Are any artificial sweeteners safe?

[AlwaysWong]

Just curious and too lazy to do the research.

 

[glen]

NO proof any are bad for you to my knowledge.
I think all studies indicating so were discredited.
Not sure about cyclamates.

 

[Eli]

Sweet 'n Low certainly isn't good for you, considering it has a cancer warning on the package. :Q

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

There hasn't been anything conclusive about them causing problems in 'normal' amounts but all of them have the potential for some nasty side effects. I think Aspertame was causing me some problems, and since I've been avoiding it those problems have subsided. Take that for what you will, but why take the chance with anything other than sugar?

 

[wfbberzerker]

what the hey is wrong with sugar anyways?

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

<< what the hey is wrong with sugar anyways? >>



It can't be patented.

 

[Eli]

<< << what the hey is wrong with sugar anyways? >>

It can't be patented. >>



So true.. Another flaw is that it has calories.

 

[blueghost75]

yes, avaoid aspartame, it can and often does have nasty side effects. You may not even realize what is causing it.

I try not to eat anything other than normall sugar, there is no reason to avoid it. Calories wont hurt you.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

<< Sweet 'n Low certainly isn't good for you, considering it has a cancer warning on the package. :Q >>

Sacharin (Sweet & Low) was recently found to NOT cause cancer, and the packets no longer are required to carry that warning. Get new packets of anything with sacharin and you'll see the warning is gone.

However, as mentioned aspertame (Nutrasweet) is supposedly the bad stuff now. Causes short term memory loss, vision loss, etc. in the long run, but not 100% conclusive. Equal, Diet Coke, anything with Nutrasweet is the stuff to "avoid" if you are into worrying about your health.

 

[vailr]

Consider stevia, which is a low-calorie alternative for sugar. Found at health-food stores.

 

[mikebb]

Haven't experts proven that basically everything is unsafe and causes cancer?

 

[Vernor]

The anti-aspartame campaign is probably the longest lasting piece of urban folklore on the net.


I think someone already wrote a Phd thesis in anthropology on that one.

 

[jhu]

as long as you don't have pku, you can eat that nutrasweet stuff all you want.

 

[Jzero]

<< Sweet 'n Low certainly isn't good for you, considering it has a cancer warning on the package. :Q >>


Not anymore...
Besides their claim was that it caused cancer in lab rats....of course they were probably feeding the things half their bodyweight in saccharin every day!

 

[damac]

i have seen some recent mag articles on the new popular one aspartame and this stuff was invented like 40 years ago and got fda approval like 20 years ago. Its allowed to be used in all sorts of foods, etc. without any warning level and their are really no studies to show it has any effects.


but as with anything foreign who knows what could be hurting us. our meat and dairy is full of crap. veggies and fruits are in poisoned ground and sprayed so where do you draw the line ya know?


It has a long track record of being used in mass consumption in the us so I say screw it and don't worry about it.

 

[Eli]

<< Haven't experts proven that basically everything is unsafe and causes cancer? >>



Everything except fruits and vegetables, pretty much. :Q

 

[dullard]

[/i] >>

Sacharin (Sweet & Low) was recently found to NOT cause cancer, and the packets no longer are required to carry that warning. Get new packets of anything with sacharin and you'll see the warning is gone.[/i] >>



Do you have any link to this info? The removal of the warning had nothing to do with any medical study. Pres. Bush in one of his first days in office declared that Sacharin is safe and that the warning must be removed. Thus the warning was removed. However, since then there may have been a medical study that I don't know about - that is why I'm asking for your source of information.

Jzero is correct, sacharin was declared cancer causing since a small fraction of rats developed cancer after eating a diet of mostly sacharin. That is how most things are declared cancerous (if they cause cancer in rats in huge quantities). Few studies have ever been done that shows that these also cause cancer in humans. Imagine the ethical problems in performing this type of study: we know this causes cancer in rats, so eat it and lets see if you die...

All things are hazardous in large quantities. Did you know that table salt is radioactive? Thus salt will cause cancer if you eat too much (of course you will die of dehydration far before you could ever eat enough salt to cause cancer though.) So many of these studies are flawed - they force feed huge amounts and find out that something went wrong. Duh! Of course something goes wrong if you eat huge quantities of things.

Nutrasweet is a reaction between two chemicals: benzene (known to cause cancer) and wood alcohol (known to cause blindness and death). However the chemical reaction creates a safe product. If you eat fresh nutrasweet, you will be perfectly fine. The problem is that all reactions can be reversed. Nutrasweet will revert (slightly) to its hazardous components if heated for extended periods of time. Thus there are "freshness" dates on products with nutrasweet (while the full sugar variety often doesn't have a freshness date) and often warnings not to cook with it. So don't be an idiot and cook old nutrasweet and you will be just fine.

 

[Gunbuster]

Who cares if it's bad for you, all the fake sugars taste like ass

 

[SpecialEd]

the beer and greasy hambuger you had for dinner is probably far worse for you than a little sweetener. Its not going to hurt you.

 

[Instan00dles]

I guess I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. I drink dite pepsi because I have been drinking it almost all my life and secondly I am pretty sure I have diabetes. every male on my dads side of the family has had it since as far back as he can remember so it is almost guranteed that I will have it. I also wont drink anything else except water and certian juice I like. I have tried pepsi and I cant stand that crap I dont know why but it leaves an awful after-taste in my mouth.As for being problem with artifical sweeteners I do belive the on in dite-pop's is addictive, I have read that somewhere and I have stopped drinking it for about 1 week I never did feel quite right untill I opened up a can of diet pepsi, I have never smoked but I guess I can describe it feeling like you havent had a smoke in along time the you light one up and feel all better.

 

[randomlinh]

what about sucralose (splenda)?