Dangers of Sugar Free - how much is too much?

[FAB:) 12]

Jane - if you can find 'Jay Robb' Protein powders, I highly recommend them. They are flavored with Stevia and taste great (at least the vanilla & chocolate ones that I have tried). If you google it I believe you can order a small sample pack off his website. Just wanted to share, hope this helps.

I am less than 2 weeks out from surgery so still on liquids only but Jay Rob is amazing. I gave his chocolate and strawberry Protein power and love them. Since my surgery though I don't really like the taste or smell of chocolate so it's been rough with that one. They are "zero" everything with a HIGH amount of protein. I recommend them!

[DLCoggin 1,788]

The subject of artificial sweeteners is an interesting one and I've enjoyed reading the variety of responses. I mentioned in my previous post that I had not located information on recommended limits of consumption. After doing more research I discovered that the FDA has established "Acceptable Daily Intakes" (ADI) for the seven non-nutritive artificial sweeteners that they have approved for use in the U.S. By definition, the ADI is 100 times less than the smallest amount considered safe for daily consumption by adults over the course of a life time. So what does that mean?

To put the ADI in perspective, we can look at aspartame (sold as Equal and NutraSweet). In addition to being a "tabletop" sweetener, aspartame is used in literally thousands of foods and beverages. The ADI for aspartame is 50 mg per kg of body weight. Still a little obscure for those of us who are metric challenged. So...that translates into 3,750 mg per day for a typical adult weighing 75 kgs or about 165 pounds. A 12 oz. can of diet soda contains, on average, 180 mgs of aspartame. So our typical adult would have to consume 21 cans of diet soda every day to go over the aspartame ADI, which is 100 times less than the smallest amount considered safe for daily consumption.

The ADIs for the other artificial sweeteners are as follows:

• Saccharin (Sweet 'n Low or Sugar Twin) = 5 mg/kg or the equivalent of 9 to 12 packets per day. Some of us remember the saccharin cancer scare in the early 70's. That led to an FDA requirement for a warning label on all products containing saccharin. The initial study was performed using lab animals (rats) and was subsequently proven not to apply to humans. The warning label requirement was subsequently dropped.
• Sucralose (Splenda) = 5 mg/kg or the equivalent of six cans of diet soda containing sucralose per day. Splenda has been the subject of fewer health controversies than other artificial sweeteners. More than 100 studies have not identified any significant side effects related to the use of Splenda.
• Acesulfame K (Ace-K, Sunnet or Sweet One) = 15 mg/kg. I've never heard of this one but it apparently is used in some diet drinks. The K comes from the symbol for potassium.
• Stevia (Truvia, PureVia, or Sun Crystals) = 4 mg/kg. This one is complicated by the fact that stevia is metabolized by the body into steviol which is not absorbed into the blood stream and leaves the body unchanged. So the 4mg/kg translates into 12 mg/kg of steviol or about 12-14 cans of a diet drink containing stevia.
• Neotame - 18mg/kg. Neotame is one of the newest artificial sweeteners approved for use in packaged foods and beverages. And last but not least...
• Luo han guo - an ADI has not yet been established for this sweetener but it is classified by the FDA as "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS). GRAS substances are "deemed by qualified professionals based on scientific data as being safe for their intended use, or they have such a lengthy history of common use in food that they are considered generally safe and don't require FDA approval before sale."

Artificial sweeteners have been controversial literally for decades and no doubt will continue to be. And new studies continue to be performed to this day. And even though no links have been identified with catastrophic diseases (cancers, tumors, etc.), many folks experience headaches, diarrhea, etc. which seem to be associated with different artificial sweeteners depending on the individual. As is so often the case in science, the search continues.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/artificial-sweeteners/art-20046936

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/aspartame

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007492.htm

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=289

Edited February 18, 2014 by DLCoggin

[LilBoo007 491]

Thanks DL... Great info as always !!!

[CrazyJaney 775]

Alright, you are officially my go to person. Wow! This is great stuff. It would take me a week to find all this. Thank you very much. My NUT told me that "it's a trade off you'll have to decide which to ingest". She had little emotion about it. She's an odd one though. Thank you, excellent info!

[Dee_1111 317]

Ick!!!..I'll just eat my fruits & veggies..organic preferably

[Andrea K 33]

<p>The subject of artificial sweeteners is an interesting one and I've enjoyed reading the variety of responses. I mentioned in my previous post that I had not located information on recommended limits of consumption. After doing more research I discovered that the FDA has established "Acceptable Daily Intakes" (ADI) for the seven non-nutritive artificial sweeteners that they have approved for use in the U.S. By definition, the ADI is 100 times less than the smallest amount considered safe for daily consumption by adults over the course of a life time. So what does that mean?</p> <p> </p> <p>To put the ADI in perspective, we can look at aspartame (sold as Equal and NutraSweet). In addition to being a "tabletop" sweetener, aspartame is used in literally thousands of foods and beverages. The ADI for aspartame is 50 mg per kg of body weight. Still a little obscure for those of us who are metric challenged. So...that translates into 3,750 mg per day for a typical adult weighing 75 kgs or about 165 pounds. A 12 oz. can of diet soda contains, on average, 180 mgs of aspartame. So our typical adult would have to consume 21 cans of diet soda every day to go over the aspartame ADI, which is 100 times less than the smallest amount considered safe for daily consumption.</p> <p> </p> <p>The ADIs for the other artificial sweeteners are as follows:</p> <ul><li>Saccharin (Sweet 'n Low or Sugar Twin) = 5 mg/kg or the equivalent of 9 to 12 packets per day. Some of us remember the saccharin cancer scare in the early 70's. That led to an FDA requirement for a warning label on all products containing saccharin. The initial study was performed using lab animals (rats) and was subsequently proven not to apply to humans. The warning label requirement was subsequently dropped.</li> <li>Sucralose (Splenda) = 5 mg/kg or the equivalent of six cans of diet soda containing sucralose per day. Splenda has been the subject of fewer health controversies than other artificial sweeteners. More than 100 studies have not identified any significant side effects related to the use of Splenda.</li> <li>Acesulfame K (Ace-K, Sunnet or Sweet One) = 15 mg/kg. I've never heard of this one but it apparently is used in some diet drinks. The K comes from the symbol for potassium.</li> <li>Stevia (Truvia, PureVia, or Sun Crystals) = 4 mg/kg. This one is complicated by the fact that stevia is metabolized by the body into steviol which is not absorbed into the blood stream and leaves the body unchanged. So the 4mg/kg translates into 12 mg/kg of steviol or about 12-14 cans of a diet drink containing stevia.</li> <li>Neotame - 18mg/kg. Neotame is one of the newest artificial sweeteners approved for use in packaged foods and beverages. And last but not least...</li> <li>Luo han guo - an ADI has not yet been established for this sweetener but it is classified by the FDA as "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS). GRAS substances are "deemed by qualified professionals based on scientific data as being safe for their intended use, or they have such a lengthy history of common use in food that they are considered generally safe and don't require FDA approval before sale."</li> </ul><p>Artificial sweeteners have been controversial literally for decades and no doubt will continue to be. And new studies continue to be performed to this day. And even though no links have been identified with catastrophic diseases (cancers, tumors, etc.), many folks experience headaches, diarrhea, etc. which seem to be associated with different artificial sweeteners depending on the individual. As is so often the case in science, the search continues.</p> <p> </p> <p><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.mayoclinic.org/artificial-sweeteners/art-20046936'>http://www.mayoclinic.org/artificial-sweeteners/art-20046936</a></p> <p> </p> <p><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/aspartame'>http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/aspartame</a></p> <p> </p> <p><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007492.htm'>http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007492.htm</a></p> <p> </p> <p><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=289'>http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=289</a></p>

[Schmincke 118]

The only sweeteners that I consider natural are the ones that are in their natural form in fruits and veggies. And they are probably the safest ones. They have also never caused me to do any compulsive eating. I did not get fat eating grapes.

The artificial sweeteners that I am most afraid of are sugar and corn Syrup. Both are manufactured and both are demonstrated to be dangerous to someone like me. They got me into this position - them and other simple carbohydrates plus my own compulsions. So I try not to go near them. I don't trust myself around them.

[pookybear 284]

I personally avoid most artificial sweeteners and just use regular sugar in moderation. A lady I work with cut out all artificial sweeteners from her diet and had a headache for a week.

[Bandista 7,466]

Recently our doggie was in some major trouble needing hydration, etc. I looked at pediatric supplement and sports drinks thinking to try to get her electrolytes up. Ingredients were appalling! Sucralose in everything. Would not feed that to my dog.