Splenda is NOT splendid

Nov 23, 2009

Splenda is not splendid

"Why can’t we encourage people
to just overcome 
their sweet tooth?...
 
  ...Perhaps it would help, 
but of course there is 
no money 
in that...
  ...We have the sugar industry, 
the chemical sweetener manufacturers 
and the processed foods 
and drinks industry 
making sure that does not happen...

...But people do pay the bill 
– some with their lives, 
others with suffering and illness, 
others simply with obesity, 
and all of them with their weekly grocery bills, 
not to talk about hospital costs
that hit every one of us." - from The Center for Science and the Public Interests Warns of Aspartame But Advocates Splenda/Sucralose
  Did you know that there is no clearcut evidence that artificial sweeteners aid in weight reduction? Yet when I see recipes on blogs and support groups that are "WLS friendly" I see that they include Sucralose (brand name Splenda) in their sugar-free versions of what used to be recipes for actual food now diet-ized by replacing the fat with starch and replacing the sugar with artificial sweeteners.   Why the emphasis on sugar-free?   According to what I read from pre-ops, post-ops and no-ops who are trying to lose weight the idea is to cut calories by any means necessary. Sugar has calories.   We've also been conditioned to believe that sugary sodas, baked goods, candies and desserts are the main cause of  obesity and that by simply making these same items Low-cal, Low-fat or Sugar-free, but continuing to eat them, we are doing something wonderful for our health.
    According to Dr. Janet Star Hull, author of Splenda: Is it Safe or Not? and Sweet Poison, "Splenda, or sucralose as it was named when it was invented, comes from a sugar molecule, yes, but it is so mutilated and transformed in the lab, it has merely 1 atom of sugar remaining after 3 atoms of chlorine are injected into the sugar molecule. So in laymen's terms, sucralose, or Splenda, is 1 part sugar and 3 parts industrial chlorine. You might as well drink from your fish aquarium or swimming pool." (click here for the complete interview)
  What is it about us
(I was once an artificial sweetener junkie)
that makes us prefer to put poison in our bodies rather than just eat better? Are we (and I was one of the "we") so addicted to sweetness that we'd willingly endanger our health just for a flavor fix?   I know that I for one like sweetness. I used to use the pink packets (saccharine). Then when those were determined to be cancer-packs I switched to the blue packets (aspartame). When aspartmate was discovered to be toxic I switched to the yellow packets (sucralose). Now sucralose is in question.   Today I use the green packets (stevia). The difference with the green packets is that it's not an artificial sweetener. It's the powdered version of an herb. It IS a processed food so I use it sparingly but it's nothing like the pink, blue or yellow packet devils.   I also use good old raw honey, organic molasses, real maple syrup and Agave nectar. I'm looking into acquiring some Rhapadura.
Yes they have calories.
No I don't care.
Real food has calories.
I'll deal.   I'm more afraid of harsh chemicals than I am of calories.   I think it's easier and safer to train my taste buds to like things that are less sweet than to tax my body with a toxic substance. But I warn you, DON'T try to talk about this topic on a Weight Loss Surgery support group anywhere online. Either you'll be attacked, insulted or told that artificial sweeteners are "safe in small amounts" and that the side effects of obesity are far more dangerous than the side effects of Splenda.   The WLS "cheerleaders" (a term coined by Dani Hart, author of I Want to Live) who wave their pom-poms for a post-op way of life that includes artificial sweeteners and low fat diet foods will not tolerate dissent.
They regard Splenda-eating as one of the many adjustments one must make as a post-op if one wishes to be part of the weight-losing in-crowd. Question thier methods and you'll be told you're just not committed.
I know. I've been cheer-led right off of these support forums and asked not to interfere with those who are truly on the road to success. Or I've been told that what works for one person may not work for another so I should just leave the Splenda-eaters alone to do what they have to do in order to obtain glorious thinness.   Do I sound bitter?   I'd rather be bitter than artificiually sweet.
*Lisa's Video Pick of the Day* Sweetpoison, written by author Dr. Janet Starr Hull, is a book exposing aspartame dangers. SweetPoison.com provides a variety of aspartame information including nutritional advice on aspartame detoxification, aspartame side effects and up-to-date information on aspartame dangers. click here

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