Is Splenda a Healthy Alternative to Aspartame? Learn the Facts
81Splenda Makes It's Debut
When Splenda came on the scene, the world of weight loss seemed to have finally found the answer. Advertisements would herald the glorious news of a safe and natural alternative to the artificial sweeteners that have been proven to be toxic.
Splenda has found it's way into homes and business in over 80 countries of the world. More than 3,500 products containing Splenda are now distributed and bought worldwide. Countless tons of the feather weight powder have been consumed by health conscious individuals.
I too was a great Splenda fan. If someone dared to categorize my sweetener with the others on the market, I would defend my product. "Splenda is sugar. It's natural," I would boldly proclaim.
Is Splenda Really Natural?
Yesterday, I asked my husband to pick something up for me at my local health food store. They always poke a little magazine or newsletter inside when they bag your merchandise.
I casually browsed through a selection of articles that was posted in the magazine when I came across something that threatened to shatter my loyalty to the new sweet wonder of Splenda. Not willing to base a belief on one source, I began to research. What I found in my research confirmed what I found in the article - Splenda is not as sweet as I have been led to believe.
It turns out, Splenda is not natural at all, neither is it really sugar. While it does begin as sugar, the changes that have been made to remove the calories make it nothing more than a chemical sweetener. Therefore, our wonderful and "safe" sweetener may indeed cause some measure of toxicity to the body.
What Are The Changes Made To Splenda?
Splenda, or sucralose, is made by beginning with a molecule of true and natural sugar. Three hydroxyl groups, or atoms that are composed of hydrogen and oxygen, are removed. These are then substituted with three atoms of chlorine.
Yep, it's the same chlorine found in the bottle of bleach that you use to sanitize the toilet. Surprised?
How Does The Chlorine Affect My Body?
It is common knowledge that many drinking water sources use chlorine to ensure the safety of the water. So why is this such a bad thing?
The chlorination in Splenda is what makes it difficult for the body to absorb the sugar. Since there's minimal absorbtion, the product delivers very few, if any, calories to the body. Though this sounds good, the changes that take place in the "sugar molecule" during the digestive process is not so good. The molecule is transformed into a chlorcarbon. Many chlorocarbons are known to be toxic to the body, why would this be different?
When In Doubt, Go To The Source
Are you still not convinced? Do you need further proof? Find out the truth on Splenda's very own website. Go to the FAQ's page and read to your heart's content. Here's the link. Pay close attention to the questions..."How is SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener made? and..."Is sucralose (or SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener) natural?"
No Sabotage Intended
This post is not intended to tear down the Splenda company nor it's reputaion, but is provided as a means of information. Like I said, I was a Splenda fan too. However, I feel that people have the right to know what they're putting into their bodies, and many never research such things for themselves.
Read What Others Are Saying
- The Secret Dangers of Splenda, an Artificial Sweetener
Discover the dangers of splenda, sucralose and artificial sweeteners. - Sugar substitutes and the potential danger of Splenda
Learn about the dangers of Splenda and other artificial sweeteners, and about safer, natural sugar substitutes.
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Great information blessdmummy.
Thank you very much for that
Information like this it´s important for many people that never research about what their eating!
Bless you blessdmummy! :)
Love this, thanks for the inspiration
Oh no! What do we do now? Back to old fashion sugar cane and just eating alot less and working really hard to exercise.......
Thanks for the comments, everyone!
Just came across this today while browsing hubs--good stuff. I have used stevia root for the past few years as a sugar substitute. It's sweet, non caloric, a natural plant and you can buy it at your local health food store.It's expensive but worth it. Google it and see what you come up with.
Thanks for the info. I get a horrible rash when I eat or drink anything with Splenda. I have a hub that explains my experience.
I still think Splenda is a WHOLE lot better than aspartame AND since we don't drink chlorinated water I think my wife & I will be okay with Splenda. But thanks for lookin out just the same.
awesome. we have been researching this subject for quite some time now. it's hard to believe that the FDA approves these things.
Jesus_saves: I'm glad that you found this info useful. I know what you mean...we'd be surprised if we just knew what we DO eat!
Splenda is moving out of Alabama and with good reasons! Bad news is, their plantation is now in my country - Singapore. I really hate to see more people get sick or die!
By the way, Featherweight is saccharin based. Can you confirm if there's Sucralose (Splenda) in there?
Kelly: After checking on Featherweight, as of now I haven't found any evidence that it contains any Sucralose - only Saccharin.
Thanks for the info very nice hub
The FDA is all about the money... they are NOT looking out for you! Everything we ingest is laden with chemicals!
I am diabetic and have weaned myself off most sweet things...but when I do want a little sweetness, I use pure cane sugar. There's nothing like the real thing for taste and health.
Remember, table salt, NaCl contains Chlorine also. I'd be more worried about aspartame.
Thnks but I only use it in my coffee because 'Stevia' (a new natural but still a little carby sugar sub) makes coffee tastes horrible, unless i use lke 3 tbsp of it
Thank you for giving out this info. I think Splenda will turn out to be as bad as aspartame when the statistics finally come in.
All of you are right, I am glad to see people finally waking up and realizing all of the harmful substances that they are consuming. Lets go and educate others on how to take care of their bodies. Instead of drinking sodas, energy drinks with all of the sugar, and caffine and other harmful substances drink YOLI. To learn about YOLI visit http://www.enjoyinglife.goyoli.com
so the best thing to use is sugar...just not as much?
butterfly10: Maybe. You may also try stevia, a natural sweetener if you are worried about calories.
Thanks for the great information. I need to tell my wife, who is diabetic. She often uses Splenda.
PS. I am a born-again Christian who loves the Lord, and I'm a newbie who's 10 days old here on HubPages. Need your prayers! Blessings to you.~
I finally have given up the sweet soda drinks.. no more HFCS for me. Have been drinking Iced Tea sans ANY sweeteners..I actually have aquired a taste for it plain and cold Reading labels as well..used to use splenda, sweet n low..no more!
Excellent info, blessedmommy. Another sweetener that needs to be avoided like the plague is Neotame. It is actually derived from aspartame, but most peopled don't know that. The only 2 safe and natural sweeteners to use are Xylitol and Stevia.
Everything in moderation. Why is that so hard for people to remember? sugar, artificial sugar. Whatever, just don't over do it.
It's funny, all the emphasis on natural. There are so many natural things that are outlawed or must be served up via a prescription, because the government has decided they are bad for us and then they allow things that are chemically altered. Then they allow us to take things that are natural, but have been synthetically recreated. Ugh! But then, if we are on medication we are trusting the FDA every time we pop that pill in our mouth. So what is a person to do?
Mrs M 4 years ago
Very informative! Thanks.