SPLENDA might not be so sweet…

  With SPLENDA, children can have cupcakes, cookies and uber sweet tea for lunch- and all without the calories! What’s better, these little youngsters can be the human test participants to see if SPLENDA has long-term adverse health effects! Sweet!

I used to be a major sugar _______ (pick the scandalous adjective). Of course, to skip the calories, I chose the more chic varieties of sugar- you know, the ones that come in the fabulous pastel colors. Thankfully, a very savvy marketing campaign came along aimed at all of us who wanted a lot of sugar, no calories and the belief that it was all “healthy”. Props to the marketing department at SPLENDA. After a few years of chewing it in gum, baking with it, enjoying it in my diet soda and lattés- heck, practically snorting the stuff- I began to wonder… what exactly is in this fluffy, magical angel dust?

SPLENDA is made by replacing 3 of the hydroxy groups of sugar with 3 chlorine atoms. And, Viola! Sucrose (sugar) becomes sucralose (SPLENDA). To finish off the recipe, dextrose and maltodextrin are also added.

So, what’s the big deal? Can a little chlorine be so bad? I know I’ve swallowed my share of pool water and I seem to be OK…

On SPLENDA’s website we’re led to believe that their product is natural and safe, “Chlorine is present naturally in many of the foods and beverages that we eat and drink every day ranging from lettuce, mushrooms and table salt.” Hmmm… there’s some truth to that. Chlorine is found in table salt, but in the form of sodium chloride.  When man adds chlorine to sugar, it becomes a chlorocarbon (carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethelene and methylene chloride are some common and deadly chlorocarbons). When nature binds chlorine to sodium, there is no carbon present.

Some studies have shown that sucralose is a very stable molecule. SPLENDA jumps on these and assures us that, “After consumption, sucralose passes through the body without being broken down for energy.” The key words here are “for energy”.  SPLENDA admits in another section of their website that 15% is absorbed into the body. The FDA has found more variable results of 11% – 27%.

Splenda claims that, “The advertising and packaging for SPLENDA® Products do not represent the product as “natural.” Are they joking? In my opinion, that’s the whole point/feel for their marketing campaign. We all know the slogan, “Splenda is made from sugar so it tastes like sugar.” They made me think the product was natural… Further, SPLENDA tags on the “ose” to their patented product “sucralose”. That little “ose” makes sucralose sound a lot like fructose, lactose and other natural sugars. But sucralose is not natural…

Alright, so this post seems to be steering in an anti-SPLENDA sort of way. It is not yet possible to definitively say that SPLENDA causes adverse health effects. But, I believe that SPLENDA may not be as innocent and angelic as advertised. Because of the shady information, I have removed all artificial sweeteners from my diet and have felt some great health benefits (i.e., less sugar cravings and some weight loss). Also, I feel better knowing that I am not putting something synthetic and potentially dangerous into my system. I do not want to be a human participant in the subversive SPLENDA study. These types of studies never turn out very well (the human test participants for tobacco come to mind…).   

     Here’s a video from Dr. Mercola… He gives some good info and a reminder that you have to be aware of the source of your information- even the “scientific” studies.  

Here’s some interesting links to check out:

Pro-SPLENDA information (brought to you by SPLENDA):  http://www.splendatruth.com/index.jhtml

False advertisement concerns:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18598430/  

Some interesting articles about SPLENDA dangers:  http://www.citizens.org/search/node/splenda

Sucralose Toxicity Information Center:  http://www.holisticmed.com/splenda/

Here’s a balanced review (more specific to women):  http://www.womentowomen.com/nutritionandweightloss/splenda.aspx

Here is a website created by the Sugar Association (of course, it’s to their advantage to find all the bad about SPLENDA):  http://www.truthaboutsplenda.com/index.html

Environmental concerns at the Splenda Alabama plant:  http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=59665-tate-amp-lyle