What's next for companies that make pink, yellow, & blue sugar substitutes?

OnTheWayOut

Will the artificial sweetener companies have to close up shop? Will they get lawsuits?
I know it is just one report, but it's a huge one.

Satanus

The artificial sweetener market is too big. Reports like this will go where to tobacco reports went. Besides, people want gimmicks and quick fixes.

S

I just know when I diet and lose weight that it makes it so I don't have to use insulin anymore. I use artificial sweetners in my coffee and buy drinks sweetened with Splenda. They need to do a better study.

Justitia Themis

27 rats? That's a pretty attenuated link.

MsMcDucket

I wonder if the rats that ate real sugar became insulin dependent? Being in diabetic acidosis will make your body feed off of itself and you will lose weight until it's treated or until you die.

FlyingHighNow

Cyclomates. That's where. Yummy, wholesome cyclomates.

I just eat sugar. It makes me fat, zaftig, rubenesque and it tastes good, too. My idea of a diet drink is an ounce or two of regular pop with a glass of ice and filtered water. Sort of like the end of a fountain coke on ice, when it gets watery, but still tastes good.

bisous

I'm a sugar girl too, sugar! everything in moderation. I'd rather have a little sugar in my bowl that is natural than a larger portion of chemical substances masquerading as sugar.

FHN, I love sparkling water ... it has for the most part become my soda. But I like your idea and I think I'll try it ... li'l bit of soda and a lotta bit of sparkling water such as Pellegrino or the like. Thanks for the inspiration!

as far as the colored packets...never used them, never will.

Seeker4

A silly study and silly conclusions! This isn't huge - it's a study using 27 rats!! Come on.

The epidemic of obesity has little to do with artificial sweetners - not when you can easily get a +1000 calorie "lunch" at any fast food restaurant - and a couple of trips to the soda fountain will add several hundred sugar calories.

The last thing we should be worrying about is whether using a few artificial sweetners in our coffee or soda will make us want to eat more because we no longer associate sweetness with calories. Sorry folks, we're not rats - we can actually keep track of our calories or look at the portions on our plate or read the label that tells us that that supersized serving of french fries has more calories than we should eat in any two meals!

So far the real science has shown that artificial sweetners MAY have some side effects, IF we eat the equivalent of about 20,000 of those little packets everyday for a few months.

S4

willdabeerman

Bah! This thing will kill you, that thing will kill you. This thing is bad for you, that thing is bad for you. Don't do this and don't eat that. were the good ol government and we KNOW what is good for you and we require you to only be fed these bollocks one sided studies through our controlled mass media. I am telling you the only reason I am not smoking right now, is not because I believe one single word of what the gubment and the gubment biased media tells me it is bad, it is because it is so bloody expensive here in Canada. Same thing goes for this study, piss on it.

WTWizard

In fact, some of those artificial sweeteners are poison. Aspartame is the worst, because it is an excitotoxin. Monosodium glutamate is another, and they have similar effects. Both will ruin your brain. That is the one that you should stay away from first.

Splenda is also potentially dangerous. It contains organo-chlorine. They were working on a new insecticide when they found out that it tastes sweet, and instead marketed it as a sweetener. It can result in liver problems, genetic mutations, and anemia.

Saccharin is the safer of the artificial sweeteners, because it is not digested at all. There is a risk of cancer with continual saccharin usage, but I would rather take saccharin than the others if I had to choose an artificial sweetener.

Now for the one I prefer: stevia. The FDA will not permit its use as a sweetener, despite no evidence of any danger at all with usage. It does have a bitter taste, but debittered brands do exist. You can use it in place of those artificial sweeteners in your coffee or tea, and you can get unsweetened flavored seltzer water and make your own diet soft drink by sweetening it with stevia. The stuff is supposed to be good for your liver and immune system--even if not, it is totally safe (unless you get stupid and eat 800 pounds of the stuff at one time, of course). You can also use the bulk powder in place of sugar, or in place of half the sugar, in baking recipes.

Another good choice is xylitol. This is a sugar alcohol, and has about half the calories by weight as sugar. It is also safe for diabetics, and helps maintain an alkaline body. Keep in mind that, until you are used to it, it may cause diarrhea and gas, and it is not non-caloric. It helps the immune system, too.

And, of course there is good old sugar. Using organic sugar (and which is not totally refined) is better than the refined stuff, but even that is better than the high fructose corn syrup that is becoming so prevalent these days. Even high fructose corn syrup is better than rolling the Splenda dice or ruining your brain on aspartame or the new Neotame (which may not even be labelled--beware of products claiming to be reduced sugar since this poison cousin of aspartame can be listed as "flavors").

What's next for companies that make pink, yellow, & blue sugar substitutes?

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