The TRUTH About Artificial Sweeteners

The mistake people make is the “all or none” mentality. Not all artificial sweetners are created equal. It would take too much to list here. This topic is much more complex than “yes or no” or “sugar vs sweetner X”.

I’d like to hear more about it. I drink one diet coke per day and have equal or a “fake sugar” in my latte when I drink coffee. I try and drink loads of water and limit sugar including carbs. But when I do want it, I like being able to have the choice. Interesting to hear some facts as there are times when we read such conflicting things in the media like one thing is good for you and then the next day it’s not. So bring on the facts!

I have just tipped 2 ½ gals of cranberry drink down the sink because I found it was sweetened with sucralose, an organo-chlorine, like DDT to me, with a chemical background. I think its ancestry, sucrose or petroleum, is unimportant after chlorination. Both have persistence, sucralose about 50% in body after 24 hours. Small packs can be labelled as ‘no calories’ if under 5 grams, so Splenda, 99% white sugar and 1% sucralose in pack, is allowed to be described as ‘sugar free’. Read Dr.Mercola’s book “Sweet Deception” (Nelson Books, 2006). Male fertility is not properly tested yet. (Affects rats)”
Aspartame was first registered as an ant poison. A very good one. FDA refused approval because of serious neurological effects – until pressure was applied, then reversed decision. It has links to ADD, children especially susceptible and can cause many effects on a small but significant number of people. Both can assist weight increase, but not the healthy sort.
Stevia is without any problems.

I really wonder what is bad and what isn’t, because there is so much information that is contradictive, that I sometimes feel like giving up on the
whole concept of searching for information. Health seems to be a very profit
gaining bussiness in the world, no matter what the truth might be. So I am still using Canderel an sweetner that has aspartaam in it. As far as Stevia is concerned it so very expensive (and not easy to get in Holland), that I can not afford it.

I occasionally have a diet soda, because once in a while I like one but don’t want all the sugar, but mostly it seems safer just to avoid artificial chemical additives/substitutes as much as possible. This is mainly intuitive, but also based on a distrust of the corporate entities that manufacture and market them — issues noted above. Research that goes against powerful corporate interests seems to have a way of getting stifled or discredited pretty quickly.
For a long time, there was “no evidence” that smoking or DDT were harmful to you either…

With the exception of Coke Zero, I have never found any artificially-sweetened diet product palatable enough to be worth it. They all taste weird to me. Usually, I’ll take the sugar, because if I’m having a “treat”, I should at least enjoy it. I drink my coffee black, except for espresso, which I have with sugar.

I tried the artificial sweeteners and I did not like most of them. I find they tend to leave an aftertaste that I find bleachhhh, especially stevia. I have gone back to using sugar in my tea and coffee. I counted the calories for a while just to see how much difference the sugar made, and I found that I could easily have 3 or 4 teaspoons in my daily intake and still be pretty much within target calories. Oddly enough, I feel guilty about the sugar. I don’t drink sodas anyway and I switched to dark chocolate. I am still losing fat and gaining muscle, so what’s the big deal with sugar?

As a Sweet toothed Diabetic, I have been using Saccharine for the last 20 years.
Unfortunately this has been taken off the market here in Sourth Africa, so I am going through the testing of replacements to find one that agrees with me ,after tastewise. Aspartame has had a lot of bad publicity here, so one tends to avoid it
Looking forward to your comments.
Regards from the World Cup country.
Mike.

I have used artificial sweetners in my tea (at least six cups a day!) for the last 25 years — should I be having severe ill health problems by know?
I’m British, i drink a great deal of tea

I have recently started using artificial sweetners in my beverages, but I still prefer to use sugar (in moderation)

I have read artificial sweetners can be harmful to your body when consumed in large amounts. So, I would really like to know what research shows regarding this!

My husband is really against me drinking diet sodas and chewing sugar-free gum but I am yet to be convinced. Diet coke gives me something a bit more interestiing than water to drink at lunchtime – I’m not a herbal/fruit tea drinker and too much normal tea or coffee gets a bit much after a while. Fizzy water isn’t that readily available where I am either. The chewing gum is what stops me from munching during the day in the office.

I cannot stand artificial sweetners, it can taste the artificial in it. I love to use honey in teas and oatmeal as well as in some smoothies if I don’t have agave. I heard that xylitol is actually pretty good for you though, but have not used it and don’t know much about it either.

I personally don’t use artificial sweeteners. I prefer honey and sugar.

What about coffee? Does coffee help lose fat?

Aspartame is a poison!?

@ Don Bell:
I pretty good study of my favorite sweet thing. I believe the side effects or actually bad effects from aspartame is due to daily use and overuse. I take a few packets in my coffee pot every Saturday.

A couple years ago I got a copy of an email going around about ‘sweet poison’ and I was going to delete it as another bit of rubbish, but I ended up reading it and associated articles and decided to give it a go – stop all artifical sweeteners (I used to drink lots and lots of diet coke and having fought with weight most of my adult life, used artificial sweeteners a lot) for a couple months and see if there was any difference.

I used to have headaches every day of my life for about 25 years or so. Mostly quite severe headaches, but varying degrees, however every single day! Ate painkillers every day. Doctors didn’t want to know – just used to fob me off.

2 weeks after I stopped with the sweeteners I had a monster migraine that lasted 3 days and after that there was a calm in my head that I could not believe – it was serene! I no longer had headaches.

I also didn’t realise that the hunger I felt all day long was related to the same thing – I no longer have these severe cravings – previously I ‘had to’ eat to satisfy the cravings – if I did not I could not concentrate on my work or anything else.

I will never knowingly eat or drink anything again containing artificial sweeteners (in particular Aspartame, Phenylalanine, etc). I would not have believed it possible if I had not experienced this! I will use Stevia from time to time.

Notwithstanding the fuss about Aspartame, I’d personally be more worried about the Phosphoric Acid content of Diet Coke. Horrible, horrible stuff that you really have no business ingesting.

The calcium leaching affect of this subtance is probably the biggest concern, which is of critical importance in women of a certain age where osteoporosis risk is increased. But generally speaking, who in the f**k wants decreased Bone Mass Density at any time of life???

Try reading the likes of

Shuster J, et al; Soft drink consumption and urinary stone recurrence: a randomized prevention trial. (J Clin Epidemiol, 1992 Aug)

or

Fernando GR, et al; Consumption of soft drinks with phosphoric acid as a risk factor for the development of hypocalcemia in postmenopausal women. (J Clin Epidemiol, 1999 Oct)

and then see what you think about drinking loads of Diet Coke.

Or, just find a youtube clip of people putting teeth, bone or even coins into a cup of Diet Coke and watch what happens.

That’s what the Phosphoric Acid is doing to your insides……

Joel,

I have followed your work for some months now, and i really valuate your opinion based on research. So please, do not let this issue “on the loose”. From what i read artificial sweeteners are really dangerous!!!

Thanks,

Marta

Wow – I am stunned to read all the real life horror stories about Aspartame poisoning suffered by readers here or people they know…..I wonder if this will sway Joels opinion any?
Personally I use Stevia…..for the same reason as a few others….there has been no bad press for it (yet) and it is 0 cal and 0 glycemic index. I have a couple of mint green teas with stevia each day (which I do purely for the health benefits), tons of water…..but when I want to have a real drink (as a non tea or coffee drinker, I am a big fan of cold drinks – other than water) I squeeze lemons and limes, add sparkling or still water and sweeten with strevia……it reminds me of bitter lemon or good old fashioned lemonade and really keeps me away from all the sugar laden drinks out there.

Stevia is a good alternative to artificial sweeteners. Its 100% natural and low in calories.

@ Alex:
If you mean maltodextrin, stay away! If you are concerned about your blood glucose response, that is. Splenda and maltodextrin both have a nasty effect on blood sugar levels. Try Xylitol- a vegetable-derived sweetener made from beech trees or corn cobs, it’s the only sugar alternative that in my opinion tastes as good as equal, and has the benefit of being actually good for you. (Actively protects teeth from decay.) Yum!

Spill it , Marion.

We looked at artificial sweeteners in my Biology class at college. Its made from fruit sugar which tastes a lot sweeter than cane sugar, and they just modify it to remove the ‘calories’. I use artificial sweeteners occasionally in coffee. It has a couple of calories per tea spoon and it seems a healthier option in the long run rather than filling your blood full of unnecessary sugar!

I never have the stuff – especially when I read somewhere of one possible side-effect being ‘anal leakage’! Ugh! Personally I find sweeteners taste awful and if we are really honest with ourselves they totally spoil the taste of any beverage. I agree with Wende Sharrock above – stay as natural as you can as far as possible as you can – I would rather my clients have a tiny amount of natural local area honey any day. “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food” Hippocrates (460-377BC) Age old advice which we ignore at our peril!

Look if you want a healthy diet just cut sugar completely. Your taste buds adapt to a less sweet diet and if you have to sweeten things then use the natural stuff like honey or maple syrup. Yes it still has calories but at least it’ll also give you other good things that your body can use. Artifical things that are made with chemicals can’t be good for your body. You should see my two year old after these things (which he rarely has by the way), not only does his skin flare up but he is also hyper active. His body is use to a natural healthy diet and that just proves that chemicals in our food does us no good what so ever. I can also feel it in myself, I too get hyperactive and don’t know what to do with myself. Look people, if you want to make a difference in yourself then you can’t keep holding onto the things that you know aren’t good for you just because they don’t have a high calorie count. Please don’t kid yourself.
Enjoy good food but keep away from any type of chemical. If it’s manmade don’t use it.

@ Steve Cooper:
Check out Dr. Mary Enig’s article “The Ploy of Soy”, and “Soy Alert:Tragedy and Hype”. I know, sounds dire! Basically it seems the pro’s of soy are pretty evenly matched by it’s con’s, and the take home message is one serve a day is more than enough- unless you are talking about fermented soy products like miso (yum) or tempeh (yech).
According to Jonny Bowden, Soy contains large amounts of natural toxins that inhibit nutrient absorbtion, haemagglutinin that promotes blood clots, and goitrogens that suppress thyroid function, and has no nutritional advantage over cow’s milk (organic, raw).