Artificial Sweetners

i am an avid nutritionist. i studied nutrition and was certified as a personal trainer and dietitian over ten years ago.
i am very health conscious, especially with the food i feed to my 2 1/2 year old son. i have studied sweeteners quite a bit and have found that stevia is a fantastic substitute for sugar. you can use it in baked goods, as a sweetener in coffee, tea, etc. you can easily find out more about it online, but briefly it is a powdered form of the leaf of the plant. you use very little - approx. 1 teaspoon = 1 cup of sugar, yes that's right! - and the body does not respond to it as it does to regular sugar. you probably know that artificial sweeteners are very bad. they are all chemicals. splenda is made from sugar but goes through lots of chemical processing.
so you may want to look into stevia (you can find it in health food stores, online, and in the organic section at wegmans) and also the use of barley sugars, RAW honey, and molasses. they are all great alternatives to regular sugar and definitely better than artificial sweeteners. any food source - sweetener or otherwise - than you can find in its RAW state is ideal for the body. any product that is cooked or processed loses nutritive value and is much harder for the body to break down. even a raw sugar is better than an artificial sweetener.
hope this helps!
tiffany

Hi J.,

I am a Registered Dietitian and wanted to respond to your question. There is still much controversy about artificial sweeteners and Splenda is not immune to it. Splenda (sucralose)is made from a process which begins with sugar (unlike the other sweeteners). You can "Google" Splenda and find strong arguments for both sides. Personally, I do us Splenda occasionally, however prefer to use stevia or plain sugar.

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Best,
M.

Splenda is the only thing I use. I even use it in baking now.

I don't know if Splenda is as bad as artificial sweetners or not, but I personally won't use it. I tried it once and didn't like the taste of it. I also don't trust it, just like I don't trust any artificial sweetners. I will not buy anything, eat or drink anything, or serve to my family any food or beverages containing Splenda, Aspartame, Nutrasweet, Equal, Sweet N Low, or anything of that sort. I know Splenda is suppossed to be made from real sugur but I still consider it 'artificial'.

Well, this is what the lawsuit from the makers of Nutrasweet and Equal was about: is Splenda still recognizably sugar? Splenda is made from two sugar molecules and a chlorine atom, as I understand it, so it tastes like sugar because it fits into the sugar receptors in your tongue. Whether it is better than other artificial sweeteners because it used to be sugar but now your body can't digest it is up to you. However, it is stable and indigestible to the body (unlike aspartame, for example).

Frankly, it's been studied for safety much more thoroughly than stevia has. I've seen some sketchy things about stevia, but I can't remember what they said (sorry!).

I'm pretty sure that some pediatricians are ok with kids having splenda, but I think it's probably better to err on the side of caution and not give your kids anything other than actual sugar (although that has its drawbacks, too, as I'm sure you know).

Splenda can be very bad...I had a severe all over the body rash from it so be careful.

:)

I used Splenda all the time. They say its made from sugar. Im sure nothing is safer that sugar but it doesnt contain aspertame or anything like that.
K.

J.,

Splenda may be 'made from sugar', but it is not sugar, and your body does not process it as such. It is a chemical and adversely affects your pancreas and insulin levels. I am severly allerigic to artificial sweeteners. When Splenda made its appearance on the market, I tried it, thinking Oh, good it's made from sugar....I am just as allergic to it as every other sugar alcohol used as a sweetener: xylitol (another big one touted as "natural" - a chemical that is made from a natural product and turned into something the body cannot recognize), manitol, sorbitol, etc.
Diabetes is usually not helped by artificial sweeteners. Diabetes means you must change your diet...not keep eating poor quality foods and just replace the sugar in it with a chemical that still adversely affects your pancreas.
I have researched this extensively for my own use. And I did have high blood sugar after I had my child and struggled to control it for 5 years. I don't now, and I have not (knowingly) ingested an artificial sweetner in years. Only you can make the best decisions for your health. Try it and log how you feel for a month. Really be aware and write stuff down: mood, headaches, digestive patterns, hunger, etc. Do your own research and then decide what is best for you. When you do research and see statistics and studies citing how safe or bad something is...you must then find out who sponsored the research...and where the money/funding is coming from. "Research" can always be made to appear to support any theory. Also see what is going on in other countries... Europe has stricter standards on some things for example.
Best Wishes to you
L.

There is definitely a debate about splenda but I wanted to comment on your desire to not have junk in your body.

Look for high fructose corn syrup in everything you consume...THAT, to me is an additive I simply won't consume or allow my children to consume.

If you want to drink Green Tea, brew it....it is so much better that way and better for you! That bottled Green Tea has so much crap in it that, in my opinion, you are losing the benefits of it!

Yes! Do a google search "is splenda bad for children" and you will see for yourself. Do the research. Natural sugar is best! It is natural!

Yes, I know you have to be careful when you do a google search..that is obvious...what I am saying is...do YOUR research. I totally agree with Tiff B! You need to use things that are NOT chemically processed! You have to cut that stuff out of your diet, not add it in...especially with children!

I also use splenda and like it. You have to be careful what you read when you google things. I'm not saying that they are true or false, just be careful.

As with anything, splenda is fairly new to the market and can we really tell whether or not there will be something that will arise down the road? No, we can't. But, the simple fact remains, that artificial sweetners can be very good for people like diabetics or those trying to lose weight.

But, as for my opinion, I like splenda and it is my art. sweetner of choice! I tried stevia and found it too be way to sweet... you have to be very careful in the amount you use...

Good luck and if you really have major concerns, talk w/your doctor.

37 y.o. mom of 3 boys 11, 9, and 4. Work full time in healthcare and also sell southern living at home products on the side. Married for 13+ years to my best friend.