Is Splenda bad??? | Autism PDD

Honestly, anything even too much regular sugar is not good for you. Anything "diet" related always has its drawbacks. i.e. diet soda which alot of people consume is LOADED with sodium which can make you retain water among other things and isn't all that great either. Regardless, sugar, splenda, sweet-n-low, equal they all have their cons. Geez even water which your supposed to drink 6-8 glasses of a day, isn't all that safe depending on where you live, how much junk they dump in it to clean it, bottled water has minerals which for people with kidney issues can cause kidney stones. Six of one half dozen of the other, the air we breathe is loaded with toxins. Nothing is really all that good for in excess.

[QUOTE=Evie]Bleach?? Holy cow.[/QUOTE]

chorinated is the process they uses same as your tap water.

WOW I had no idea. I use Splenda all the time

I thought Splenda was supposed to be the GOOD alternative to sweeteners...when I was pregnant it was the only artificial sweetener allowed. Now my son's new holistic doctor says absolutely not, it's just as bad.

Does anyone here have any input? I thought I was doing something good!

Also I piggybacked on Jen78fl's GFCF diet thread, so if anyone can help me there, I would really appreciate it!

Splenda is currently under LOTS of research. I will not use it and especially will not let my son near it!I certainly am not an expert, but from what I do know it is made from sugar, BUT it is the way it is processed that may be unhealthy. Like I think they use Bleach in the process.Bleach?? Holy cow.

I am not happy with Splenda because they were able to avoid a lot of the research and testing that most articifial sweetners have to go through because it has a sugar base. Considering how many things that got through that weren't so great for us, it makes me really nervous when a product avoids the testing.

We don't eat Splenda around here. I just try to reduce the amount of sugar in our diets, but try to only get natural sweeteners like sugar, maple syrup, honey (not for the kids though until my youngest is a bit older) and things like that.

We use Stevia from the healthfood store. It comes from the Stevia tree and tastes pretty good.I use Stevia in our drinks and love it! I do not let my kids have anything with splenda or nutrasweet. I haven't learned how to bake with stevia yet (the health food store worker has given me some tips though), so I stick with regular sugar for my baking. My osteopath who is treating my boys yeast issues tell me that Xylitol is the only sweetner that doesn't kick up the yeast...I don't give them anything that I haven't made cause of diet restrictions so I use 1/3 cup of xylitol in my cakes and ice cream.Xylitol is what the doctor recommended...or Stevia. It is so difficult to find something that is not sweetened with Aspartame or Splenda these days! My son will drink a quart of lemonade a day, sweetened with Splenda. I guess I need to find an alternative!Xylitol is FINE - it is NOT a man made thing - it is all natural herb - it is great!

I think the term "Good Artificial" is an oxymoron! The marketers completely freaked me out with that gauzy, dreamlike ad where the children are chasing butterflies, eating cookies, dipping into ice cream - all with this chemical compound in it.

Butter and sugar in moderation will not hurt us. The only time my kids get artificial sweetener is when they have a stomach virus. The pediatrician says if they won't drink watered down Powerade to rehydrate, room temp diet Sprite or something similar wil get them to rehydrate. Real sugar pulls fluid into the intestines and makes diarrhea worse.

By the way, did you know Capri Sun drinks have Splenda in them? The stuff called Roaring Waters (which I loved the idea of because its water and juice mixed, not pure juice) uses artifical sweeteners in it! We used to put these in their snack bags daily. Ughh.

Sugar substitutes and the potential danger of Splenda

by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP

Few of us are really aware of how many new Splenda^® products there are in the supermarkets. We’ve been told that this artificial sweetener is different from all the past failures — Sweet’N Low^®, NutraSweet^®, etc. — and according to the claims, that this Splenda is the perfect sugar substitute: as sweet as sugar, but no calories; as sweet as sugar, but no surge in insulin; as sweet as sugar, but no side effects or long-term health damage.

The wave is coming because “low–sugar” or “sugar–free” is the latest fad — a welcome trend, given the health hazards of all the sugar in the average diet. But of the hundreds of new diet foods that will soon appear, most will use Splenda as a sugar substitute. On the other side of the argument are responsible experts who say that Splenda is unsafe — the latest in a succession of artificial sweeteners that claim at first to be healthy, only later to be proven to be full of side effects. These authorities say that Splenda has more in common with DDT than with food.

What do we believe? We think that our regulatory system doesn’t do a good enough job ensuring our long-term safety. What should you think about artificial sweeteners? We want you to be fully informed about the dangers of Splenda (which isn’t what food marketers want!) so you can make the best choices for yourself and for your family. So let’s make sure you are.

Splenda — the public health experiment

“Low–sugar” is the successor to the “low–carb” craze, even though they are essentially the same thing. According to the New York Times, by the end of this summer 11% of the food items on supermarket shelves will be labeled “reduced sugar” — most of those targeted at kids and their health-conscious moms. Sales in granulated sugar have dropped four percent in the past six months. What’s behind this trend? Splenda.

Products featuring Splenda are perceived as “natural” because even the FDA’s press release about sucralose parrots the claim that “it is made from sugar” — an assertion disputed by the Sugar Association, which is suing Splenda’s manufacturer, (McNeil Nutritionals).

The FDA has no definition for “natural,” so please bear with us for a biochemistry moment: Splenda is the trade name for sucralose, a synthetic compound stumbled upon in 1976 by scientists in Britain seeking a new pesticide formulation. It is true that the Splenda molecule is comprised of sucrose (sugar) — except that three of the hydroxyl groups in the molecule have been replaced by three chlorine atoms. (To get a better picture of what this looks like, see this image of a sucralose molecule.)

While some industry experts claim the molecule is similar to table salt or sugar, other independent researchers say it has more in common with pesticides. That’s because the bonds holding the carbon and chlorine atoms together are more characteristic of a chlorocarbon than a salt — and most pesticides are chlorocarbons. The premise offered next is that just because something contains chlorine doesn’t guarantee that it’s toxic. And that is also true, but you and your family may prefer not to serve as test subjects for the latest post-market artificial sweetener experiment — however “unique.” (See our article on endocrine disruptors for more information on toxins and persistent organic pollutants.)

Once it gets to the gut, sucralose goes largely unrecognized in the body as food — that’s why it has no calories. The majority of people don’t absorb a significant amount of Splenda in their small intestine — about 15% by some accounts. The irony is that your body tries to clear unrecognizable substances by digesting them, so it’s not unlikely that the healthier your gastrointestinal system is, the more you’ll absorb the chlorinated molecules of Splenda.

So, is Splenda safe? The truth is we just don’t know yet. There are no long-term studies of the side effects of Splenda in humans. The manufacturer’s own short-term studies showed that sucralose caused shrunken thymus glands and enlarged livers and kidneys in rodents. But in this case, the FDA decided that because these studies weren’t based on human test animals, they were not conclusive. Of course, there are countless examples of foods and drugs that have proved dangerous to humans that were first found to be dangerous to laboratory rats, and then again, countless others that have not. So the reality is that we are the guinea pigs for Splenda.

And now, are our children the next trial group? Thanks to an agreement between McNeil Nutritionals (makers of Splenda) and PTO Today, which provides marketing and fund-raising aid to parents’ associations, your elementary school’s next bake sale may be sponsored by Splenda — complete with baked goods made with the product.

Splenda side effects

Observational evidence shows that there are side effects of Splenda, including skin rashes/flushing, panic-like agitation, dizziness and numbness, diarrhea, muscle aches, headaches, intestinal cramping, bladder issues, and stomach pain. These show up at one end of the spectrum — in the people who have an allergy or sensitivity to the sucralose molecule. But no one can say to what degree consuming Splenda affects the rest of us.

If this sounds familiar, it should: we went down the same path with aspartame, the main ingredient in Equal and NutraSweet. Almost all of the independent research into aspartame found dangerous side effects in rodents. The FDA chose not to take these findings into account when it approved aspartame for public use. Over the course of 15 years, those same side effects increasingly appeared in humans. Not in everyone, of course — but in those who were vulnerable to the chemical structure of aspartame.

As food additives, artificial sweeteners are not subject to the same gauntlet of FDA safety trials as pharmaceuticals. Most of the testing is funded by the food industry, which has a vested interest in the outcome. This can lead to misleading claims on both sides.

But one thing is certain: some of the chemicals that comprise artificial sweeteners are known hazards — the degree to which you experience side effects just depends on your individual biochemistry. Manufacturers are banking on the fact that our bodies won’t absorb very much of these compounds at any one time. And many of us don’t. But what happens when we are ingesting a combination of artificial sweeteners like Splenda dozens of times a week through many different “low–sugar” or “sugar–free” products?

People have been using artificial sweeteners for decades. Some react poorly, some don’t — the problem is, you never know until you’re already sick. Scientists are calling Splenda a mild mutagen, based on how much is absorbed. Right now, it’s anyone’s guess what portion of the population is being exposed to the dangers of Splenda or already suffering from Splenda side effects. Until an independent, unbiased research group conducts long-term studies on humans (six months is hardly long-term!), how can we be certain? With all the new Splenda products on our shelves, it looks as if we are now in the process of another grand public experiment — without our permission. And we may not know the health implications for decades. As with all things, time will unveil truth.

So I urge you to be concerned about the potential dangers of Splenda — as with any unnatural substance you put in your body. And I am especially concerned about its use for children, which I recommend you avoid.

We don't use Splenda. You also have to look really carefully on the backs of products. If it advertises on the box as "Less sugar" or "Reduced Sugar" - look for "sucralose" which is what Splenda is also called.

I just don't trust it - never have, never will. I do drink Diet Coke with Nutra Sweet - probably shouldn't, but I need my caffeine and I hate coffee (not terribly fond of tea either).

WHat about Xylitol?Avoid Splenda and all artificial sweeteners...try something like Stevia instead...OMG, I have splenda every single day in my coffee, sometime 2x a day. YIKES.I've noticed some drinks, fruit pops, etc., will say "no added sugar" which sometimes means they've added SPLENDA. I'm going to take Splenda out of my son's diet and see if anything GOOD happens. He loves the flavored waters, so that's going to be tough. I'll just give him watered down juice. They don't have any pre-made watered down juice, do they? :)

I would not give splenda to a child. I figure it's probably not good for me either but I do have a diet coke once in a while and I also put it in lattes. (probably the least of my worries for myself) Splenda is a chemical made from sugar so it is not at all natural. I think I've heard that stevia is better for you but I personally don't like the flavor.

Laurie