2009 How Long Can You Go? "No Sweet" CHALLENGE

[Robin's Nest]

Day 6 and HAPPY AS CAN BE!

[Sherri]

Welcome Roxy, great job!



67 days for me today

[ValidRouge]

3 days done.

[Alexa]

Day 2 today

[Sherri]

Challengers,
I am so pleased to see you all here. Fantastic! Time to clean out all temptation from your car, kitchen cupboards, freezer, fridge, pantry and wherever else you have stashed your sweetness. Begin familiarizing yourself(if you havn't already) with reading food lables for ingrediants. Look for hidden sugars that will come in the form of-
sugar
brown sugar
sucrose
fructose
corn syrup
glucose
corn sugar
dextrose
lactose
maltose
honey
invert sugar
concentrated fruit juice
sorbitol
xyletol
mannitol
barley sugar
malt extract
malt
monosodiumglutamate (MSG)
high fructose
corn syrup
mollasses

Watch for hidden sugars in dried spices and seasoning packets if you use them. Condiments can be loaded with hidden sweetners. Also Morton Lite Salt has Dextrose in it. I use sea salt.
If anyone can add more to the list, please do.
Sherri

[Sherri]

Hello Challengers,

I will now begin to define what they are.

*Monosaccharied: A carbohydrate
*Disaccaride: Any group of sugars with a common formula as sucrose, maltose, and lactose, which on hydrolysis yield two monosacharides
*Hydrolysis: A chemicle reaction in which a substance reacts with water so as to be changed into one or more other substances, as a starch into glucose.


FORMS OF SWEETNERS

Sucrose: A pure crystalline *disaccharide extracted from sugarcane or sugar beets and consisting of glucose and fructose joined together in the molecule.

Fructose: A crystaline *monosaccharide found in sweet fruits and in honey; fruit sugar.

Corn Syrup: A syrup made from corn starch; it is a mixture of dextrose, maltose, and dextrins.

Glucose: Sweet wine, sweetness, a crystaline *monosaccharide occuring naturally in fruits, honey, and blood. The commercial form, also containing dextrin and maltose, is prepared as a sweet syrup or, upon disiccation, as a white solid, by the *hydrolysis of starch in the presence of dilute acids and enzymes.

Corn Syrup: A dextrose made from cornstarch.

Dextrose: A right-handed form of glucose found in plants and animals and in human blood, and made by the *hydrolysis of starch with acids and enzymes.

Lactose: A white, crystaline *disccaride found in milk and prepared by evaporation of the whey leaving the crystallized sugar; used in infant foods, medicine, etc..

Maltose: A white crystalline dextrorotatory *disaccaride obtained by action of the distaste of malt on starch.

Honey: A thick, sweet syrupy substance that bees make as food from nectar of flowers and store in honeycomb.

Invert Sugar: A mixture of dextrose, and levulose in approximately equal proportions, found in fruit and produced artificially by *hydrolysis of sucrose.

Concentrated Fruit Juice: Fruit juice that has been made denser, as by the removal of some of the water.

Sorbitol: A white, sweet, odorless, crystaline alcohol, found in certain berries, and fruits, as a sugar substitute.

Xylitol: A crystalline alcohol, derived from corn or hardwood birch, used as a sugar substitute.

Mannitol: A colorless, crystalline sugar alcohol, occuring in various plants and animals.

Barley sugar: A clear, hard candy made by melting sugar, formerly with barley extract added.

Malt Extract: A sticky sugary substance obtained from malt soaked in water.

Malt: barley or other grain soaked in water.

Monosodiumglutamate: A white crystalline powder, derived from sugar beets, used in foods as a flavor intensifier.

Molasses: A thick, usually dark brown syrup produced during the refining of sugar from sorghum, etc..

Sorghum: A syrup made from the sweet juices of Sorgo.

WORST High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) Same as corn syrup only it's also made with fructose

[Sherri]

Okay Challengers, Here we go-

I will begin by sharing information that I have gathered for this challenge. We will begin with Artificial Sweetners, what they are, what the ingediants are and possibly how they are processed. The first one is-
SPLENDA (sucralose)
Why is Splenda potentially harmful?
According to the Splenda International Patent A23L001-236 and PEP Review #90-1-4 (July 1991) Sucralose is synthisized by a five step process.
To illistrate the alarming "chemicle soup" required to create sucralose, listed are the chemicles used to produce this sweetner and to secure the chlorine does NOT digest in your body.
1.) Acetone
2.) Acetic Acid
3.) Acetyl Alcohol
4.) Acetic Anhydride
5.) Ammonium Chloride
6.) Benzene
7.) Chlorinated Sulfate
8.) Ethyl Alcohol
9.) Isobutyl Ketones
10.) Formaldehyde
11.) Hydrogen Chloride
12.) Lithium Chloride
13.) Methonal
14.) Sodium Methoxide
15.) Sulfuryl Chloride
16.) Trityl Chloride
17.) Taluene
18.) Thionyle
Splenda (made from sucralose) is created in the lab by using a complex process involving dozens of chemicles you and I can barely pronounce- let alone consume. Basicly, the chemists force chlorine into an unatural chemicle bond with a sugar molecule, resulting in a sweeter product, but at a price: a huge amount of artificial chemicles must be added to keep sucralose from digesting in our bodies. These toxic substances also prevent (hopefully) the dangerous chlorine molecules from detaching from the sugar molecules inside the digestive system, which would be a carcenogenic hazard.

[Sherri]

There's more----

Exactly what is Splenda?
Sucralose (Splenda) is a chlorocarbon- a chlorine-containing compound. Testing of sucralose revealed organ, genetic, and reproductive damage. Research on Lab Rats showed up to 40% shrinkage of the Thymus Gland, a gland that is the very foundation of our immune system.
Sucralose is patented as a manmade "Chlorinated Sucrose Sweetner" and it is registered as "Chlorinated Sucrose" Chlorinated Sucrose is not found anywhere in nature, like real sugar (sucrose) that is extracted from sugar cane and sugar beets. Or Xylitol, that is extracted from Birch (hardwood) or corn.
Chlorinated Sucrose exists because of man. This is Splenda.

[Sherri]

Can Splenda Cause Weight Gain?


Yes, all diet sweetners can cause weight gain for many reasons. The body doesn't consider Splenda (or any chemicle sweetner) as food; therefore, fake sugars don't satisfy your body's demand for nourishment, which in turn increases your craving for real food.
Simple carbs (manmade sugar) pass through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream. This means weight gain, increased fat, and elevated blood sugar that can lead to weight gain. And Splenda is a Simple Carbohydrate!
Carbohydrates are the most abundant source of energy found in nature. They are products of plant photosynthesis, which provide the plants fuel for life in the form of sugar. When we eat Complex Carbs, we are eating the plants energy, which in turn becomes our energy. When we eat the right kind of carbs, we are providing our bodies with fuel so we can perform daily activities from thinking about work to walking up a flight of stairs. If you are eating a balanced diet with reasonable sized portions, carbohydrates from Natural Sugars, should not cause weight gain. But these days we are people of the "fear of Carbs and sugar" WOL, and the artificial sweetners manufacturers seem to be taking advantage of this with a "sugar-free" marketing frenzy. And don't forget that Splenda is a simple carb.

[Sherri]

Splenda Addictive?


Yes, and for many reasons. All artificial sweetners create an artificial need for more sweetness. People forget that originally, sweetness was actually a by-product of food: Nature's way to encourage living creatures to consume nutricious foods. Forced sweetness, revved-up sweetness and artificial sweetness- all altered foods- are a trap that addict people to sweeter tastes.
Emotionally, we are witnessing an epidemic of eating disorders in the countries that focus on artificial sugar substitutes, particularly among the younger generation. People are convinced through advertisements that they can eat all the sugar-free foods they want without penalty. The flipside to this is a fear that eating REAL foods will cause weight gain or illness. So, many people now fear their food and believe if they do not eat sugar-free, they'll "gain weight". People are grossly overeating due to the misconception that sugar-free is responsibility-free, especially children.
We need to re-educate the youth about the basics of good nutrition and stop "super sizing" the diet products.