I heard yesterday that Splenda, the sweetener is supposed to cause cancer. Is this true?
Coleta from Graham, Texas
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Just because the food and drug administration say that Splenda is safe, doesn't make it necessarily so. I don't buy any food or candy that contain artifical sweeteners because it can be harmful to my health.
The safest sweetner that is out on the market will not be found in any grocery store. The food industry is only interested in MONEY and not your health or my health.
Stevia can only be purchased in a health food store, or over the internet. Stevia is a plant which is grown in Paraguay and the sweetness is extracted from the leaves of the plant.
www.stevia.com/
You can read about splenda here:
en.wikipedia.org/
I feel it is more a case of they 'don't know yet what it will do'...than 'yes it is absolutely safe'. Seems like one by one every artificial sweetener that comes around gets shot down years later. It really is an additive and not necessary to consume.
It will also make you fat:
body.aol.com/
I don't know about it giving you cancer, but I do know personally that it can give you some really uncomfortable symptoms. A year ago I had sudden strangely jumpy legs and burning feet & really high blood sugar readings that wouldn't go down no matter what I did. A doctor said diabetic neuropathy and gave me meds but nothing worked. Looking for a reason for the sudden onset, I realized that we'd recently switched totally from sugar to Splenda.
I don't know if it will cause cancer but it certainly messes up my digestive system. I didn't notice that my favorite diet soft drink had switched to Splenda as their sweetener. I started having constant problems and had decided I'd better see my doctor about it. Then my nephew told me he had just recently discovered he had diabetes and had to use sugar substitutes.
I wondered that too, so I went through like thirty pages of Net search links and read everything. I spent half a day on it. I have had some training in how to understand and identify whether research findings are sound or bogus, which helped. So far the most independent labs are finding that it goes through you pretty much inert.
Everyone should try to avoid all artificial sweeteners.
The worst found in many foods is Aspertame, although the government will tell you it is safe, it's not. The worst thing is people who drink a lot of diet pop thinking that it is better for you than regular pop. The Aspertame that is in the pop is very dangerous when the cans are exposed to high temperature.
Who knows if SPLENDA causes cancer? The main thing that a company is looking for is your money. That's right, it's just like a lot of drugs. A patent is made, it goes on the market, the doctors push it & lo & behold, down the road you find out all the negatives, like maybe it killed so many users;
I did a tremendous amount of research on artificial sweeteners & in my opinion I wouldn't touch any of them with a ten foot pole. I use STEVIA which might seem expensive to some but a container lasts me forever as I use 1/8 t. in my tea. I don't use it in my coffee nor do I use it in my cereal. You can purchase it @ TRADER JOES. I think I paid about $7. for a glass container & it has lasted me well over a year & I haven't even used 1/4 of the jar. STEVIA comes from a plant from PARAGUAY & has been around for years. According to the USDA there are no known dangers as it is not artifical. When baking I would rather use real sugar & not take a chance of somewhere down the road of finding out that any of the artifical sweeteners now are found to be harmful.
Fortunately I don't have diabetes or any other medical problems that would have me not be able to use regular sugar. I do try to use recipes that call for sugar in small amounts & many times I use unsweetened applesauce in place of the sugar.
Hope this helps.
I agree with the opinion that if it's artificial it's better left alone. Things that God put here for us are much healthier. I use honey, molasses, maple syrup and xylitol. I know that Stevia is good for you but we weren't fond of the taste. You will need to study on how much to use as it is quite different from sugar. just google it. God bless you and best wishes with your research.
I wouldn't risk it. I used to diet with it, and have yet to meet a single person who has ever claimed to have lost weight by using sweeteners instead of sugar. It's not worth the risk. I use regular sugar now, just not as much.
Just a followup on the previous comment about Stevia: the statement that it cannot be purchased in grocery stores is false. I live in Maine and have seen Stevia on the shelves of the two major supermarket chains here (Hannaford and Shaw's). If grocery stores in rural Maine carry it, I would have to assume that grocery stores in more populated areas would carry it as well.
Splenda and Cancer: Does Splenda Cause Cancer?
By Lisa Fayed, About.com
Updated: June 27, 2007
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board
See More About:artificial sweetenerscancer causessucralose
Question: Splenda and Cancer: Does Splenda Cause Cancer?
I have heard that Splenda may cause cancer. Is it true?
Answer: Splenda is an artificial sweetener that is relatively new on the consumer market. It is approximately 600 times sweeter than sugar, thus needing to use very little sweeten food and beverages. The common term for Splenda is sucralose.
Splenda is used in a variety of products from dessert mixes to syrups. It is also used as a direct sugar substitute, meaning you can use it in place of sugar in coffee and recipes that call for sugar.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of sucralose, brand name Splenda, to be on the consumer market. This safety of the product is based on the review of over 110 studies involving animals and humans. The FDA looked for carcinogenic, reproductive and neurological effects of usage and found none.
The bottom line is that the FDA has found no cancer causing properties in the usage of Splenda.
The cancer stigma that surrounds artificial sweeteners is believed to stem from the 1970's when lab rats developed bladder during a saccharin trial. Although no case of cancer in a human has been reportedly linked to saccharin, the stigma still remains.
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