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Though I am not a fan of sugar
(whether from beets, sugar cane or otherwise), if I had to choose between
sugar or Splenda (or any other artificial
sweetener, for that matter), sugar would win, hands
down.
That's why I must applaud the
American sugar cane and beet farmers who have aligned their views with my
own -- at least when it comes to getting the word out about the potential
dangers and misleading advertising of Splenda.
Of course, the sugar farmers
surely have their own agenda for spreading this message, but I have none --
other than protecting you and your family from this artificial
sweetener that bears more chemical similarity to DDT than it does to sugar.
Splenda's
manufacturers have gone to great lengths to suggest that Splenda is
natural and safe by using the slogan, "made from sugar so it tastes
like sugar." But after the sugar has been treated with chemicals like
trityl chloride, acetic anhydride, and thionyl chloride in the presence of
dimethylformamide, 4-methylmorpholine, and methyl isobutyl ketone, it is
anything but a sugar molecule.
By the end of the chemical
processing Splenda goes through, it resembles nothing found in nature. This
product is not natural, nor is it a real sugar. It isn't even close.
And, if you haven't yet heard,
the long-term safety of Splenda has never been established. In fact:
- There have only been six human trials to
date
- The longest trial lasted three months
- At LEAST 15 percent of Splenda is not
excreted from your body in a timely manner
In the meantime, since there is
a complete absence of any useful long-term human studies, I've
been researching effects of Splenda based upon information collected
from various individual case studies. The following symptoms have been
noticed within a 24-hour period following consumption of Splenda products:
- Skin -- Redness, itching, swelling,
blistering, weeping, crusting, rash, eruptions, or hives (itchy bumps
or welts). This is the most common allergic symptom that people have.
- Lungs -- Wheezing, tightness, cough, or
shortness of breath.
- Head -- Swelling of the face, eyelids,
lips, tongue, or throat; headaches and migraines (severe headaches).
- Nose -- Stuffy nose, runny nose (clear,
thin discharge), sneezing.
- Eyes -- Red (bloodshot), itchy,
swollen, or watery.
- Stomach -- Bloating, gas, pain, nausea,
vomiting, diarrhea, or bloody diarrhea.
- Heart -- Palpitations or fluttering.
- Joints -- Joint pains or aches.
- Neurological -- Anxiety, dizziness,
spaced-out sensation, depression.
In a nutshell, Splenda is simply
not as perfectly safe as the manufacturers would have you believe.
If you are still using Splenda,
I urge you to take a look through the Web site above, and then check out
the pages
of testimonials from our own readers who feel they
have been harmed by Splenda -- then decide if using this largely
experimental product is really worth the risk.
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