The TRUTH About Artificial Sweeteners

You know I would have been one of the ones doing the staring. Once you had pointed out that it was based on nothing credible I started doing a little digging myself and it turns out you are right. I found no studies that confirmed that aspartame causes cancer (well unless you are eating like 10lbs of it).

FDA = Food & Drug Administraion.

The FDA approves the manipulation of food and the administraion of drugs.

It’s all about the Patents. A Patent on harmful food (pesticides, additives, processing etc) leads to a Patent on drugs to overcome the proven diseases cased by these exact foods.

Go natural!
http://www.steviacafe.net/fda-approves-aspartame-bans-stevia

I don’t use artificial sweeteners primarily because I don’t like their taste and figure that I also avoid whatever harmful effects they may have. I feel strongly that my kids do not use them because I believe they haven’t quite been around long enough to have relevant research that shows they are harmless for kids.
I have read studies of harmful effets on animals though I don’t remember enough to quote them. For the record, I drink coffee and tea WITHOUT sugar. Just milk or cream… I belive in naturally occuring foods as the best rule of thumb, even if not a panacea.

I have rarely used artificial sweeteners of any kind–mostly because I just don’t like the taste–and also because of the bad press. I use stevia now. It does have a bit of a different taste to it, but I found vanilla flavored stevia which is quite pleasant and I use it in my coffee and to sweeten other things.

I’m not sure that it is related but when I was in high school I drank a case of diet coke every day, seriously,,,Anyway when I was 24 I had a huge tumor removed and my right ovary….at 29 I had another tumor and a total hysterectomy
I still drink a can a day and I have been drinking a lot of crystal light but that’s probably just as bad. I wish I liked water;(

“All things in moderation”

How about cutting out 95% of the junk you’ve eaten in the last year instead ?
What’s the point of avoiding aspartame if you’re eating Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, and a Big Mac for lunch ?

Even too much water will kill you.

Everything in moderation.

I use Sweet & Low, a saccharin product, in herbal teas. I get much of my water in this form. I have a few times sprinkled a bit over a fruit dish when I want a sweeter fruit. I do like carbonated drinks, so I usually have some unsweetened, flavored carbonated water on hand, but I do crave a flavored soda from time to time. When I do it is always sugar-free (or diet or zero or whatever else they call it these days). After starting the DSP and modifying and stepping up my exercise program I lost about 15 lbs. and was able to go OFF my diabetes medication (it was a low dose for borderline diabetes, but it was a diabetic condition nevertheless, and one that I was glad to control). I am very interested in learning what you have to say about any of the artificial sweeteners, both for diabetics and non-diabetics.

As one who adds the yellow packet to her joe every AM, I’d like to know what I’m doing to my epigenome (did anyone else see the PBS program about what everything we put into our body has some affect on our genes). Enlighten us Joel.

I drink Coke Zero, 3 to 4 per day. Would really like to hear your research on this.

Thanks,
Ray

hey men I use Stevia sweetener, but personally like the kind of sweetener used in some non-calorie beverages i guess the Asparatme y Acesulfame K I’ve read that those are pretty stable means that exactly how you ingest them you expellit, there’s no quimical alteration to those substances done by yopur body, and in contrast with the sugar very low doses are needed to match the sweetness.

Somethings are just so obvious, they dont need research or numerous studies that have been tested on rats. Everyone is always looking for the easy way, be it diet or exercise, chemicals can’t be good for you. Common sense.

Well, I confess that I reach for a can of ‘sugar free’ coke over the regular but I have always realised it was bad for me. I think we’re pretty much screwed as far as the ‘chemicals-in-our-food’ issue goes so unless we all switch to bio-dynamic or organic diets…there’s no point in panicking; the damage has no doubt already been done.

Ya I’d like to here your take. I think the research really is “in” about aspartame, some people have severe and acute symptoms after just one dose, headaches, stomach aches, etc…

However, I do like my Sweet n Low, which is saccharine. It’s been around long enough now and no research shows any bad side effects so far. So if you do a compare of all the different kinds, that would be great!

Using artificial sweeteners helps keep me from using excess “real” sugar. I like using Splenda. I use it in my coffee, baking low-fat cakes, etc..
It helps keep the weight from crawling up the scale ;-)

I have seen plenty of evidence concerning how bad artificial sweeteners are for you. I can’t use certain ones because they give me diarrhea. My husband gets headaches from them. Stevia is natural, and I’ll drink something with it occasionally. I don’t see any reason to use artificial sweeteners, frankly. If you want the evidence against them, try drmercola.com or naturalnews.com . They have the information and scientific citations.

And by the way, when I allow myself to take artificial chemicals into my body, I tend to dislocate my joints. Most of the time it isn’t painful, but sometimes it is excruciating, and after a summer of being unable to walk because of a dislocated hip, I no longer willingly consume anything like that.

splenda is chemicalized sugar …..in fact they are all chemicals and not something nature intended for our bodies. I am for putting fewer chemical into my body and not more…its stevia for me…sweetner from a plant source and wonderful!

I just finished reading an article by a fitness expert that said if you can’t lose your belly fat, to take a look at the artificial sweetner that you are using…even crystal light and I’m a big crystal light junkie. I gave up sweetener for two days now and I thought I was going into withdraws. LOL. supposedly the liver cannot process an artificial sweetener because it has no nutritional value, therefore the body does not know what to do with it but store it. I was gonna try this for a month, but it’s getting real hard. I use 4 packets in my oats every morning and drink crystal light faithfully.

i have personally given up on using any sugar real or artificial for years now. i gave up on sugar mostly because the amount i added to my coffee added up to more than my daily amount of sugar without eating any food i decided to just get my sugar thru food only again watching what i consume. As far as artificial sweeteners go Equal,saccherine,splenda,asparatame,etc are made products that are processed in a laboratory then massed produced they are not found in nature so they will cause problems inside our bodies when broken down in digestion becoming chemicials which are hard to remove from our systems rapid. if you must have a sweeter taste to whatever you are drinking add natural products not chemicals try cinnamon in your coffee either brewed in or sprinkled in

I don’t use artificial sweeteners and I try to avoid drinks with them… the main reason is I dislike the taste, or more precisely, the aftertaste.

@ Wende Sharrock:

Hi Wende,

You mention Fructose and Sucrose. Those aren’t artificial sweeteners, but are actually forms of sugar. They have just as many calories, but they are sometimes refined sugars. The side effects you noticed may have been a side effect of the chemicals used in the production of them.

Or you may have just had a spike in blood sugar that caused these effects. I’m not sure, i’m not a doctor, but I do know that fructose, sucrose, and glucose are all the most common forms of sugar in the world. They are also often naturally occurring in the fruits and ingredients in your protein powder.

Finally! I cant wait to hear the truth behind all the artificial sweetners!
I only use the green packets! (truvia or stevia). Not because I have any concrete proof that the “blues, pinks, or yellow’s” are actually causing weight gains in rats, it’s just what I’ve heard! I usually suggest to my clients that they should do thier best to make healthy choices when it comes to sweetnters, and using the “green” packets is one that I chose.
I’m anxiously awaiting your comments!!
:)
Susan Edson

I put Splenda in coffee and tea, but only a small amount. I used to use sugar, but not very much of that either. I typically put one packet of Splenda in a large cup of coffee, or about a 1/2 packet in a 12 ounce glass of iced tea. I drink diet coke very occasionally (maybe 1 or 2 a week) and if Splenda is not readily available I will drink unsweetened tea. I do like the Dannon Light yogurt cups (80 calories per 6 oz serving) and they do contain aspartame.

Hi Joel,

The problem I have with your stance is that you can never prove that something is safe, there are too many factors to consider, and given the controversy in its beginnings with the US FDA it says NO WAY to me. What about long term (I mean life time) effects on mental health such as brain plaques that affect so many older people causing dementia?. Is it 100% safe when it already has a warning on the label? I’m not taking the risk!

I use stevia

Artifical sweetners are toxic to the body. Since when is man-made food (if you can call it that) is good for the human body. If a sweetner is needed, try Stevia. It is from the stevia plant, all natural and doesn’t affect the body like NutraSweet,
Sweet-n-Low, Splenda, etc.