There are more and more sugar substitutes on the market and in our grocery stores than ever before, but
are they safe for our us and our children? I know I am extra cautious giving this kind of stuff to my own kids because I just don’t want to give them anything that may hurt their development. How many other products were once touted as safe only to find experts backing away from that position a few decades later?
One of the most popular sugar substitute ingredients of late is Splenda™; an artificial sweetener that comes in many packaged items and drinks or you can add it to a drink in a powder form. Splenda™ has been one of those sweeteners that promised no side effects only to have questionable side effects later. Splenda™ is actually a synthetic compound called sucralose. And don’t be fooled by how that sounds just like sucrose or glucose…it was intentional…they gave a complex chlorinated artificial chemical a name that sounds like a naturally occurring sugar. Sucralose was found by accident by a scientist who was looking for a new pesticide. Studies in rats that were given Splenda™ showed altered thymus glands and enlarged kidneys and livers. It also has chlorine in it and is the first edible product to contain this ingredient….previously it was only found in pesticides like DDT, mustard gas, and various chemical solvents, all things that stay in the body tissues for long periods of time. All of these details lead me to believe that this is the last thing we would want to be giving our kids!
Equal™ and Sweet ‘n Low™, that contain aspartame and saccharine, respectively, have shown some side effects in rats, but it seems the studies seem to be halted when the results start getting unfavorable according to Dr. Mercola. These sugars have been linked to adverse reactions, birth defects, brain cancer, diabetes, emotional disorders, and seizures. My best friend growing up had a wicked allergic reaction to anything that had aspartame in it and after seeing those episodes I started to think it wasn’t a wise thing to consume that stuff.
Sugar-free items that contain ingredients such as sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol and, eruthritol have been shown to cause rashes in some people. These ingredients found in some sugar substitutes can also produce gas, so it’s best not to indulge in large quantities of sugar substitutes that have these ingredients in them to avoid intestinal problems.
In the end, natural sugar will not hurt your child, especially natural fruit and vegetable sugars, and substitute sugars are not REAL food. Substitute sugars are engineered and that fact alone should cause us to pause. I know I just won’t take the chance with sugar substitutes. We have opted to use natural sweeteners such as dried fruit (dates, raisins, coconut), fresh fruit and juice, Stevia, Sucanat, agave nectar, honey, Lucuma powder, maple syrup, etc. My Raw Kids Recipes book has many sweet treat recipes in it that only use natural, unprocessed sweeteners and my kids love them. They especially love the raw, naturally sweetened ice creams and sorbets I make.
Here is to your health!
I totally agree though I prefer no sugar at all. I do use agave or stevia every now and then, but because I have blood sugar issues and other health problems that sugar (even so-called “cane juice”, etc) would exacerbate, I prefer to stay away even from the natural stuff. It irks me that even so-called healthy food has so much sugar in it now-a-days.
I won’t touch artificial crap either.
I love this post. I recently read an email froma health guru about xylitol and how it is such a wonderful alternative. My gut instinct told me to stick with the natural choices and your article has made me feel more confident in my decision. Also, I am excited to order your book soon-it looks like something I will be able to use often!
I couldn’t agree more. My kids enjoy natural sweeteners, too. And there’s no reason to give them foods that aren’t real and threaten their health.
I wont give any foods to my kids with artificial sweeteners, they taste funny and I won’t use them and so I could never give them to my kids, but I don’t know of any Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen without them. I would like to see some medicines made without them!
Thanks for the article. I have avoided fake sweetners for years and have seen family and friends deal with side affects until they gave up things like Diet Coke. I definitely wouldn’t give them to my kids. Natural sweetners are certainly best – and just plain old sugar is better occasionally than going the manufactured sweetner route!
I agree. Real sugar should be used in moderation–but at least it is “real.” I look for “no added sweeteners” but if I can’t find that, I go for the “no artificial sweeteners added.”
I couldn’t agree more. I actually think my daughter had a reaction to the artificial sweeteners in toothpaste!
I think one of the most important things we can do is have a great “no sugar” beginning with our wee ones because habits do require some extra work to break once they’ve been established.
I have always felt fine with fruit of all kinds but that’s pretty much it. I figure that my daughter will get exposed sooner or later to all that stuff so we avoid it like the plague now. At least it makes trips to the store easier for now!
Thanks for writing about the dangers of this nasty stuff!
I am one of those people that has a terrible reaction to artificial sweeteners. Aspartame, splenda, etc give me terrible migraines. I always avoid giving them to my children. I have the same reaction w/ msg, nitrates, sulfites, etc. Many years later, I am still surprised at the amount of preservatives and additives put into food. It’s no wonder children continue to develop allergies to so many things.
I agree with your decision to avoid artificial sweetners, and don’t give any to my children either, but I wanted to point out a serious error in something that you mentioned. You raise an objection to Splenda in part because it contains chlorine, and then provide a long list of scary things like mustard gas and DDT that also contain chlorine.
I wanted to point out that every day almost every single American is exposed to chlorine in the form of tap water. Unless you use bottled or filtered water for drinking, cooking and bathing you and your children consume it every day of your lives to no detriment. Without the addition of chlorine (which is a naturally occuring element by the way) to tap water, diseases like cholera and typhoid would kill hundreds of thousands of people in the United States every year.
Caroline,
The big difference though is that the chlorine in Splenda is not naturally occuring…it is a man made imitation. With synthetic versions of chlorine, we cannot predict potential complications on human healt. It also resists normal breakdown and can deposit (bioaccumulate) in both the environment and in animal body fat unlike naturally occurring chlorine. Check out this article:
http://www.janethull.com/askdrhull/article.php?id=047
Interesting reading.
The chlorine in our water isn’t naturally occuring either. It is added to the water, which is what keeps us all from getting sick. If you wonder about that, just look into what happened in Walkerton, Ontario when Stan Koebel, the water utility manager, wasn’t adding enough chlorine.
Not saying I want to eat chlorine in my food, but just clarifying about the water issue.
I am absolutely certain to keep High Fructose Corn Syrup and artificial sweeteners out of my family’s diet. We found out last school year that after cutting these from my daughter’s diet, her behavior and ability to focus in school improved dramatically. She still has bad days where she’s more difficult to deal with, but we will not go back to eating things with those chemicals in them. We also have cut out all artificial colors and flavors and hydrogenated oils. Many in our family think we’re crazy, but I feel better knowing what my kids are putting into their bodies.
I’m interested in stevia as well. I use the white form every now and then. It tastes too good to be true!
We use stevia and raw honey. We follow Dr Mercola religiously- he has so many great articles and recipes that contain stevia that the kids just love! My MIL has perfected wheat-free stevia cookes made with oat flour and organic, sugar free chocolate chips. Thanks for telling the truth about artificial sweeteners!
We use stevia, but I have heard people talk about the white version of stevia being potentially harmful versus the intact, nutrient-rich green stevia herb. I don’t like the taste of the green herb, so we use the white stuff (pure stevia extract), but I feel concerned about it causing us harm. Will you talk more about the difference between the two, and any harm you see in the white powdered form?
I was completely anti-artificial sweetener for my children until my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. WE don’t give our second child artificial sweeteners at all. But our diabetic child does have a few products made with artificial sweeteners in moderation.
She used to drink a lot of milk and cannot drink that freely. And the kids at school get juice. We make Kool-aid or Crystal Light diluted half strength that she has sometimes. She also gets sugar-free jello if she has had a healthy meal and would really like dessert.
Unfortunately the foods that are naturally sweetened, like fruit, that she used to eat freely, are high in carbs.
We try to minimize her consumption of artificial sweeteners. But I think it’s important to never say never. My position against artificial sweeteners had to change. I still am not 100% comfortable with it, but I also want to allow her to be a child.
That’s really touching. You make an excellent point.