Prior to my new lifestyle I used to drink 3 pepsi a day as well as 3 or 4 cups of tea (each cup had 2 tsp of sugar and 2 tsp cream). I have completely cut out the pepsi as well as any other soft drinks. I have also cut out the tea, but I will occasionally (as in once or twice a week) have a cup of tea with 1 tsp cream and 1 tsp sugar. I am also drinking 3 BIG sigg bottles full of water and I'm drinking 2 sigg bottles full of crystal light.

I'm consider my new lifestyle way of eating to be whole foods and I feel much better without the pop and heavy sugar consumption....but I'm still torn on the artificial sweetner. I really enjoy the crystal light. I think I would feel deprived if I didn't drink it because I have a sweet tooth. I think it keeps me from craving cookies, etc etc etc.

I've tried reading on the internet...but for every website that says it's bad there's a website that says there's no harm.

Splenda makes me seriously ill. Stomach cramps & nausea so bad I can't keep any food down, rash, splitting headache (that is the first symptom to show up actually), bloating, slimy coating on my tongue. It is terrible for me. Does similar things to DH and several other people I know.

I just use the real stuff in lower doses. I have 1 tsp of sugar in my coffee, that is it. I occassionally have a full sugar soda - maybe once a month or so.

The answer really depends on you.

Obviously, no one is going to make the argument that artificial sweeteners are a health food - the question is really whether they are a lesser evil than sugar, or whether you'd be better off severely restricting sweets and using sugar when you need some instead of a sweetener.

Some people (like Shannon) have bad reactions to sweeteners. I can't have aspartame without experiencing many of the symptoms she just listed for Splenda/sucralose. It's all a matter of trial and error, and if a sweetener doesn't agree with you, best to just cut it out entirely.

If you have no issues with a sweetener, you need to balance your priorities. Is blood sugar control a priority for you? What about eating only whole foods? Limiting sweets altogether? Or is your highest priority just lowering calories? The answers to these questions will help you determine whether sweeteners fit into your plan. Personally, keeping calories low and blood sugar levels stable is more important to me than eating only whole foods (I have PCOS and really need to watch my sugar intake, so using limited amounts of "the real stuff" isn't a great option for that), so I do use some sweeteners, but in moderation, so I'm eating only a limited amount of sweets overall.

If you don't mind ingesting chemicals...you should be fine If you notice on foods that contain artificial sweeteners, on the back, next to the ingredients there is a WARNING letting you know that there are added chemicals to the food. I don't know about you, but any sort of food with a warning isn't something I want to ingest.

Seriously though, there are SO MANY other sweetener options that are healthy for you that aren't artificial. Take a look at agave syrup. It is low on the glycemic index and hardly raises your blood sugar. It is also 4x sweeter than cane sugar so you don't have to use as much. Also try Sucanat. It is un-processed/un-refined cane sugar so it is easier for your body to digest.

I hope that this helps you out. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about whole foods/natural alternatives.

Agave also has calories that must be taken into account, so again, it's an issue of priorities.

great thread topic! I drink way too many diet sodas a day! And I believe all the chemicals are bad for me. With that said...I don't know...I still drink it.

Very very true, although they are calories that your body can burn instead of chemicals your body has no idea what to do with. Everything is relative.

Strangely enough, I practice natural medicine. Organic foods, whole foods, olive oil and garlic for ear infections, chiropractic care for most health ailments, homeopathic remedies, essential oils.......and artificial sweetners. HA! I do use stevia and I would gladly consume sun tea or a stevia sweetened beverage like crystal light if I could find them somewhere. They have it on amazon.com but I'm in Canada and I can't get it on amazon.ca.

Perfect, then you don't need any of my help! I'm not a huge fan of stevia (I just don't like the taste....) and I'm not sure if they have it in Canada, but here in the states I have seen a soft drink made with stevia...I think it was Zeva or Zevia. I know it started with a Z It's not the same as a crystal light or tea but worth a try maybe...???? Just trying to help

I don't mind artificial sweeteners. I drink a load of diet Coke, I eat my Fiber One (Aspartame), I put Splenda in my tea. If I had physical reactions to it, I'd avoid it, but I feel fine.

Who knows, maybe I'll leave my body to science so they can study the long term effects of Aspartame on humans!

I was just reading something about aspartame being processed with pig kidney's which I thought was interesting and horrifying as well. As a vegetarian, that bothers me but you'd think with as many people who have religious beliefs towards pork that they would mention that a bit more widely.

Ever eat any foods containing cochineal or carmine? It's even more disgusting than aspartame being processed with pigs kidneys.

Personally, I don't consume artificial sweeteners. They aren't food, they're chemicals.

Why not make your own sun tea or lemonade and sweeten it with stevia yourself? Or how about making sun tea with a blend that is naturally sweet. Good Earth Original tea is very sweet on it's own. It has cinnamon, cloves and other spices that make it taste sweet.

Yeah, pretty much any time you see "natural flavors" or "natural color" it will be something like that. If it sounded good they would say it as a selling point.