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September 13, 2003

Splenda and sucralose [updated] ()

by fluffy at 12:08 PM
I thought that the dangers of sucralose were being overstated by the usual suspects of conspiracy-theory wackos who want people to buy into their fad diets and so on, but now I'm not so sure.

On Wednesday, I weighed 80.5kg. I went to Walgreen's to get some vitamins, and they had a bunch of "calorie-free sodas" on sale. I looked at the ingredients list to make sure it doesn't use aspartame (since I can only handle so much phenylalanine at any one time), and it contained sucralose, which is also sold under the brand name Splenda.

I've had sucralose-sweetened things before and they seemed okay, so I decided, what the heck.

Three days later I weigh nearly 83kg. For those of you using Imperial units, that's a weight gain of around 6 pounds. In basically three days. Aside from the Splenda and getting back on Saw Palmetto (I usually give myself a week off from it whenever I finish off a bottle, to keep my body from adjusting to it and producing even more excess testosterone in response), there have been no other changes in my behaviors, except that I've definitely noticed a bigger appetite, which is another thing which has been attributed to Splenda.

It's possibly water retention, but 2.5kg is a lot of water to retain in such a short time as well. Especially considering that it's not like I'm drinking a whole lot more, either. This is also much more than my usual weight fluctuation; it's rare that I fluctuate more than 1kg within the course of a day, and I always wake up at the bottom of the fluctuation. (I weigh myself first thing in the morning after I pee and before I shower.)

I'm not sure about the supposed mental-dulling effects of sucralose; I've found myself more irritable and impatient lately and haven't been able to really concentrate on things very well, but that could easily be psychosomatic. When I drink the sucralose-sweetened beverages I do get a feeling which is sort of the opposite of when I have something with phenylalanine. Phenylalanine gives me a sort of hyper-bouncy buzz and I get hyper and spazzy, which some call "cute" and others call "obnoxious." Sucralose just gives me this buzz where I feel distant. It's not pleasant at all.

I still have some of this soda. I'd hate to waste it though, since it cost a whole 66 cents. Maybe I'll use it to poison some ants.

10:45 PM On second thought, the water-retention theory could be true after all, considering that I had two liters of this stuff (which weighs 2kg) in addition to my usual water while working out, and that this stuff has no caffeine, so it's not acting as a diuretic (i.e. I'm peeing less). The lack of caffeine could also be the reason for the moodiness and feeling of mental detachment. Heh.

Comments

#MT1182 kate September 13, 2003 2:48 PM

Jeez, it seems they can't come up with a good artificial sweetener: first saccharine causes cancer, then aspartame tastes like dren (IMHO), and now sucralose causes weirdness and maltitol causes gas... Seems like sticking with the real thing is best for now. Kind of annoying, that.

#MT1183 fluffy September 13, 2003 2:51 PM

Can't forget sorbitol, which causes diarrhea in decent doses.

Which is why I think sorbitol should be used more, since that'd also act as a nice deterrent to stop people from just EATING SO MUCH CRAP.

#MT1184 fluffy September 13, 2003 2:52 PM

(also, saccharine's cancer risk was severely overstated.)

#MT1185 leviramsey September 13, 2003 4:15 PM

Don't forget cyclamate! ;o)

As for not eating so much crap, sorbitol would not solve the problem of creating too much crap... ;o)

#MT1186 broken September 13, 2003 4:57 PM

How about xylitol? It seems to have some good side efects as well.

#MT1187 fluffy September 13, 2003 5:05 PM

That is the Time Cube of low-calorie sweetener pages.

#MT1188 ucblockhead September 13, 2003 5:39 PM

I don't think it's possible to gain 2.5 kg of fat in three days by any means whatsoever. Even if the body could actually store so much fat so quickly, it'd mean that you were eating approximately 3000 calories extra a day for three days. I find that unlikely.

I suspect that three days is too short a period to overcome random fluctuations due to water, stuff passing through the system, etc.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if you retained that much water wait. When I go on a serious diet, I tend to lose five points the first few days no matter what...and I'm almost certain that that is water weight.

#MT1189 Obsidious September 14, 2003 9:38 AM

Water retention was the first thing I thought of too.

> I've found myself more irritable and impatient lately and haven't been able to really concentrate on things very well

This is exactly what caffeine does to me.

#MT1190 ucblockhead September 14, 2003 1:51 PM

Caffeine is a diurettic. Cutting back on it makes you retain water.

#MT1191 Obsidious September 14, 2003 6:30 PM

I was referring to the quoted comment about irritability, and lack of concentration. =)
The water retention observation is just when I first thought when I was reading through the diary entry.

#MT1194 Vladinator September 14, 2003 7:17 PM

Well, I used to use Splenda, and I still reccomend it to everyone. When I did the Atkins diet, it was the only sweetner I used, and I lost 25 lbs in 2 months.

Had I been able to stay on Atkins (there was no physical problem, I just couldn't go any longer without bread or potatoes) I would have kept that off, and lost a bit more, but I wimped out in the end.

The only odd thing that happened (since unlike 90% of the people on Atkins, I actually did drink enough water) was I developed a reaction of sorts to Splenda - if I drink, or eat, anything with Splenda in it, I will be shitting my guts out very shortly. Completely. The last of it is what ever I just ate, litterally. Cleans me out, top to bottom.

Needless to say, I'm not too keen to see if I have lost the alergy yet, and a single swig of something (like an RC for example) won't set it off, but a whole can or 12oz bottle of flavored water (if it has that in it) will. Not fun.

#MT1219 fluffy September 25, 2003 10:32 PM

FWIW, the FDA removed saccharine from the list of notice-requiring carcinogens a few years ago, so there's no longer "warning: may cause cancer" warnings on Sweet and Low and so on. Which is fine by me, since as much as I don't like the taste of saccharine, I really hate how it was basically forced off the market by media hype.

It seems pretty convenient that aspartame was ready for mass-marketing when that flawed cancer-risk assessment was all over the media...

#MT1321 Anonymous October 9, 2003 5:03 AM

For aspartame, if you have served in the Persian Gulf or have had an anthrax vaccine do not take. Can cause adverse reactions including seizures, it varies by individual. To think our govt. knew of the risks and still gave our soldiers in Desert Storm aspartame laced soft drinks putting their lives in even bigger danger than they had to be.
Is Splenda the new Nutri-Sweet? In 5 or 10 years are they going to come back and say "oh, our bad we didn't know!"?
If Splenda can cause a build up of chlorinated Pesticides, what is this doing to our bodies.
Veterans who have served in the gulf should be told that they already have a build up of pesticides in their bodies and should be very careful about compounding more of this to what they already have. Eventually it will catch up!

I am a concerned wife of a ill Gulf War Vet.

#MT1344 fluffy October 11, 2003 10:20 PM

My understanding about "Gulf War syndrome" was that a lot of diet sodas were left in hot places long enough for the aspartame to break down into methanol (which causes seizures, blindness, and other fun things due to brain damage) and formaldehyde (which causes acute liver toxicity, among other things), which isn't exactly a good thing to drink, especially in the quantities which thirsty soldiers would tend to.

Of course, since both phenylalanine and caffeine are pretty strong diuretics that wasn't exactly the best thing for them to be drinking in the hot desert to begin with, and being dehydrated would only exacerbate the problems of the formaldehyde.

I don't think it was known that aspartame was so chemically-instable at the time. Also, the fact that sucralose is at least temperature-stable is its big selling point over aspartame, but yeah, it's quite possible that there's lots of long-term metabolic effects, especially since there don't seem to be any unbiased studies (i.e. not conducted by Splenda) which show that sucralose really isn't metabolized by the system. I don't think that any metabolic path sucralose can take would be any more damaging than swallowing, say, a mouthful of swimming pool water, but habitual sucralose drinkers would of course ingest a LOT more than the occasional swimmer.

#MT1384 Anonymous October 19, 2003 10:57 PM

Im not a health nut, im not a wimp and i dont believe that the environment is posioning or anything like that! But Splenda is flat out nasty!
I have a family history of diabites so i thought it would be a good idea to cut down on the suger so, i switched to splenda about 2 months ago. Well i started growing increasingly frustrated, depressed and fuzzy headed. Now im not the type to cry, in fact the last time I cryed was when the Packers won the super bowl and that was booze induced! Well a few weeks ago I completely lost it, i was totally depressed and crying for no reason, i thought I was having a total nervous breakdown. Well to make a long story short I ended up in the hopital and on anti depressents. I have sence become 99.99% convinced that my issues were the result of splenda! I used it in my coffee and noticed that a few hours later I would become fussy and depressed. Maybe im in a small percentage thats senstive to it? Just be careful with this stuff, if you start having GI problems, chest pains, itching or mental health issues STOP USING IT! Id like to sue the makers for what happened to me but I know that would be a wait of time.

#1162 justajoe (unregistered) 11/01/2003 10:42 am EC findings on sucralose
Here's the Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food
on sucralose from the European Commission Health & Consumer Protection Directorate-General

http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scf/out68_en.pdf

As to gastric upset.... two glasses of red wine or grape juice have me in the bathroom in 30 minutes. Things effect people in different ways...
#1165 11/01/2003 03:45 pm
Ah, good, someone *sane* commenting on the whole situation. Thanks. Smile
#1215 moodasz (unregistered) 11/06/2003 12:38 am splenda side effects
Thanks for posting that you've had reactions with splenda. One bowl of splenda ice-cream and I thought I had to go to the ER. Terrible stomach cramps and bloating. I'm convinced it's the splenda. I have the same reaction with RC Cola and other splenda products. Is this unique or a pattern. Thanks
#1217 11/06/2003 09:36 am
Maybe you should have read my updates... I figured out that it wasn't the Splenda, it was my sudden lack of caffeine. SInce then I've had Splenda products with no ill effects.

I don't doubt that Splenda might cause a bad reaction in some people though. But if a food additive gives you trouble, the best thing you can do is to just not eat it anymore...
#1679 dave (unregistered) 01/13/2004 10:49 am NON-Artificial sweetener (no cal)
Stevia. A plant from south america, that the natives have been using forever. the FDA won't allow it to be called a sweetener (black conspiracy here) but if you do some research, you'll be tempted to try it. As with all "health" products, you need to also do price research, as you can find it for a good price and for 10 times that price.
#1881 Ugh (unregistered) 02/11/2004 03:21 pm Violently Ill
Although the original post ended up not being Splenda, I think that I'm having a reaction. Its been nice to read that other people have the same suspicions. I have never had a food allergy or reaction in 25 years. Monday I ate a sugar-free product with Splenda (among a dozen other things I ate Monday). That entire night I was up violently ill. Yesterday I was still a little green and nauseated and had to leave work early.

Today I felt fine, ate breakfast and lunch. Then I had a snack with Splenda in it. Two hours later I started feeling miserable again. Now I am completely ill and looking forward to spending another night like Monday. It saddens me, as I was really excited about the idea of Splenda. Now, however, I just want it to go away. (Give me a couple of hours and I'll get my wish!)
#2022 lieseljune (unregistered) 03/03/2004 04:04 am Sucralose
It is interesting to read the comments concerning sucralose (Splenda). I too am wondering if the bowel problems, depression, headaches, upper body pains, and irritability I have recently been experiencing are related to my intake of Splenda.

I began the Atkins diet in January, 2004 and discovered Splenda along the way. I use it daily in my tea and ingest Splenda-sweetened snack bars, flavored waters, and Diet Rite about 3 to 4 times each week. I am also going through menopause, so I suppose the first step is to cease Splenda intake for the next few days and see what changes occur, if any. Rolling Eyes

Good day!
#2260 Bobind (unregistered) 04/08/2004 09:50 am Sucralose
If your DNA blueprint defines your body and then it was not designed or easily adapted to fractionated chemicals. The foods available for man and his progeny are those of nature, not those derived from it or designed to circumvent its symbiotic ingredients. Sugar is not a separately designed ingredient but is fractionated. Ascorbic acid is vitamin C and can be concocted in the laboratory or derived from an orange, the same thing. However when used in its fractionated form in the body it requires other ingredients to perform the DNA process. Mainly those are bioflavnoids. Vit. C without them requires that the body use available resources to find bioflavnoids and other ingredients to perform its replicating process along with the appropriate enzymes to take it to the cell level.
Shocked A similar situation occurs with all of natures foods.
#2261 04/08/2004 06:05 pm
I know all those words, but I can't parse this.
#2535 gordon (unregistered) 05/18/2004 06:52 am Sucralose really affected me
I've tried to use products with Sucralose, including Atkins' products and Diet Rite Cola but it makes me ill. My heart starts to pound hard and rapidly and I lose my concentration. I tried it twice in 2003 and had to go home for a 1/2 day from work it was so bad and it took several days for my symptoms to subside. Now my girlfriend tried the Atkins breakfast shakes and had the same reaction. I love the Atkins diet but can't take the Sucralose.

Gordon Ashlee Sad
#2536 05/18/2004 07:28 am
There's better ways to losing weight than by joining a (cargo) cult.
#3201 holly (unregistered) 07/26/2004 02:18 pm splenda
I have a nasty slenda story. My son and I thought we would try a drumstick icecream made with slenda we both had bad gas and bloating. My nine year old then starting having vomiting and diarrhea this was in a period of a week. Tracing back to things we ate the drumsticks, then I made a cobbler with splenda and thinking yogurt would help his diarrhea, he woke up with diarrhea. I noticed when I got some yogurt that splenda was in it too. IN THE TRASH WITH ALL SUGAR SUBSTITUTES IN THIS HOUSE>only use sugar in the raw that's what my diabetic grandmother uses and has no problem with her sugar.
#3283 Anonymous 08/09/2004 03:34 am Nutters
Just stumbled across this page, and to be quite frank, I can't belive what a bunch of hypochondriacle weirdos you are. Honeslty, no wonder so many people spoute shite about things they don't know when they read this kind of crap. There are a few sane comments, but generally -
#3284 08/09/2004 04:43 am
Though, someone doing a websearch on "sucralose GI" (and following the Google search result link — which was on the second page — four times) is probably trying to find some information about the effects of sucralose on the gastro-intestinal tract, yes? I'm not sure if I'd consider it "stumbling" in any case.

Personally, I think that sucralose might affect some people in various ways, but I don't think it's a conspiracy by the Big Evil Food Companies or anything. I mean, it's not like the food companies specifically want to drive away customers by using things like MSG (which gives me migraines) or whatever; they're just eager to put out a product which people will buy.

It could very well be that only 0.001% of the world's population has a problem with Splenda; that still means there's a potential for 6 million posts to this page. Smile

For what it's worth, I'm still avoiding Splenda, but mostly because I hate how it tastes.
#3301 niftygeek (unregistered) 08/10/2004 12:12 pm ok so i was bored
I bought four of the Fruit20's. I think they were black cherry. I liked the taste. I'd had a few of them in the past.

The reason I bought so many the other night was because I looked at the ingredients. Sucralose. Yummy stuff. I saw it on there. After viewing this thread I figured I'd make myself a test subject. I drank all four of them within about... 3-4 hours.

Later than evening I had difficulty sleeping do to some extreme discomfort. Thank goodness I live alone is all I have to say.

Other than those "waters" everything I consumed was what I normally had in my diet.

I'm going to avoid sucralose in the future. It's unfortunate, because I really did like the taste of those waters. I still go for the pure white-death sugar in my coffee though.

... all in the name of science.
#3400 gina (unregistered) 08/27/2004 09:40 pm sucralose
My son drank a shake made with whey powder(containing sucralose) within hours he was doubled over in pain, and spent a restless night with diarrhea and a very bloated stomach. He has no other allergies but has always had a sensitive stomach. He has started working out(trying to get muscular) and tried the shake. It's been almost a week and he is still having occasional diarrhea. This is a product that can be very harmful to people! We'll stick to regular sugar from now on!
#3517 Anonymous 09/10/2004 09:08 am
Weird.

I actually just got some Splenda this week. A friend told me to try it out. I also got some powdered iced tea, one with splenda, and the other with Aspartame. Both were nasty and so will be dumped.

Otherwise I've been using splenda in my morning oatmeal this week with no issues. I also add a pack of aspartame/equal to my whey protein shake twice a day (and the once a week or so I may drink coffee to stay awake). I'll consider buying the splenda packs to replace the aspartame though.

It seems though it's a lose-lose situation. Use sugar and calories go up, get fat, and die. Use sugar substitute, stay slim, and die (from cancer or whatever)...

What healthy options for sugar substitutes are there? Confused
#3518 09/10/2004 10:46 am
Quelling your reliance on sweet foods.

As Alton Brown says, there are no bad foods - only bad food habits.
#3647 Anonymous 10/05/2004 02:07 pm
fuck the atkins bullshit
WAKE UP people are you really fucking nuts??????? YOU GONNA DIE IF YOU CONTINUE THE FUCKIN ATKINS
#3717 Anonymous 10/12/2004 12:29 pm
Well, count me as another person poisoned by Splenda. When Splenda (sucraclose) first arrived, I thought it was best thing since sliced bread, and used it daily in tea. Then I noticed I was having some mild intestinal discomfort and diarrhea. I eliminated all kinds of things from my diet over a period of nearly a year, except the Splenda. The symptoms didn't go away. Eventually, I stopped using Splenda and within a few days the adominal pain and bloating disappeared!

This past weekend, I accidentally ate some Edy's half-sugar ice cream (which is apparently also sweetened with Splenda) and was in AGONY for three days that started with vomiting, nausea and severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea. Let me tell you, it is NO FUN to be nauseaus with a cold, clammy sweat for three days in a row! I wanted to hurl ... no, wait, I did hurl.

I believe my reaction was much worse this time because there seemed to be A LOT of Splenda in the ice cream I ate because it tasted like I was eating spoonfuls of pure sugar. Anyway, point is, for me, Splenda is like ingesting poison. I had no idea that something that is apparently made from sugar could be so toxic.
#3718 10/12/2004 12:58 pm
Well, so's wood alcohol.
#3774 Verno (unregistered) 10/23/2004 06:11 am something gives me migraines!
Alright, I'm not 100% sure this is spelnda that gives me these migraines, but when I drink diet soft drinks, SOMETIMES I'll get the worst migraine ever. Never happened until about a year ago. I stay away from diet drink sin general, they taste nasty, but some of them I do react to, I know. If I do get diet, I buy this cheapo brand which has things like cranberry (mmm), which doesn't bother me.
I first thought that it was aspartame, what with all the hype about it. But, I'm starting to think it might be splenda, since some diet drink BRANDS (not flavors) affect me. Just recently got a whole bunch of source yogurts which are sweetened with sucralose (splenda), and I got as instant as a headache as I've ever gotten. Not just a little one, a BAD one. I get a lot though, but not this bad, not since I was a little kid.

Well, anywho, seems like some people have nasty stomach problems with this stuff.

Just don't jump to conclusions. Some people here seem to have a real effect from sucralose. But don't just blame sucralose if 1 food which you've had affects you negatively. Could be many, many things.
#3775 sucralose (unregistered) 10/23/2004 06:15 am
sucralose is sugar with some OH groups removed and some Cl groups added. Well, it apparently breaks down into some form of chlorinated group of which THOSE effects have not been tested for. (although, they have in a way when testing spenda, since, well, it gets broken down into). Perhaps this is what causes those stomach problems. Do the symptoms match that of having too much chlorine?
#3776 10/23/2004 09:37 am
Splenda makes me feel woogy. Aspartame (nutrasweet) gives me a pretty intense headache and the woogy feelings. MSG gives me migraines. So I have to be pretty careful about what I eat these days, 'coz all three of those show up in WAY too much food.
#4317 melissa (unregistered) 01/22/2005 07:04 pm water weight
I use splenda, I think I'm going to cut down because I find I tend to use it excessively due to the calorie free factor. I find when I use too much I retain a lot of water, I weigh myself and it's a higher end of the day gain then when I do not use it and eat/drink the same. It goes down within a couple days or so if i discontinue using it and let it move out of my system. Anyone else find this?
#4384 Dave Johnsen (unregistered) 01/28/2005 12:14 pm Splenda and sucralose [updated]
A lot of sugar-free/low carb products such as ice cream, yogurt, candy bars, and most Atkins-branded foods contain sugar alcohols (maltitol, sorbitol, lactitol, et al) in addition to Splenda. Some of the bad reactions here attributed to Splenda (especially diarrhea) may have been caused by those ingredients instead.

Btw, I have a blog entry about the truthaboutsplenda.com web site recently launched on behalf of the Sugar Association:
http://www.djwriter.com/blog/2005/01/truth-about-truthaboutsplendacom.html
#4733 guest (unregistered) 02/16/2005 02:10 pm add me to the list . . .
I'm so thankful to have found this board, because I've been having awful reactions--itching, headache, vomiting for the first time last night (with no other apparent reason)--for the past week and a half and could not figure out what they were from. I'm on a pretty strict eating plan (food combining) that includes mostly veggies, some meat, and the occasional whole grain carb, but I've been consistently using Splenda on my Grape Nuts in the morning and in fresh whipped cream at night.

I started itching so bad that the only thing that stopped it was me putting my feet in the snow (yes, I completely get how ridiculous that sounds)--thank god I was in Upstate New York and there was snow to be found (never thought I'd say that aloud)--and lots of Benedryl. Someone on another board suggested Splenda and then I started researching. It makes sense to me, perfect sense.

I think I'll be using the Stevia again. A small after taste is better than this scary stuff.

Thanks to everyone who shared. It's much appreciated.

P.S.: To the other "guests": enough with the rudeness and name calling . . . if you don't have anything good to share, find somewhere else to post it.
#4808 sugar nut (unregistered) 02/22/2005 10:35 am sweet cravings
I run and workout 5 times a week but am living in an isolated area where eating seems to be a pass time. I never really liked sweets until the first time i went on the atkins diet and then i started to crave them. Even then I didnt eat all these sugar substitutes. A year later I went on the diet again and this time I was taken in by all the new treats that came out. Since then (1year now) my stomach has been a total mess. I am hooked on sweets but care very much about my weight so I try to stick with the low carb treats. One of two things happen I either over induldge and get violently sick or give into the real thing and binge on them as well. I have always been a happy energetic person but I have also found myself moody depressed and frustrated. Alot of this is because of my weight gains and losses and cravings. Even worse then splenda is maltatol. The discomforts i get keep me from working out and running. Sometimes i crave junkfood so bad ill enduldge anyway knowing what will happen. This site has encouraged me to cut out all the crap real and fake and maybe the results will keep me from wandering back to it. [/b]
#5363 Anonymous 04/29/2005 02:13 pm
When I told my doctor that i was using Splenda (because aspertame gives me migrains), he warned me that some people have bowel irritations due to the fact that you do not digest sucralose. That is the same for all sweeteners. Just depends on individuals, the same as any other sweetener. You have to keep searching till you find the right one your body can tolerate.
Splenda is really good if you can handle it, but if you cannot you will wind up with a good bowel flush.
Aspertame, when digested chemically forms into formahdahyde! Ewww
Thanks but I am not dead yet I dont need to be embalmed!
#5479 Anonymous 05/13/2005 07:47 pm
As I learned it in mt med school class, sucralose can act as an osmotic diarrhetic. Basically it can't be broken down but it does contribute to an osmolar imbalance in the gut which causes water to be pulled into the gut to acheive isotonicity. This can cause loose stool. A second effect if I remember correctly is that we may be unable to break down splenda but some of our gut bacteria can, similar to a lactose intolerance effect. this anearobic breakdown produces gas.