Quote:
Originally Posted by Aiesline
Guys keep in mind that sucralose (splenda) is indigestible by the human body. We can't metabolize it. If we can't metabolize it we cant turn it into energy. If we can't turn it into energy it doesn't count. We didn't use it. We can't store it. I'd not worry about or even count your splenda consumption. I don't know about other artificial sweeteners though. A good friend of mine is a chemist. It's the only reason I know about the splenda thing. It has something to do with clorine somehow. She explained it but I've since forgotten.
*edit~ did some checking SACCHARINE (sweet and low) is in the same boat as Splenda. Our body can't metabolize it. It passes through the body pretty much unchanged. The calories from sweet and low do not count.
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This is not totally true.
Tracking of radio-marked sugar substitutes shows most (including Splenda and Sweet-n-Low) show only around 15% is excreted from the body un-metabolized. Therefore roughly 85% is used by the body for energy. Applying the necessary calculations of total energy in the substitute vs. amount metabolized, still leaves a range of 2-3.3 kcal/g in most substitutes. (Remember 1 kcal is 1 "Calorie" in US food labeling).
1 normal packet of Splenda is 1 gram, which is roughly 3 calories actually metabolized (discounting what's excreted).
The exception is Erythritol (Truvia). 90% of marked Erythritol is recovered in urine. And it has a significantly lower calorie count to begin with.
Not counting absorption issues, Erythritol is roughly .2 kcal/g. If 90% is not absorbed (metabolized), that's 0.02 kcal/g remaining.
Erythritol is usually packaged in a bulkier packet, a bit under 3.5 grams. So that's 0.07 calories per packet absorbed (.7 calories all together, counting what's excreted).
While it's unlikely most people would be ingesting artificial sweetener at a level that's going to make a dent in their weight loss plan, most of the time it *does* have calories.
I had a great science journal article to share that goes into the specifics of each substitute, the method of measurement, etc. but my post count isn't high enough to share the link... boo.