Posts: 4
    Options
    I haven't seen anything yet that claims Splenda is bad for anyone's health, but maybe I'm not looking hard enough because I enjoy using it. ;)

    The reason I use an alternative to sugar is that I'm mildly hypoglycemic. (I would prefer honey as a sweetener in my tea if I didn't have this issue.) I keep my aspartame intake low (a can of diet pop every couple of weeks) because that substance is apparently a migraine trigger and I've had previous problems with recurring migraines or severe headaches.

    I really think it's about finding what you're comfortable with and watching for any side-effects that may indicate your body doesn't like Splenda, aspartame, stevia, etc. I bake with regular sugar or honey (depending on the recipe) and keep the Splenda for my tea, so I'm not going overboard with any one substance.

    I also agree that reducing the amount of sweetness in general can help. I used to eat large amounts of chocolate at one time (before discovering I was shooting myself in the foot due to undiscovered lactose intolerance - yes, I have dietary issues, but at least no known allergies!) and I didn't think of it as that sweet back then. These days I eat small amounts and find it tastes better. It's like I was desensitised previously and now I'm back to a proper appreciation.
  • zions_daughter
    zions_daughter Posts: 4
    Options
    Splenda has like 3.8 cals/packet. Be careful! I was very very pissed when I found out.

    Hmm, I'm sure the packet I used this morning in my tea said 0 cals, but I'm going to double-check the label on the box, and also the bag of Splenda with fibre that MIL gave us. I usually use one packet per pot of tea because one per cup is too sweet for me - same with the Splenda Flavours that I buy sometimes for extra pizzazz in the tea. :)
  • MrsLVF
    MrsLVF Posts: 787 Member
    Options
    Some people do have reactions from it. The worst one I had was the horrible rashes.
    I never added it to anything, however It was an ingredient in all my protein shakes & bars, powerade, & yogurt.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    Options
    Splenda has like 3.8 cals/packet. Be careful! I was very very pissed when I found out.

    Hmm, I'm sure the packet I used this morning in my tea said 0 cals, but I'm going to double-check the label on the box, and also the bag of Splenda with fibre that MIL gave us. I usually use one packet per pot of tea because one per cup is too sweet for me - same with the Splenda Flavours that I buy sometimes for extra pizzazz in the tea. :)
    The way food labeling works, they are legally allowed to list foods that have less than 5 calories as "0 calories". It's a huge scam. The portions are specifically sized to keep it under 5 calories so it can be listed as "0". Food Politics!

    It's similar to how products are allowed to be labeled as "0 trans fat" when they can be up to 0.5 g/serving (I think- it might be 1g/serving).

    Edit to add: I used to use a ton of those delicious yellow packets. I used it liberally on everything. Since finding out about the calories I have switched to stevia (which is truly 0 calorie) and Truvia (which I can't quite tell with certainty if it is truly 0 calorie or not- it contains 3 g of eurithritol (sp?) carbohydrates, but I am further investigating truvia because I really love it)
  • AlyRoseNYC
    AlyRoseNYC Posts: 1,075 Member
    Options
    I don't think there is anything wrong with it, but I stopped using it a few months ago and went back to sugar. I prefer the taste of sugar and each packet has only 15 claories. I could burn that off with 30 jumping jacks or less. Totally worth it for me.
  • chestnutbrown
    chestnutbrown Posts: 53
    Options
    How bad is it for you?
    And what zero or extremely low cal sweeteners can I use?

    The sky-is-falling brigade will be here soon. But the answer to your first question? It isn't bad for you, most likely. Only a small portion of the population have real adverse effects. The second? Use whichever you prefer. They all have the same health risks of zero. (Again, for the majority.)

    I don't know about "sky-falling brigade" but if you think of weight loss in terms of trying to eat healthily instead of trying to eat junk that is supposedly better because some chemical in it means you get less calories, then the more processed something is, the less you should eat of it!

    These sweeteners haven't been around that long relatively speaking, so we probably don't really know what the real effects of long term use are just yet, but anything that's been messed with to that extent has to have some drawbacks.

    Like some other posters have said, try to use small amounts of more natural sweeteners like fruit, honey, juice, maple syrup or good old sugar! cut down gradually so your taste buds get used to less sweetness gradually. I have sugar on my porridge (oatmeal) every morning and have cut down gradually from 1 desert spoon to 1 teaspoon of sugar and it tastes just fine and not too many calories in the grand scheme of things.

    Real, sustainable weight loss is a lifestyle change to healthy eating, not eating artificial, low calorie versions of the junk you ate before!
  • zions_daughter
    zions_daughter Posts: 4
    Options


    Real, sustainable weight loss is a lifestyle change to healthy eating, not eating artificial, low calorie versions of the junk you ate before!

    Totally agree!

Categories