Dangerous Imposter
By now, most of you will have heard of or may even be using an artificial sweetener called Splenda (sucralose) in your daily diet. Splenda is best known for its popular marketing logo, “made form sugar so it tastes like sugar”, convincing many consumers that it is as safe as sugar when used.
But is Splenda really as safe as they say it is? As of 2006, only six trials performed on humans have been published on Splenda. Of these trials, only two were completed and published before the FDA approved sucralose for human consumption. Also, these two trials had a combined total of only 36 human subjects. As if that isn’t bad enough, only 23 people were actually given sucralose, and the trial only lasted four days, hardly enough time to determine the long-term effects on health.
There have been no long-term human toxicity studies published after the FDA approved sucralose for human consumption. A human toxicity trial was conducted after approval, but lasted only for three months. That is probably a fraction of the time that most Splenda users would consume the product. To add to the concern, no studies have been done on children or pregnant women. Hmmmmm, what does that tell you?
The sugar industry is currently suing McNeil Nutritionals, the manufacturers of Splenda, for implying that Splenda is a natural form of sugar with no calories. There is no question that sucralose begins as a sugar molecule, but what happens to it in the factory is what is concerning. Sucralose is a synthetic chemical created in a laboratory. The process involves adding three chlorine molecules to a sucrose or sugar molecule. The chemical process alters the chemical composition of the sugar so much that it is converted to a fructo-galactose molecule. This type of sugar molecule does not occur naturally and therefore your body is unable to metabolize it. As a result, McNeil Nutritionals makes the claim that Splenda is not digested or metabolized, making it have zero calories. However, research has shown that about 15% is ABSORBED by your body.
If you are concerned about whether use of Splenda has adversely affected your health, try this test. First eliminate it and other artificial sweeteners from your diet for a period of one to two weeks, then reintroduce it in sufficient quantity. For example, use it in a beverage in the morning, and eat at least two products that contain sucralose throughout the day. It is important that you avoid other artificial sweeteners so that you can differentiate which one may be causing problems for you. Follow this program for several days, and take notice if how your body feels, particularly if it is different from when you were refraining from using artificial sweeteners.
During this trial, keep these facts in mind:
-There have only been six human studies to date
-The longest trial was only 3 months long
-At least 15% of Splenda is not excreted from your body in a timely manner
Splenda is actually more chemically similar to DDT than to sugar, so why would you want to take that risk with your health? Remember that fat soluble substances, such as DDT, can remain in your fat for decades and have a devastating effect on your long-term health.
So always check the ingredients! Especially with “diet” or so called “health” foods. Check all processed foods for sucralose or Splenda because they will sneak it in to just about anything. And if you find it, then set the package down, make a little X with your forefingers, and slowly back away.
Dr. Moulton’s article was published in the Desert Valley Times July 2008
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 10:46 am and is filed under Splenda. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.