splenda vs stevia

Micah Cohen · 09-01-2006, 08:08 AM

No, we're not talking about wrestling. We're talking about sweeteners.

My attractive laboratory assistant is obsessed with body image, fats and carbs and whatnot. This is a good thing in that it keeps her "attractive" of course (while I slop in the pasta and sit on the couch watching movies). But she ends up drinking her daily coffee with at least ten packs of Splenda-type sweetener per day. I think she does two pink packs to three yellow packs per tall mug of coffee. This can not be a good thing, can it? What is this stuff anyway, REALLY? Is Splenda "made from sugar"? Is it safe to consume this stuff?

What about "stevia"? Is this better? Is there a way to find Stevia that is not "bitter," as people claim?

Finally, if Stevia is natural and better, how do I convince her to stop with the bad sweeteners and start with the good sweetener, without being unsweet myself?

How sweet.

MC

(Whoop! I forgot about my apropo signature.

)

MichaelBA · 09-01-2006, 08:35 AM

There is evidence that Sucralose can cause cancer. "Sucralose was weakly mutagenic in a mouse lymphoma mutation assay" (from Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, 21 CFR Part 172, Docket No. 87F-0086 http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/fr980403.html

Concerns have also been raised about the effect of sucralose on the thymus gland, a gland that is important to the immune system. A report from NICNAS cites two studies on rats, both of which found "a significant decrease in mean thymus weight" at a certain dose.
http://www.nicnas.gov.au/publication...FR/NA944FR.pdf

http://www.truthaboutsplenda.com/

Micah Cohen · 09-01-2006, 08:39 AM

OK, that's fricking scary.

So, who's this "Stevia" chap?

MC

Scott L · 09-01-2006, 08:46 AM

Michael is just copy & pasting the negative parts of the Splenda Wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucralose

Read it yourself and see all the positives vs. the negatives. What's scary is that thetruthaboutsplenda.com was created by the sugar companies to decrease sales of Splenda.

John Alvarez · 09-01-2006, 08:54 AM

First we need pictures of the assistant to help you....... ;-)

**HTF Ads**

Chris Lockwood · 09-01-2006, 09:49 AM

> There is evidence that Sucralose can cause cancer.

There's evidence that everything causes cancer. As with most such "evidence", you'd have to consume so much of the product to have a statistical chance of getting cancer that it's not worth worrying about.

A difference between the two is that Stevia is directly from a plant, not a human engineered product.

I don't like the taste of Splenda, at least not in the diet coke I've had.

MichaelBA · 09-01-2006, 10:20 AM

This is what Splenda says about itself: http://www.splenda.com/page.jhtml?id...calorie.inc#q6

>>The safety of sucralose is well documented in more than 100 scientific studies conducted over a 20-year period. In addition, sucralose and, specifically, the safety data on sucralose, has been reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other national regulatory agencies, as well as by international health authorities such as the World Health Organization, and found to be safe for use by all consumers, including children, pregnant women and people with diabetes.<<

And this is the FDA approval of sucralose in 1998:
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/ANS00859.html

MarkHastings · 09-01-2006, 10:44 AM

Quote:

There's evidence that everything causes cancer. As with most such "evidence", you'd have to consume so much of the product to have a statistical chance of getting cancer that it's not worth worrying about.

Exactly! My friend (a health nut) is always giving me crap for using Splenda because she says it's bad for me, so I always respond with "Well, sugar is ALSO bad for me!!"

Seriously, I used to use 6 scoops of sugar in my Dunkin Donuts (large) coffee, but now that I'm on Splenda, it's so sweet that I only use one packet. So is Splenda worse than sugar? Well, at a 6 sugar to 1 Splenda ratio, I think I'm better off taking my chances with Splenda then the 'insulin shock' I used to get with those 6 sugars.

ThomasC · 09-01-2006, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Sucralose, sold under the brand name Splenda, is made from sugar that has been chemically engineered to pass through your body without being digested. That’s why it tastes like sugar but is calorie free.

Splenda is now the number one sugar substitute on the market, found in salad dressing, cereal and beverages, as well as those little yellow packets.

“Sucralose has been studied for a long time,” says Dr. John Swartzberg, head of the editorial board at the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, “and there is no evidence of any harm to human beings.”

MSNBC - Are sugar substitutes bad for you?

As far as I know, there has never been proof that any sugar substitute is harmful to human beings. Just because rats and mice are affected isn't 100% proof that humans will be as well.