Many unsuspecting people pour various sweeteners into their coffee every morning pleased with the idea of being health conscience. Many would rather have a product that is "made from sugar" as opposed to pure sugar. In 2007, the makers of splenda and equal were taken to court because of the phrase "made from sugar". The maker of splenda, McNeil says "that the process it uses to manufacture Splenda starts with sugar, pure and simple. To make sucralose, McNeil adds three chlorine atoms that are naturally found in foods like salt and lettuce to a molecule of sucrose. The sucrose disappears in the manufacturing process, but the result -- sucralose -- is 600 times as sweet as ordinary table sugar. Splenda then mixes two bulking agents, dextrose and maltodextrin, into the sucralose." Baffling? Absolutely! We can only begin to understand the complex chemistry that is involved in producing a sugar- like substance, but until we do we should stop putting these unnatural agents into our bodies. Some scientists even believe that any residual sugar in the mixture disappears during manufacturing. So when reaching for the splenda or equal, keep in mind that you could have a naturally harvested product, or a product that is made from complex chemistry. Which seems more natural to you?
Posted by Eva Rediker
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This especially relates to me because my dad has diabetes. Because the substitutes are much sweeter than sugar, it takes a much smaller quantity to create the same sweetness. It's basically way more potent. Artificial sweeteners might still be better for people with diabetes though, as it does not raise their actual blood sugar. Who knows what other types of problems it could create though. But as long as you take anything that's not fatal in moderation, it should be fine. The one thing I heard that's bad about artificial sweeteners for people who have diabetes though, is that foods containing sugar substitutes may contain calories that may make you lose your ability to lose weight and control blood sugar. Even if direct sugar is not applied to foods, food in general raises your blood sugar through other means.
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