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975357 tn?1252704723

question about artificial sweeteners

I have realized I am EXTREMELY sensitive to artificial sweeteners but also on a low calorie diet (I know what a curse, huh?) and have been digging up all the reaseach I can on them.

found a site called www.splendaexposed.com that pretty much runs the gamut

"Artificial sweeteners: This category of non-nutritive, high-intensity sugar substitutes includes ASPARTAME, ACESULFAME-K, NEOTAME, SUCRALOSE, and ALITAME"

now I read this quote on the site
"The two safest choices of sweeteners to date are saccharin and stevia. Yes, saccharin! Saccharin is actually similar to stevia in its origin.  It originally came from a plant imported from China, and in its original form, is a complex sugar extract from the plant itself.  Stevia is extracted from a plant grown in South America, and is also a complex sugar extract."

I did not know this about saccharin (sweet and low). Saccharin was the first type of artificial sweetener developed all the way back in 1878.

Can anyone confirm/has anyone heard that it is in the same category, safety-wise, as stevia?? I had never heard this  The info is from the above site and comes from a book called "Splenda: Is it Safe or Not?" by Dr. Janet Starr Hull.

thanks
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975357 tn?1252704723
yeah thank you very much for the suggestion. unfortunately, I cannot do any of the sugar alcohols because I am sensitive to those in that I get the "gastro" side effects with them. I have tried them all. Sorbitol is the worst. I have also tried mannitol, malitol, xylitol, isomalt, and they all give me issues. The only one that does not seem to affect me is Erythritol, dont know about the safety/side effects of that one though.

I was just really curious about the validity of that statement on saccharin.
Helpful - 0
363281 tn?1643235611
Hello~I can certainly understand your problem, I am sensitive to all kinds of additives, it is not fun.
I use a terrific sweetener that has no side effects at all and is pure and great for diabetics and anyone wanting to watch their sugar intake; it is called "Xylitol" and it is found the fibers of many fruits and vegetables, including various berries, corn husks, oats, and mushrooms. It can be extracted from corn fiber, birch, raspberries, plums, and corn. Xylitol is roughly as sweet as sucrose with only two-thirds the food energy. As with most sugar alcohols, consumption can result in bloating, diarrhea, and flatulence, although generally rather less so than other sugar alcohols like sorbitol. I have not noticed any detrimental side effects and I highly recommend to anyone who wants to avoid sugar.

Susie
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