Beware of Splenda!

[Kirchy]

Splenda is a new sweetener that's being sold and is used in things you buy, especially drinks. But don't buy Splenda or anything that has it in it. Splenda contains a lot of chlorine, which is very toxic. So whatever you do, don't eat/drink anything with Splenda in it!

[EbonyPatriot]

I've been using Splenda for over a year now with no bad results; where did you hear that it has chlorine?

[Kirchy]

My parents researched it. Here are a fe of site about it:

www.truthaboutsplenda.com/factvsfiction/index.html
www.womentowomen.com/LIBsplenda.asp
www.mercola.com/2004/jul/21/splenda.htm

[EbonyPatriot]

Ah I see. Still (and forgive me, my friend, for sounding cynical) but how come none of the sites (at least what I could see) mentioned any deaths? True they say it accumulates over time but considering how much it's been used, and that some of the people had to be weaker than others, wouldn't someone have died? Has the media ever reported on its harmful effects? My search at CNN found nothing.

[Kirchy]

The thing is, the media is hiding all this from the public so they will buy the product. There probably were deaths and they just didn't report any in fear that it would hurt the industry.

[EbonyPatriot]

Then why did the media announce when Vioxx was harmful? Didn't that harm the industry? Besides, the media loves misery and revealing nasty little hidden secrets. Wouldn't the story that the "perfect sweetener" was in fact "the equivalent of DDT" be irresistible to them? I could certainly see that gaining ratings and selling papers.

Live long and prosper.
-EbonyPatriot

[Kirchy]

I don't know. Maybe no one's reported anything yet. It still is pretty new.

[Epesi]

My family has tried a number of Splenda products, and from experience the worst it could do to you is give you a bad case of gas.
Edit: Just taking back what I said previously here -- the real culprit was probably a sugar alcohol called maltitol, which is often used together with Splenda in sugar-free products.

Anyway, I stand with EP on this. I might do some research myself, but if this was a problem, I think we would have heard about it on the news by now. It's not some evil conspiracy to make us all buy artificial sweeteners.

As a side note, Xylitol is an excellent sugar substitute, and tastes much better than Splenda. I think it can be found in most health food stores, and they've finally started putting it in some products such as Trident gum; previously I had only seen it used in gum from Japan. I hope to see Xylitol becoming more widespread in the near future. ;D

[Kirchy]

*shakes head* I knew you guys wouldn't listen to me. They're hiding the truth from us, just like they do with a lot of other things.

[EbonyPatriot]

kirchy said:

I don't know. Maybe no one's reported anything yet. It still is pretty new.

In an era when people are itching to sue for the slightest thing, people would pass up a chance to sue Splenda? I doubt it.

I'm sorry, but I need MORE than just a few websites to convince me that it does indeed contain chlorine. It just doesn't make sense that both Epesi and I could have used without having any effects yet; or that the media would pass up such a misery-rich story guaranteed to sell headlines just to satisfy some perverse desire to keep us in the dark.

[Epesi]

It isn't that we're not listening to you. It's that we haven't found sufficient evidence to back it up.

None of the sites listed contain any individual reports of death or illness. None of them contain any information that is not readily available on Splenda's website; they only reprint the same information but argue that it's not really safe. They don't give any evidence of their own, beyond a vague mention of problems in lab rats.

Look at saccharin. The oldest artificial sweetener, saccharin too came under fire for potential health risks. Certain studies seemed to indicate "an increased rate of bladder cancer in rats fed large doses of saccharin." (Emphasis mine; quoted from the Wikipedia article on saccharin: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccharin)

The Women to Women article mentions that "Most researchers agree that in sufficient doses, saccharin is carcinogenic in humans."

The key phrase is "sufficient doses." The Wikipedia article points out that "The notorious and influential studies of the kind published in 1977 have been criticized for the ridiculously high dosages of saccharin that were given to the test subject rats; dosages were commonly hundreds of times higher than "normal" ingestion expectations would be for a consumer. No study has ever shown health risks in humans at normal doses."

People seem to agree now that saccharin is perfectly safe, when used in moderation. Even this site, warning about the possible dangers of Splenda, reccomends saccharin as a safe alternative: www.liferesearchuniversal.com/splenda.html

My point is we've all seen this before. In my opinion, of Splenda and of many other things, moderation is the key.

I'll be the first to admit that I could be easily be wrong about this. But I will stand by what I said until I have some solid proof.

Edit:

They're hiding the truth from us, just like they do with a lot of other things.

Who are "they," exactly? As EP pointed out, the media would be only too happy to spread the word of doom and gloom about the popular artificial sweetener. Splenda does not have control over the world to keep the public in the dark.

[Kirchy]

Who are "they," exactly?

"They" are the pharmaceutical firms and the government agencies which work against access to good information about health care.

I don't know how exactly my parents found out Splenda is bad and has chlorine in it, but they must have had a reliable source.
If you want a sweetener that is actually good for you, use Stevia.

[Epesi]

I don't think pharmaceutical companies have any particular interest in a food product. As for the government, that is another discussion for another day. But consider this: how many times have you seen an exposé on the evening news about the latest government scandal?

I don't know how exactly my parents found out Splenda is bad and has chlorine in it, but they must have had a reliable source.

You're going to have to do better than that to convince anyone but yourself.

The sites you have listed are quick to point out that chlorine is present in many foods that are perfectly safe for human consumption, but insist that Splenda is different from these. They claim it has more in common with pesticides, but they don't explain exactly how this is the case. It is one thing to advise caution about a product, and it's quite another to spread misinformation about it.

Maybe no one's reported anything yet. It still is pretty new.

Splenda (sucralose) is by no means new. Sucralose was discovered in 1976, and first approved in Canada in 1991. It is only here in the US that it is relatively new; it wasn't approved by the FDA until 1998.

If anyone had died from using it between 1991 and 2005, we would have heard of it by now!

Here is an article I would recommend reading: low-carb.us/splendasafety.html
It was written by a woman in Canada, where Splenda was made available more than fourteen years ago (see above). She and her family have used it from the start; between the four of them they have consumed "(on average) some 2,000 or more cups of Splenda annually," or around 500 cups per person. They use far more Splenda than the average family does; they use even more Splenda than the average family uses sugar!
What does this prove? Nothing, of course. None of us can prove or disprove anything at this point. My point is that there is no evidence that Splenda is harmful, while there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. There can be no definitive proof, but proof and evidence are not the same thing.

In general you would do well to be cautious about anything you put in your body; it's just common sense. And as the article points out, not all natural substances are safe; neither are all man-made substances harmful.

If you want a sweetener that is actually good for you, use Stevia.

I have used stevia, in liquid form, and I like it well enough; it's very good for sweetening drinks like tea, anyway. However, my family uses xylitol wherever we would have used granulated sugar, and there is no difference in taste; I highly recommend it. Read the Wikipedia article on xylitol for more information, if you like: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol

Anyway, at the moment I have nothing more to say. In the end, let it be up to the individual to decide if they want to use Splenda.

[Kirchy]

Just forget it. I'm not very good at explaining things. I'm just warning you to use caution when useing SPlenda. I know that there's chlorine in it, and I know that chlorine is bad. But ig you want to use it, then that's fine. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

[Krystedez "Spectrum"]

I don't use sweeteners so I'm not worried. So I'm not very aware of any of these kind of problems. But I don't know how chlorine is found in a sweetener... Confused I is. I'm just an artist. >_<;