I feel at my best when not using any artificial sweeteners at all, although occasionally I will eat something sweetened with Splenda, but feel Splenda spikes my blood sugar (I know that is not considered a scientifically valid opinion, it's just how it makes me feel) and it also trains my taste buds to prefer a sweet taste when I'm trying to stay off of refined sugar.

For me, too, there's an issue in the granulated little packets of artificial sweeteners like Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet ... these contain dextrose as a filler ... dextrose is a very high glycemic refined SUGAR! It is the chemical equivalent of the glucose naturally produced in our bodies. It is the standard by which items are ranked on the glycemic index ... dextrose/glucose has a number of 100, refined table sugar is usually ranked 64. Dextrose is the ingredient in the glucose tablets I carry in my purse in case my blood sugar drops too low ... the tablets produce 4 grams of carbohydrate (the dextrose), a small amount that works quite well to bring me back in balance if I am in trouble.

The amount of dextrose in the packets is very small, but it concerns me that this is not more widely understood ... the granulated "artificial sweeteners" contain SUGAR!

This is just my unscientific opinion, but I used a lot of that stuff in the past and it never failed to make me feel ill. I think it was because of the dextrose ...

So oddly enough the only sweetener I feel is really safe for me is a drop or two of old-fashioned liquid saccharine ... which in my opinion has been completely cleared of the old stigma of causing cancer in lab rats, etc., etc. ... I still don't think it's a good idea to ingest this chemical but every now and then I add a drop to a recipe.

I personally would never eat anything w/ aspartame in it. When I was about 2 yo, I was given a sugar free hard candy w/ aspartame in it and my Mom tells me that I had a seizure w/in a short period of time after ingesting the candy. I had never had a seizure before in my life and I've never had one since. Of course, I've never had aspartame again either. She had no proof that the aspartame caused my seizure, but that is the only unusual food I ate. Also, a couple of years ago I was at the mall w/ my sister and she had a few diet sodas sweetened w/ aspartame throughout the day. All of a sudden she was telling me that she was having trouble seeing...like she had temporarily lost some of her vision. I immediately thought of the aspartame. I made her sit down in the food court for 30 minutes and threw away her diet soda. Her vision cleared up, but to this day the only explanation I can think of is that she had a negative reaction to the aspartame.

I try to eat only whole, unprocessed foods w/o added chemicals and preservatives. All food is poison to some extent and I want to put as little poison as possible in my body.

So, I would never go near the stuff and I wouldn't feed it to my family and friends. I'll take Natural Sugar Cane crystals (SuCaNat) any day over artificial sweeteners. That's just my personal experience & preference, though.

I get a bad reaction to aspartame sweetened soda as well. I didn't realize it at first but I had to figure it out by process of ellimination of what I was eating. It makes me naseous and feeling week.
Now I don't use any artificial sweeteners, only honey to sweeten drinks or food, and that isn't very often. (although I do eat sugar-laden foods once in a while-chocolate ;) )

Aspartame sweetened sodas do give me a headache when I'm unwise enough to drink some of the stuff.

Amara,

Unless you're particularly sensitive to dextrose, I don't think it really is a factor in the "side effects of artificial sweeteners" issue--there isn't even enough dextrose to contribute to the calories per serving. It's usually added in nominal amounts as an anti-caking agent, I believe. (otherwise it'll be all clumpy)

That being said---I use asparatame sparingly when I don't have Splenda (sucralose) available, and used it much more often before Splenda is widely sold. I don't recall side effects from consuming it or from withdrawal. I hardly drink soda of any form nowadays (and when I do, I usually go for the gourmet/niche/hard-to-find sodas that are almost always naturally sweetened with sugar/honey, etc.) I still use splenda/equal for my coffees though.

Actually, I was diagnosed with Lupus three years ago and was aked by my doctor if I used anything with aspartame in it. I told him No because working in the health field I already knew the dangers. It can 'cause lupus like syptoms or even MS symptoms. There have been a few studies to prove that theory and is now taught in Medical schools across the country. I'll have to find the studies if I can...I think one was done at John's Hopkins but I'm not sure. As far as headaches....I would probably like everyone else link that to the Caffiene withdraw.

I found that using aspartame triggered sugar cravings. Not a good trigger. I generally don't use it anymore.

I don't drink beverages with aspartame as much as I used to, but it, like any other chemical, MAY has side effects in percentages of the population. If you know a lot about chemicals in foods and teflon pans and even in the air, you'd be paranoid! DOn;t worry so much about aspartame. Anything, and I mean, anything, has its side effects. EVen too much O2 (air) and H20 could cause major side effects which may include death, but we're talking crazy amounts.I'm sure you you go on NIH (national institute of Health) and find some research articles on PUBMED, you'll see that aspartame isn't "a poison" as people think it is.

I've heard that they did studies where they gave large amounts of aspertame to rats, and the rats got holes in their brains. I've also heard that aspertame could have been the cause of some of the gulf war syndrome that people went through because at a certain temperature aspertame turns to formaldehyde within the blood. Whether "that woman" whoever she is, is responsible for these rumors or not I couldn't say.

I figure occasional ingestion of it is probably not that dangerous for most people, but I wouldn't over do it.

I have no doubts that some people are sensitive to some or all artificial sweetners, and have valid and horrible accounts of what happened to them when they used those products.

However, there are plenty of people who can relate similar experiences about other things, such as strawberries, shellfish, or peanuts. All "natural" things, things that many people make part of a healthy diet, are for all practical purposes a deadly poision to those unfortunate souls who have reactions to them.

Problem is, when it comes to artificial sweetners, people tend to remember the bad stories over the good ones. And people who have had bad experiences might very well be more inclined to share those stories than people who have had no bad effects from them at all.

Are peanuts poisonous? No, of course not. Is aspartame? No, of course not. Stay away from either if you have a problem with it. Use either if you don't.

Aspartame isn't real poison, of course. It wouldn't have passed FDA approval if it was hemlock quality.

But, the number of toxicity reports is amazing. We did a fair amount of research on it in high school, and all came to the same conclusion : aspartame and sucralose are NOT as safe as the FDA wants us to believe they are. It's like the word play my grandmother-in-law once used on a friend "You will live until you die." People believe it, it's all about the fine print. Aspartame is safe until you have a reaction. Most people don't have reactions, but some of us (**waves arms frantically**) get debilitating headaches, nausea, vomit if too much is ingested.

The aspartame scare happened long before the unmentionable websites and people. It was opposed in the 70s, but, of course, money won out. Studies were cherry picked to make it work. The FDA took toxicity reports for it until the mid-90s, when they stopped. Was it due to too many false reports, or they just didn't care (or both)? Who's to say. I still won't touch any of it. It's not safe or natural, and it just tricks you into thinking you're eating healthy.

What is bad about diet sodas is because people drink them they tend to replace the calories with other foods than if they drank regular soda.

It is not poison but some have allergies or medical conditions that is aggrivated (not by the sweetener it self but usually the fillers).

I think moderation as with anything in life is the key.

Check out www.snopes.com for more.

BTW there is a website out (merck or something like that) that has no research credibility.

jillybean, Yes it has been document that many people actually eat more when they consume diet drinks. I wish I could remember where I filed the study at (I am not at home so I only have some of my files with me on the computer) that documents this.

If you pay attention and don't exceed the caloric intake of a weight loss program diet drinks are a good way to get in liquid without increasing the calories.

Sorry if it was confusing the way I worded it.