Is Splenda bad for you?

I heard that all low cal sweetenrs are not very good for you. Is there any better choise. Honey is ok but the cals are a lot.

There's a new one called Stevia (I think), it's supposed to be the only natural no-calorie sweetener. The only real problem is that you can't buy it dry in bulk, so you can't really use it for baking. It does come liquified though so it's perfect for tea, oatmeal, coffee, etc.

Lots of people I know use Splenda with no problems, I can't use it, it makes me retain fluids very badly.  Found out later that this is rare but it can happen.

After I quit taking it I was mostly in the bathroom for 2 days  and lost a whole bunch of water weight.lol

It is not the same for everyone.

Bernice have you had any problems with it?

I try not to eat to much of it, two can of pop a day with it and it seems to be working.

I would not suggest you use Splenda or any other 'diet' food supplement for that matter... whenever they remove sugar, they add chemicals to add taste.....

If you want to watch calories, etc... eat  a balanced diet, while limiting sucrose intake, and try to satisfy your sweet tooth with fructose (fruits). 

I dont care for Splenda Gives me headaches and to mean it tastes Nasty (Not like sugar) I use Equal and i dont really have any problems with it. 

Ya, I know about the water weight! Same for me too! Ever more so the brain changes it does to my system! I'm almost positive about this but everything I have that is low cal has splenda in it! I guess I will go all natural all the way! That sounds best! I never thought my headaches could be from splenda but I bet they are! Thanks for the ideas. I do eat lots of fruit too! Yummy! Thanks again!

I use splenda because I'm not ready to give up no calorie sugar alternatives yet. I'm not ready for unsweetened coffee (and I LOVE my weekend coffee) so I put a little splenda in it--same with tea. It's also really good with strawberries and on grapefruit.

I've heard about stevia and would like to try that. Does anyone know if it is something I can find at a grocery store, or only at health food/whole food stores?

   Splenda is actually safe to use from what I have read, they don't remove the sugar in splenda and replace it with chemicals.  They add Chlorine molecules to the sucrose molecule itself so the body does not recognize the substance as a carbohydrayte.

   No unbiased long term studies have been done yet on sucralose though so its best not to go crazy with the stuff but its still a better alternative then just plain sugar and aspertime.

all artificial sweetners can cause cramps, ie leg cramps so if you suffer from this at night or when working out I suggest nixing the artificial

Im into sugar.. if I want sugar, I have brown cane sugar..   I know its not perfect.. but in moderation its not that bad.. and usually its the fats and carbs that add the cals..

My husband switched to Stevia - its expensive but its all natural.  He has diabetes and chronic back pain and his accupunturist recommended the stevia as it helps with diabetes and pain.  Since switching his diabetes has been under control for the first time in years and his back pain diminished.  I think the stevia is only available in health food stores - but maybe someday will become available in grocery stores as it becomes more widely used.

Lead is "all natural," too, but I haven't heard anyone using that as an argument for ingesting it.

Stevia has not been approved by the FDA as a food additive, which is why it is not used in diet sodas and other foods, as other artificial sweeteners are. The only countries which have approved stevia as a food additive are Brazil and Japan, and in both of these countries, it's used in only a very few products. (Canada and the EU have both looked into stevia, and have decided not to approve its use.)

Stevia is derived from an herb (so is belladonna, so that's "all natural," too), and has been used by native populations in South America for a long time. It's generally considered safe in low amounts. There are concerns about one of its metabolites, which may be carcinogenic, and this concern is one of the reasons that the FDA has not approved its use as a food additive. The FDA does not regulate food supplements, and so cannot rule on the sale of stevia itself. Stevia is sold in "health food" stores as a supplement.

I use sugar, both turbinado and white, when I want to sweeten my coffee. Regular sugar has 16 calories per teaspoon, which is fine by me.

Well I went to the store and bought some. Had peach tea with the Stevia. I'll wait to see if I have any reactions. I wished I would have checked this post before going to the store. I think I would have thought twice about getting it. Thanks athena-tavener for you insite. Maybe regular sugar is still the best choise. I only use it in tea and have only about one cup a day. I guess I can splurge once in a while! I just didn't want to have the ups and downs of sugar highs and lows and thought there might be something better. Now I spent $10.00 for something I'm afraid to keep using. Go Figure!!!!

debackerfan....How much does your husband use each day? I wonder if it would work on Fibromyalgia pain? This is an interseting concept???? Let me know if you see this post again! Thanks!

I  grew stevia in my garden last year (hard to kill off actually, not that I wanted to, just had to move some things around) and found that it was great added to tea made from the lemon balm I grew next to it. It comes in liquid and powder forms I believe, both of which you should be able to find at Whole Foods/Natures/Wild Oats type stores.

Didn't know it helped with Diabetes though... maybe I should go make me up some more tea!

coffeelover, I don't think you need to worry about using stevia for your tea!

Splenda is stable as a compound when cooking, but when it mixes with stomach acid it causes a toxic gas that can do damage over time.

Stevia is perfectly safe.

Coffeelover - I don't think you need fear using Stevia - although this website may be bias - it does make a good point - the fda won't approve Stevia because the competiion has lobbyists

http://www.stevia.net/fda.htm  look how much trouble Splenda had getting on the market because of Equal and SweetnLow and then the big fight over Splenda's advertising campaign.

As far as pain reduction for fibromyalgia I don't know.  I just know dh was on pain meds for years for his back and since going to accupuncturist and swtching to Stevia he no longer takes any pain meds.  As far as how much Stevia he uses a day I don't know - but it seems less than what he was using in Splenda.

Personally I still use Splenda but only in my oatmeal in the am.  I do Diet sodas though with aspertame.

Thanks for that post athena; it made my day!

It's funny you mention lead in this discussion:  there's scholarly debate as to whether sweet compounds of lead (e.g. lead acetate) were used as sweeteners in wine production in ancient Rome, forming one possible cause for the prevalance of lead poisoning in that era.

As far as Splenda, I've used it consistently to turn corn flakes into frosted flakes with no ill effects.  As has been said, plain sugar isn't actually bad calorie wise, but since I tend to use sweeteners in colder liquids (milk, tea), I prefer the easy dissolution of Splenda.

As far as "chemicals", I eat/drink sodium chloride, hydroxyl acid, beta-D-fructofuranosyl beta-D-glucopyranoside, ethanoic acid, and ethanol regularly.  It's a good thing our stomach doesn't contain any harsh chemicals...

Yes, that website is biased! lol! The FDA speaks only for the US, not for Canada and every European country, which also have not approved stevia. (I find it interesting that stevia is not approved in the countries which have used it for centuries, save for Brazil.) The stevia lobby is quite active; I've seen it on other forums, not just here, which is why I searched for the results of the research on it last year, and didn't look just at a pro-stevia website.

Stevia is considered safe in low doses, and surely sweetening a couple of cups of tea a day is "low dose." So dbackerfan, I agree with you -- coffeelover doesn't need to fear using stevia. I don't know that I'd go so far as to say the only thing keeping stevia out of the general food supply is its competitions' lobbyists, given the research results I've looked at and the reluctance of other countries to also approve stevia as a food additive.

YOU might be willing to ingest a "natural substance" that may have a carcinogenic metabolite, but would you be willing to bet a nation's health on the stevia lobby? Look at all the foods HFCS is in; it can be quite difficult for the average American to avoid this substance in his/her diet, and that is exactly what would happen with stevia -- it would be included in a great many foods if it is cheaper than its alternatives.

Seems to me caution is the better way to go; oh, that HFCS could have been delayed!