Artificial Sweeteners

 I use splenda a lot. I would prefer stevia, but I can't really afford to buy it. I feel really guilty about using it- everytime I eat it it feels like I'm injecting myself with cancer. I tried looking up splenda on the internet and there are a lot of mixed opinions. Does anyone else use it all the time?? Is it really that bad for you?? I read that it doesn't get aborbed by the body and that it passes right through.....

From my research on splenda, I decided it was safe to use.  I looked at actual journal articles and evaluated the research, so I wasn't just basing it on opinions.  There are others, though, that have a strong viewpoint against it.

Stevia does have some known side effects, such as lowering blood pressure and blood sugar, and those with ragweed allergies may be allergic to it as well.  Other than that, though, the research is mixed and seems like it might be biased on both sides.

And, more and more things are being found to cause cancer.  Foods cooked at high temperatures (like on the BBQ grill), for example.

I think that, like most things, if you just use a little you'll do fine.  Try cutting back on your sweet stuff if you use it more than a couple of times a day.

How much is a lot? I think all things like this should be used in moderation. The more one uses the more one wants. If you focus on adding natural sweet things like fruit to cereal but then using splenda in items like coffee you will have more balance. What is surprising as well is that many products even breads have a sweetner in it.

sugar substitutes are everywhere. i agree with abbi that there should be moderation but that goes for anything. I use splenda at Starbucks and Sugar Twin at home for my coffee.  When you look at food labels, especially things like cereals and granola bar type things, you will find four or five types of sugars listed. It is hard to say really which is worse in the end. People even say that natural sugar is the best and other say it is the worst.

Use it if you like.

oh yeah, when i make coffee in my travel mug, at the end of the day i look into the mug and see the white lines of unused sugartwin. some days it gives me a slight eerie feeling and i won't use it for a couple of days. but i still go back to it.

As Ron White coined it best, "Coupins!!! Gotta get ya some Coupins!!!" The sunday paper has like 55 cents off truvia which is stevia using an alias. The packets are not very expensive especially if you get a box from Wally world.

Theres no Wally World in Newfoundland...

i use sweet-n-low and splenda, but i only use a little in my coffee in the morning. i never bake, and i hate sweets... so the way i see it, a little bit aint gunna hurt ya :)

I use splenda every day. 2 packets go in my oatmeal, I use it to sweeten up french toast, I use it as a sugar for my fiber one cereal, I use it to sweeten up my cinnamon toast. I dunno, I figure people with diabetes use it ALL the time, and I'm not seeing them running and screaming with cancer.

But truth be told, we'll all get some sort of cancer eventually some time in our lives. You can get cancer from anything. Microwaves, cell phones, food preservatives, pesticides on fruits and veggies. I'm over it. Just eat your splenda :)

Well, I use Splenda.  I used to go through 5-lbs of sugar every 10 days...now I use Splenda and because it's nice and sweet, I use so much less than the sugar.

The benefits for me how far outweighed any thing I read about the "dangers" of artificial sweetners.

• I lost a considerable amount of weight substituting Splenda for sugar and never felt deprived enough to go back to using sugar.
• I FEEL soooo much better and have a lot more energy now.
• I am no longer addicted to sugar :D (YAY for me!--that was a biggie).

I think being overweight and using way too much sugar (and believe me, it's in everything) is far more dangerous than even 20-packets of Splenda (I use about 10 packets per day). 

Original Post by gobbley:

Theres no Wally World in Newfoundland...

There are Walmarts in St. John's, Carbonear, Clarenville, Corner Brook, Gander, GF-W, Lab City, Marystown, Mount Pearl & Stephenville.

Try Shoppers Drug Mart for Life Brand stevia or order it online.

Original Post by kookykatlady:

Well, I use Splenda.  I used to go through 5-lbs of sugar every 10 days...now I use Splenda and because it's nice and sweet, I use so much less than the sugar.

The benefits for me how far outweighed any thing I read about the "dangers" of artificial sweetners.

• I lost a considerable amount of weight substituting Splenda for sugar and never felt deprived enough to go back to using sugar.
• I FEEL soooo much better and have a lot more energy now.
• I am no longer addicted to sugar :D (YAY for me!--that was a biggie).

I think being overweight and using way too much sugar (and believe me, it's in everything) is far more dangerous than even 20-packets of Splenda (I use about 10 packets per day). 

 But now you're addicted to the supersweetness of Splenda? When I used to use Splenda, I found that it messed up my perception of sweetness.

Haha..Walmart?? I didn't realize that Wally's world ment Walmart. Well, thing is, a 275g bag of granulated surculose (Nevella brand-cheaper Splenda) is $5!!! Thats a good deal. Stevia is $8 for 100 packets, so the Nevella lasts longer, but I use it in almost everything- I have a pretty bland diet!!

I use Splenda probably everyday..either in coffee or in my plain FF greek yogurt.  I am allergic to Aspartamine so I can't use most artificial sweetners, I have not tried Stevia because I am happy with Splenda.

I researched Splenda a little bit when I first started using it, but as of now, I have had no adverse effects from using it everyday.

I have tried it in baking, but I don't like it, since I bake for others anyway...I use real sugar for that.

I don't know how safe artificial sweetners are, but I do know that I am unable to lose weight while consuming anything with Aspartamine or Spenda in it.  After cutting out Diet Soda from my diet I lost about 10 pounds without even trying! Weird huh?

I spent several hours over a 3 day period trying to pin down if aspartame was indeed a dangerous chemical that could cause cancer.  At first, I was convinced that I was poisoning myself with all the diet soda and nosugar gelatin I was consuming.  However, I begin to look closely at both the copyright dates of the articles and the studies they used.  I finally found a 2008 article put out by WebMD that basically stated that aspartame as an artificial sweetener is safe to use.  I will try to use it in moderation, but I am going to continue to use it.  I found plenty of doctors and what I took to be reputable studies that support that view.