Sugar: Splenda and others vs. the real...

Comments: 32

DiAnA D. Sep 16, 2008, 9:01am UTC

Walmart's brand.. i can't remember the last time i used real sugar!!

Priscilla (wishing I was in Costa Rica) ~. Sep 16, 2008, 9:02am UTC

I also beleive they are bad for us. I use regular items, unless there is another natural option. Like agave nectar, etc.

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Elaine S. Sep 16, 2008, 9:02am UTC

I think real sugar is best for people unless they are told by the doctor to not use it.
Diabetics don't have the choice so they need a substitute for it.(my opinion)

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Princess Spanky Pants ~ The Real, Original, Heather T Sep 16, 2008, 9:03am UTC

I use regular sugar sparingly. I have heard that the bad benefits from the 'fake' sugars are worse than the good benefits, comparatively.

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Rob Appell Sep 16, 2008, 9:04am UTC

Being one who is supposed to limit my sugar intake (though I'm still allowed to have a little), it's been recommended I use artificial sweeteners. I've tried them and they don't suit my taste. Not only that, to me at least, they don't seem as sweet and I end up using two or three times the amount. Since they haven't been on the market long enough for any long-term studies to be done on the effects they have on our bodies (ie. - causing cancer); I choose not to use them and stick with good, old fashioned granulated, white sugar. (I can remember in the past, an artificial sweetener being taken off the market because it did, indeed, cause cancer.)

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Rob Appell Sep 16, 2008, 9:06am UTC

It's not true that diabetics can't have real sugar. That is an old myth. Diabetics can consume real sugar; just not in large amounts. Even hospitals allow diabetics to have sugar in their diet and offer many sweet treats. You just have to limit how much you eat and keep the portions small.

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Peter Joseph Swanson Sep 16, 2008, 9:06am UTC

I don't put anything in my tea and coffee. If I did it would be honey.

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Lisa J Sep 16, 2008, 9:07am UTC

We actually have a variety of sweeteners in this house. Almost every artificial sweetener I've tried gives me the munchies (literally - I swear I eat twice as much when I consume artificial sweeteners). K, however, thinks Stevia is a gift from the sweetner gods, and J perfers splenda. Since everyone in this house is overweight, I don't mind encouraging them to use them. There is sugar in this house, though. We go through about ten pounds of sugar a year, most of it used for company and for holiday baking and the occasional pie. We also have honey, which is used in some baking and recipes in place of sugar (my 68 calories per pancake pancakes, homemade whole wheat bread) and is also used for tea, especially when the drinker has a cold or sore throat.

I don't usually put sugar on cereal or in my own iced tea. I drink mostly water or seltzer water with lemon, the occasional Fuze Slenderize (which is sweetened with acesulfame potassium and fruit juice) or iced herbal or regular tea....

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Pamela K. Sep 16, 2008, 9:15am UTC

I do not put anything in my coffee. But do have sugar in the house for baking.

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Lesli B. Sep 16, 2008, 9:15am UTC

I feel that since sugar is natural and splenda and the others aren't, that sugar in moderation is the safest choice. I'm not a big fan of chemically enhanced stuff, be it food, medication or otherwise.

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kokomo *. Sep 16, 2008, 9:21am UTC

Definitely sugar. I only use it in coffee and I don't drink coffee that much, so.....

I drink Diet Coke, though. I just like the taste of it better and I don't worry about the sweetener being artificial. If it's gonna kill me, it hasn't happened yet! LOL

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Alex in Wonderland Sep 16, 2008, 9:21am UTC

Honey would be the best sweetener as long as a doctor doesn't say no to it.
Since honey doesn't taste good in my coffee my second choice is raw sugar. Then I would go for bleached white sugar.
If I didn't have that I probably wouldn't use anything.
Usually artifical sweeteners will confuse your body and it could make you crave real sugar even more. I have heard some other bad stuff about all of the artificial sweeteners. Reading pregnancy books I found that they recommend that you don't use artificial sweeteners during pregnancy or breastfeeding because they don't know all of the effects it could have on the baby. If it does harm to a baby then it surely is doing it to an adult, only it will take a little longer.

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Melinda ~choosing happiness~ S. Sep 16, 2008, 9:35am UTC

I try hard to avoid chemical 'food' items.

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sheila ~the hapless housewife~ j. Sep 16, 2008, 9:36am UTC

We use the real stuff.

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Christopher B. Sep 16, 2008, 9:39am UTC

I am a lot like Peter, I drink a lot of tea (hot) during the day and I don’t put any sweetener in it at all. (Generally there is one exception – Indian Spiced Chai Tea gets a packet and some milk.) I will put in one packet of sugar in my coffee if I drink it on a weekend. I generally prefer a packet of “sugar in the raw” when I do use it for coffee or tea.

I read something where the problem with artificial sweetener is that the brain thinks “sweet” but the stomach is asking “where’s the calories?” As a result you tend to eat more and thus get more of the other things like carbs which isn’t good for a thin lifestyle either. Recently my mother has had problems after a local restaurant. After checking a number of factors she suspects it is because she orders a diet coke with the meal and normally she never drinks diet coke. (She may have to go back to ordering that pino grigio after all.)

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Eclectic Bird Sep 16, 2008, 10:01am UTC

I have always had bad reactions to artificial sweetners. They range from mild to kill me now :) So I use sugar.

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Anne W. Sep 16, 2008, 10:11am UTC

I'm a sugar girl.

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Anne W. Sep 16, 2008, 10:11am UTC

Thank you for posting to Point Whore! Wishing everyone many, many points!

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Nana to Seven Cutiepies Sep 16, 2008, 11:44am UTC

I've used Sweet N Low for 40 years now, still alive, kicking and basically in good health. Hope that helps you decide.

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Janet "Jax" B. Sep 16, 2008, 2:43pm UTC

As a chemist, I only use real sugar. I know how some of the chemicals from artifical sweeteners break down....plus, artifical ones give me migraines.

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Kjersti W. Sep 16, 2008, 3:26pm UTC

I only use real sugar, although I do eat and drink things with artificial sweeteners. I think they are equally as bad as real sugar because they can trick your body to think they are the real thing and your body is treating it as calories when you are thinking they are not.

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Sarah (I want points) Sep 16, 2008, 3:30pm UTC

I usually use the pink stuff most of the time.

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LaRue B. Sep 16, 2008, 4:11pm UTC

I used to use Splenda, but when I talked to my doctor, I was told that sugar or honey would be better for the body. I stopped adding it to my coffee and began cutting back on the sweetness to my coffee. Now I drink it with cream only.

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