artificial sweeteners

anglewormm · 08-28-2002, 12:37 AM

I have been reading about the artificial sweeteners and how a lot of people are using them in place of sugar. Just a word of caution... they are made with sugar still. Splenda (the newest hit) is sugar to start and then a lot of filler. Just be careful how much you use. I have read that in large amounts it is no better than regular sugar.

miranda1977 · 09-06-2002, 09:01 AM

Hi Angleworrm,

That's true of Splenda, but not other artificial sweetners like phenylanalene (Nutraweet, the stuff in dietcoke). These are really chemical based sweetners and aren't made from sugar.

A point of interest though: my dad is a scientist and travelled to the US from Australia earlier this year. He is a world specialists on strawberries and some scientists in the US are studying something in strawberries that can regenerate brain cells - they are looking at it for alzhymers etc. Anyway, the neurologists who spoke to over there said they had been doing some research into phenylanalene. They said that there is no long term evidence to suggest it causes cancer as some people say (hey, if that's true I'm a walking time bomb) but they said it did have an effect on short-term memory and recall. Interesting - at work we know call diet coke the "dumb drink" and I swear after drinking it I find it harder for the right words to come out of my mouth.

Anyway, hope that's helpful.

Miranda

anglewormm · 09-08-2002, 04:08 AM

it isn't so much that i can or can't cause cancer etc. but more that they do act like sugar. some people's bodies treat the artificals the same as sugar and continue to store fat. i am not exactly sure why. i have a friend that is diabetic and he is only allowed to use the artificials once in a while. and i have been told that honey is ok, but not sure why, because it is carbs too.

Jewel · 09-08-2002, 08:18 PM

Hi --

I have now switched to Stevia -

(from the back of the bottle) -

"...SteviaClear contains an intensely sweet extract form Stevia leaves that is 250 to 300 times sweeter than sugar - yet has no calories, carbohydrates nor bitter aftertaste. SteviaClear is safe for diabetics and hypoglycemics."

I get mine at my local health food store. I can also get it in packets that I carry in my purse to sweeten my ice tea when I eat out.

You can also cook with it!

Julia

anglewormm · 09-09-2002, 11:18 PM

hmm, have to go look for it. thanks for the info.

DianaG · 09-11-2002, 12:47 AM

Hi, thought I would add my two cents in!

I am not sure of the hows and whys concerning the individual sweeteners, but here is what I use and why.

I use splenda because it tastes the most like real sugar and is good to bake with. I am a diabetic and it does not effect my blood sugar at all when I put it in my coffee! Pretty much I hardly ever bake, mostly around the holidays, but I have to have my morning coffee and splenda really does make a great cup of coffee and 1 packet has less than 1 carb. Although the creamer contains carbs- what we do for caffeine! I am on an insulin pump, so I check my blood sugar 6 times a day and have not noticed any abnormalities while using splenda. Keep in mind my major concern is with my blood sugar numbers and not weight loss, although that is always a plus!

I will occassionally put equal in my iced tea, but I don't like the aftertaste when it is in hot items. I tried stevia once because it is only 1carb per serving and couldn't stomach it (though I find it interesting the bottle would say no carbs, but the nutritional label says one gram per 1/2 tsp serving-my bottle is from 2001). I got a sick headache from it, but I have several food allergies so I am sure that is just me be allergic to one of the fillers in it.

My dietician also said honey was ok in small quantities, but I have been too chicken to try it and see what it does to my numbers.

However, my endocrinologist is dead set against any artificial sweeteners he suggested using fruit! I cannot figure that one out for my coffee! LOL

peppermint tea · 09-12-2002, 06:57 PM

diana,

the plain white stevia extract powder does not contain carbs. the ones that contain carbs are usually blended with fillers. if you decide to try it again, look carefully at the ingredients. the only ingredient should be stevia extract powder.

good luck,
pt