ATTENTION PLEASE: The Truth Behind Splenda!!

[Brand New Mom]

Hello guys ,


As we all know that the only allowed sweetner in our Atkins Diet is Splenda ... here are some facts behinde it .. i have done some internet searches before i re-use it again ( notice i said re-use it again which means i was using it before but no more i cut it down i did this before i found out these facts about ... and the reason why im not using it beside any other artifical sweeterns because that i found that they are allllllll bad to our health and causes a serious danger to human health ... and what i notice since i cut down all the sweetners that .. i start losing weight !!! which is amazing thing to discover that they were a BIG cause of Obessity ) despite what they claims to be a good subs of the natural suger .. so please , be aware ... here what i found ...


Nearly three years ago I posted an article describing the dangers of Splenda, which is the brand name for sucralose. It appears that more and more people are finally realizing the hazards that this "healthy" sweetener poses.
Splenda is far from healthy and I do not recommend using it in any form. Why not use Splenda? Well, research in animals has shown that sucralose can cause many problems such as:

• Reduced growth rate in newborns and adults at levels above 500 mg/kg.day
• Decreased red blood cells - - sign of anemia (at levels abofe 1500 mg/kd/day
• Decreased thyroxine levels (thyroid function) (According to McNeil, since this only occurred on male rats and no abnormalities were observed with the thyroid tissue, this was considered insignificant.)
• Mineral losses (magnesium and phosphorus) McNeil stated that these patterns were variable and at times not dose related so they were not significant.
• Decreased urination
• Enlarged colon (The FDA Final Rule states cecal enlargement is often seen with poorly absorbed substances and is not significant.)
• Enlarged liver and brain (McNeil stated these were insignificant due to a lack of a dose response.)
• Shrunken ovaries
• Shrunken thymus aboe 3 grams per day
• Enlarged and calcified kidneys (McNeil stated this is often seen with poorly absorbed substances and was of no toxicological significance. The FDA Final Rule agreed that these are findings that are common in aged female rats and are not significant.)
• Increased adrenal cortical hemorrhagic degeneration (McNeil stated that this is a variable finding common in aged rats and not toxicologically significant.)
• Increased cataracts (McNeil stated that cataracts were discovered upon microscopic sections of the eye tissue and that this was not as accurate as in-life ophthalmological examinations and did not reveal any treatment- related ocular findings.
• Abnormal liver cells (The FDA Final Rule states that this was only marginal and probably not treatment related due to the severity of the lesion was not contaminant with the dosage.)

McNeil concluded that all of these findings could be explained by reasons other than sucralose toxicity and were insignificant. This seems to be a pattern in all of McNeil's study conclusions. I find it suspect that for every single adverse finding in the animal studies, McNeil always has some rationale that renders it "insignificant." Their downplaying every harmful finding makes it seem as if they are more interested in making sucralose appear safe than making sure that the people are not harmed.
The FDA concluded that most of these findings had no toxicological significance and those that did such as the decrease in thymus weight and the decreased red blood cells, would not be a problem because they occurred at doses of sucralose much higher than what people would consume.. As a physician, I beg to differ. I believe that these findings are not of no significance." Many of these are symptoms of serious pathology.
But perhaps the most revealing and powerful way to learn the dangerous truth about Splenda is to read someone's personal experience with it. Nearly every month we receive a report from someone who has had an adverse reaction to Splenda, and after you read through the story below you can see many others posted on our site.
The following story provides a revealing testimony to the havoc Splenda can wreak on your physical and mental well-being.
Contributed by Steve G. [last name withheld]
I just want to thank you guys, as without your Web site I'd be in the mental ward right now! I'm a big coffee drinker, but my family has a history of diabetes so I decided I should cut out the sugar I add to my coffee.
Well, I switched to using Splenda in my coffee about two months ago. Now I'm no wimp, and I'm not a health nut or anything like that! I'm a former football player, a vice president with a major banking institution and kind of a tough guy. Let me put it this way--the last time I cried was when the Green Bay Packers won the Superbowl!
So, anyway, I was using Splenda and I started getting withdrawn, had trouble focusing, and started to have problems with frustration. Gradually, I became more and more depressed. I thought it was stress or my job, something like that.
Well, last Thursday I completely fell apart! My girlfriend came over and found me crying uncontrollably for no reason, and all I could say was, "I'll be OK." She couldn't get me to move, she couldn't talk me down and I could not tell her what was wrong!
She was shocked as I had never done anything even remotely like this before and so she made me go to the hospital. The doctors there we so concerned about my condition they wanted to check me into the mental-health ward.
Being the way I am I refused but agreed to come back the next day and see a psychiatrist, which I did and he put me on a huge dose of Effexor. That night I was on the Web and for some unknown reason I did a search for Splenda and found the Natural Health Information Articles and Health Newsletter by Dr. Joseph Mercola Web site.
When I read your information on Splenda I was shocked--I simply had no clue! I am now 99.9 percent convinced that my mental health issues were a direct result of using Splenda. I even had the stomach cramps and chest pains that other people have mentioned after using Splenda, but I dismissed them as panic attacks and stress.
So the next morning I got up and had some more Splenda and, low and behold, I started feeling the symptoms of a deepening depression again! It was clearly due to the Splenda, so I tossed it out.
I just want to say thank you. I would love to help get this product off the market! By the way, I missed work because of my ordeal, so I had to tell my boss about my problems and now I have to explain to him that I'm not nuts or having a break down--how embarrassing!
Thanks again!!


The article resource ...

Splenda's Dangers: One Man's Personal Story That You Should Know


Wish u alllllll the good health

[mitzimarie]

I take "studies" with a grain of salt... you can find one to support any "side" that you're on. For example, read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes, regarding studies and the flawed reasoning behing supporting a lowfat way of eating (made my blood boil!).

Back to Splenda... it affects different people in different ways. Some people are hugely affected by artificial sweeteners, and some aren't phased by them (myself included - I love the liquid Splenda). Of course, I wouldn't advise going overboard with it, and if you are one of the ones that feels bad from it, drop it.

By the way, you mentioned Effexor... I had a specialist doc (urologist) put me on it, and it wreaked havoc on me. Went to my normal primary care physician about it, and he immediately took me off of it... it affects different people in different ways...

Different strokes, for different folks.

[kibskix]

its common sense that sweetener isn't -good- for you. its a crutch, something thats a 'better' choice when you want to lose weight than real sugar. i seriously doubt that putting splenda in your coffee will make you break down into hysterical fits and cause mental illness. that part is pretty ridiculous, and makes me not take the rest of this article seriously. if 'the way you are' is to just say you're fine when you're not, my guess would be being overwhelmed with stress or any other number of things without even realizing it because you're always 'fine'.
this post isnt about this, but effexor is in my opinion the worst thing a psychiatrist could have done. the withdrawal from that left me the sickest i've ever been in my entire life. when i ended up in the ER after not being able to eat for 3 weeks, they mentioned casually 'oh yeah its like coming off heroin'. jee thanks for telling me that when you told me i -had- to go on it. after that i got a new doctor and got put on depakote, which is 1000 times better, and i had no withdrawal from that whatsoever. i've been off meds for 4 years, and i use splenda, and it causes ill effects for me.

[BFGarner]

I am strangely thirsty for a Pepsi One made with Splenda.....
Interesting post though, you should google aspartame too. Googling Canola Oil almost made me quit using that, but Im too cheap.

[Brand New Mom]

thanks allllll ... but for me i belives that allllllllllll artifical sweetners are killers .. and thats why i rather have my coffee bitter than adding those chemicals to it .. anyway this article rises big question which is what to use instead of splenda?? can we use pure unrefined suger? or fructose? or we just keep going with splenda despite its dangerous effects?? note those effects could be by long term consuming and other effects may occurs as we just use it .. means by one time .. like headache .. floated face .. etc ...

[chinadoll]

BF hit on it! Almost anything has studies behind it saying how bad it is. Bacon, tuna, alumin pans to cook with, every sweetener ever made, grilled meats, microwave ovens---a lot of things have a bad rap based on this study or that study. Yes the changes are valid and YES they may be statistically insignificant if the dosages being given are amped up way beyond normal use (and they usually are for studies). It stands to reason if the body is bombarded with anything it will react to it in adverse ways. It is not a normal situation if you are being fed thousands of times he normal daily use to see what effects it has. In fact our body may have an abnormal reaction to eating 150 organically grown heads of lettuce a day too but that hasn't been studied yet. LOL

Bottom line is, everything is bad for you so you need to choose what works for you and hope for the best. I choose to use very few sweeteners because I dont have a sweet tooth. When I do use one, I use Splenda but it doesn't affect me with my weight loss. AS for the dangers, there are thousands of things doing just as much damage to me as a little bit of Splenda every day in today's deteriorating environment. We are exposed to lots of things that play havoc with our bodies. So I figure the additional danger from a packet of Splenda is miniscule when compared to everything else going on.

Thank you for the article. It is interesting, but to be fair the same could be said for many many other products if put under this kind of scrutiny. Each person needs to put study results into context and make his or her own decision.

[sadie147]

Originally Posted by Brand New Mom

thanks allllll ... but for me i belives that allllllllllll artifical sweetners are killers .. and thats why i rather have my coffee bitter than adding those chemicals to it .. anyway this article rises big question which is what to use instead of splenda?? can we use pure unrefined suger? or fructose? or we just keep going with splenda despite its dangerous effects?? note those effects could be by long term consuming and other effects may occurs as we just use it .. means by one time .. like headache .. floated face .. etc ...

stevia is probably your best bet if your looking for a substitue...it's natural.

[Sherri]

Hi there,
I have a No Sweet Challenge here on the board with some information regarding sweetners. Here's the link and the post where the info begins.
Thanks for sharing your information.
Sherri

2009 How Long Can You Go? "No Sweet" CHALLENGE
Page 7, Post #15 Also, you'll find information throughout the thread.

Also this is a great read www.sweetpoison.com

[bikinidreams]

I avoid that junk like the plague. Stevia is the only sweetener I use. Otherwise, nothing!

[12YearsofBabyFat]

I am a Stevia girl also. I am not sure about the new Truvia, though. It has other ingredients listed, so I have stayed away from that as well.