Artificial Sweetener

Question: ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER? i have been using artificial sweetener for years such as hermersetas but i have been hearing that these are bad for you can anyone shed any light on this please i am diabetic and thought it was the healthy way to go.

Answer: Found this.

Question: Artificial sweetener? I've been making green tea and using splenda to sweeten it. As far as I know splenda is pretty bad for you, and is what they put in diet drinks that make you accumulate fat around your belly. is there a type of sweetener that isn't bad for you, like that stevia (sp) stuff?

Answer: Everything's bad for you Splenda's fine

Question: Best Artificial Sweetener for cooking, with no aftertaste? I'm planning on making a pie and want to use an artificial sweetener rather than sugar, but I want to make sure there's no aftertaste. I've noticed that Splenda leaves an aftertaste--any suggestions?

Answer: stevia and agave nectar. http://www.essentiallivingfoods.com/products-sweeteners-agave-syrup.html

Question: how much artificial sweetener should i add while substituting it for regular sugar? i used a sugar substitute to bake a cake for my diabetic mom.. i followed my usual recipe but used an artificial sweetener. My cake turned out sickly sweet although i substituted it by half ( i used half cup sweetner instead of 1 cup sugar) my question is how much sugar substitute should i add to replace 1 cup sugar so my desserts dont taste deathly sweet?

Answer: Most artificial sweetners aren't made for baking, with the exception of Splenda. It measures cup for cup, just like regular sugar, and doesn't change the consistency of your baked product. By far, the best substitute.

Question: Is artificial sweetener good for high blood pressure? I have high blood pressure and I am slightly overweight. I want to use artificial sweetener especially to sweeten my tea in order to minimise calorie intake. Sodium is not good for high blood pressure. Artificial sweetener contain sodium. Is an artificial sweetener really harmful to my blood pressure?

Answer: There is not enough in them to make any appreciable difference either way. I applaud your attempt to lose weight, which may make control easier, but you will need to make many more dietary changes and take some vigorous exercise as as well in order to make any really useful contribution.

Question: How to do a science experiment about which artificial sweetener corrodes teeth more? for my science fair project i am testing to see which artificial sweetener corrodes teeth more but i am not exactly sure how to do it. I know that you mix the sweetener in water then place an egg in it but i dont know exactly what to do. if someone could give me a brief explanation of how to do this experimen that would be great. also i was wondering which artificial sweetener does corrode teeth the most?

Answer: Well, the first thing to do in setting up an experiment would be to write down the scientific method: Define the question Gather information and resources (observe) Form hypothesis Perform experiment and collect data Analyze data Interpret data and draw conclusions Question: Which artificial sweetener corrodes teeth more? Information/Resources: (You're on your own for this one...) Form hypothesis: (Draw a conclusion from what you find in the resources.) Experiment:========== Part of designing the experiment is the procedure. You want to be as specific with the instructions as possible. The first step is to define the constants and variables. NOTE: The more times you repeat your experiment and the same results show, the better your data looks! And you can conduct the same experiment "repeatedly" at the same time. (This is called "rigor".) Constants - the parts of the experiments kept the same: How much water vs. how much sweetener. (You'd want the same concentration.) What brand of egg. (Hint: Make the eggs hard-boiled so you won't have cracks easily.) What kind of cup. (Use glass.) Length of time for the eggs to be soaked in the solutions. (Leave it for a week or more. But be exact to the hour/minute. Set timers.) Temperature (Temperature affects the speed of chemical reaction.) Light (Keep them under the same light.) Purity of water. (Use bottled water that is PURE.) Variables: Brands of sweetener Procedure: If you don't have bottled water, prepare the water by boiling it and filtering a few times. Set up the solutions in separate cups. (mL of water and g of sweetener.) Set up one cup with just water (this will be the control) Set up one cup with nothing. (also a control, since you don't know if water itself will corrode the egg.*not likely but just make sure.*) GENTLY drop the hard-boiled eggs into the water and solutions while recording the time. Use Saran-wrap to cover the water (So things don't get in there.) Leave them in the fridge. (Consistent temperature and light!) Take them out once every 12 hours to take pictures/measurements. [You can define the measurements. The more subjective your measurements are, the less scientific it seems. Things like "This LOOKS more corroded is a no-no.] Record your conclusions. ========== Analysis of data: You're the scientist! Conclusion: ?? Summary: You want to talk about further experimentations here. (Things like "Different concentration of sweetener to water ratio vs. the amount of time it takes to completely corrode the shell?" or affects of acidity on teeth over time... possibilities are endless.)

Question: What is the safest artificial sweetener? I drink a lot of ice-tea and sometimes tea or coffee in the morning. I'd like to sweeten my drink with an artificial sweetener (not sugar) but I also want to use something that is safe for my body. Any recommendations?

Answer: I believe the best one to use it one called, Truvia.

Question: why do SO many food and drinks have artificial sweetener in tiem? I am mad as hell that the food industry re SNEAKING artificial sweetener in their products. I refuse to buy any of them.These sweeteners are actually more harmful to your health than sugar is. Ask any doctor who does not receive money to promote them. If these food companies are not ashamed of putting this poison in their products, why don't they specify in large, clear letters on the front of their products what sweetener is contained in them?

Answer: I can only answer from the perspective of an American. Firstly, they cannot as you assert "sneak" anything into food products. Ingredients are clearly listed on the package. This is adequate, provided you are literate. Secondly, have you seen the size of some of us? Fully thirty some percent are obese and do not need more calories. The short answer is read the label and buy what suits you. You cannot complain if you don't check what you put into your cart.

Question: Does artificial sweetener eliminate the toxic, smell effects of hair dye? I add artificial sweetener to my hair, bleach dye mix to eliminate the toxic smell. Does this also eliminate the toxic effects from the smell or should I still apply the shower cap to contain the toxic effects?

Answer: Well as a stylist I've heard of people doing things at home, but I've never heard of artificial sweetener before, lol. And I don't really know what toxic effects you're worried about. Unless you're working with chemicals all day long for many years, you'll be fine.

Question: What property of acid in soft drinks is overcome by sugar/artificial sweetener? A certain soft drink was analyzed and found to contain 0.080M H. Other ingredients of the drink include sugar, or in the diet firm of the drink, an artificial sweetener. What property of this acid solution is overcome by using sugar or sweetener? Help will be GREATLY appreciated.

Answer: Anything that has acids in it has a "tart" taste on your tongue. Think of the tartness of lemons (very acidic pH), and vinegar (dilute acetic acid). The sugars and artificial sweetners overcome the tartness of the acid.

Question: How do you make a cake with artificial sweetener without it affecting the taste? I've been trying to make a cake for a couple of diabetics Im related to but every time I try to use artificial sweetener (eg canderel etc) it ruins the taste...has anyone got any advice as to how I can get the cake to taste as nice as those with sugar whilst keeping it sugar free?

Answer: It is going to affect it SOME...but most of us that are used to not having sugar are used to that. I mix my artificial sweetners when I bake...using a bit of Sugar Twin (or the Brown Sugar Twin if the Recipe calls for Brown Sugar "flavor") and Splenda, Stevia--and sometimes I even use Sugar Free Pancake syrup. But it is never going to be as nice...and also you have to keep in mind that sugar actually affects the baking process of the cake...so you need to find cake recipes that actually call for sugar substitues or it may have an odd texture. (since lots of cakes have you cream the sugar and fat) I have had the best success making cheese cakes...I make them "crustless". I use Sugar Free Herseys Syrup to put a bit of topping on them and sometimes the Comstock SF cherries too. You will be surprised with the things you can come up with when you are desperate. :) Even some applesauce spooned on a graham cracker with a sprinkle of cinnamon and splenda and put in the microwave for a minute or so begins to taste like Apple pie...Equal changes when it is baked--in cakes and pies especially, that is why it has tested recipes at the Equal website..otherwise you have to play with it...if I use Equal I used saccharine along with it...saccharine is fine to bake OR cook with..it just has a bit of an after taste..if used along with another sweetner it improves the taste. SugarTwin Granulated White and Granulated Brown sugar substitute can be used in cooking and baking. It measures and pours, cup for cup and spoon for spoon like sugar. Do not use packets for cooking.

Question: Am I going to grow fat and die with all the artificial sweetener? I've found these great-tasting 0 calorie packets of flavoring that one can put in their drink to have instant tea, or an energy drink or whatever. I think they're the greatest thing and have been having about three a day for the past week. The tea has splenda in it, and the energy drinks have aspartame. Now, I know aspartame has to be bad for me, but I'm trying to only have one of those a day. And, then I've also fallen in love with sugar-free hard candies, which also have Splenda in them. Should I try to cut down on the artificial sweetener? Is there anything I can expect to happen if I keep on overdosing on this, like getting sick or something? I hear this stuff can increase appetite, but I don't have to eat just because I'm hungry. I count my calories, and make sure I don't go over. I am not diabetic to my knowledge, so there's no medical reason why I'm doing this.... It's just the low-calorie thing I'm interested in.

Answer: Darling, we are all going to die. That's just a fact of life. Are you happy with your artifical sweetener? Being happy will lengthen your lifespan, and may balance out any bad effects. OTOH, if you are hungry and/or gassy, you won't be happy. If you notice your body complaining, try cutting out the artificial stuff for a little while and see if your body is happier. If you decide to cut down, there are a lot of herb teas out there that have a naturally sweet/fruity flavor, and they have no calories and no artificial things. Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Orange is really good, and so are their berry teas. Good luck, and try not to worry.

Question: What is the best artificial sweetener? I've decided to eliminate sugar (as much as humanly possible) from my diet (in order to loose weight and for health)...but I am wary of artificial sweeteners because im afraid they will have an aftertaste and because they are not natural and possibily not good for people...but regardless please give me tips on the best sweetener that hasnt caused cancer in rats etc. What are the best sugarless candies and the best sweetener for coffee or tea.?

Answer: What’s your next question? What’s the best cigarette? Telling you about the best artificial sweeteners is like telling you to smoke light filtered cigarettes, those are better than regular unfiltered ones but they’re still bad for you. I don’t know why sugar gets such a bad rap. Yes, you could get cavities but if you brush/floss and get regular dental cleanings, you won’t. You need about 60% of carbs for your body to function properly. Carbs in fruits and veggies are very good for you and it is okay to use a tsp of white table sugar in your coffee or your tea or use sugar to bake a cake or a bread. Just don’t drink sodas or any commercial drinks laden with tons of sugar…which is often the reason a person gets too much sugar. The more you taste sweetness, the less your taste buds are receptive to it, so the more you crave it. A person eating or drinking too much sugar will taste food that will taste disgustingly too sweet to another person with taste buds that are not messed up. It’s the same with spicy food. I cannot eat spicy food without feeling that my mouth is on fire, simply because I avoid it while other people love spicy food, eat it a lot, and do not have their mouth on fire, because their taste buds adapted to it. You get the same effect of too much sweetness cravings with fake sugar which is still sweet but then it gets worse since people tend to eat even more sweet food with fake sugar when they think they can because they contain fewer calories. So their sweet tooth gets even worse and uncontrollable cravings can lead to binging. If you want to lose weight, you need to exercise and if you need to exercise, you need energy, which is mostly provided by sugars. You cannot do weight training without a good blood sugar level since it’s anaerobic, which is when your body cannot use fat reserves because it does not have enough oxygen to do so. Replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners is a bad idea for a lot of reasons, a few of them being: First, they are other ways to reduce sugar in your diet, in the case that you eat way too much of it. Eliminating sugary sodas is one big way. Drinking a 12oz can of Coca-Cola is the equivalent of adding 9 tsp of sugar in your coffee!! Just reducing the amount of table sugar that you use, like one tsp (15 calories) instead of two tsp in your coffee or tea, will not feel sugary enough for about 3 weeks, if you’re used to more than one tsp. Then your taste buds will adapt and become more sensitive to the sweet taste, so you won’t need more sugar anymore. You need 3 weeks of patience to readjust your taste buds. If you eat too much sugar now, just eliminate it and give a chance to your body to adapt…do not just replace it with junk. Believe me, my taste buds are sensitive and 1tsp of sugar is very sweet to me. Sometimes, by mistake, I add another tsp because I forgot I already did, and then I’m like “yuck, it’s too sweet!” Second, artificial sweeteners are bad, everybody knows that. Some are worse than others, like aspartame which is the equivalent of taking medicine that you don’t need! Others are said to be safer because they come from plants but tobacco is a plant too. Third, fake sugar will make you gain weight, which incidentally, seems to be the opposite of the reason why you would even consider using fake sugar. If you eat or drink something sweet, your taste buds will send the message to your brain. Then your brain will think that you’re getting more sugar so you will get an insulin response and the actual sugar that you have in your blood will be sent to your fat cells and muscles (that’s one way to get fat), since you’re supposed to get more sugar…BUT THEN…oops, you did not really get sugar!!! So now, your body is in a state of emergency with low blood sugar levels. Now, all your body wants is for you to replenish your sugar level in your blood which are very important and to make you do that, your body (your brain) makes you very hungry because it wants you to eat to get more sugar (which is why people eating diet food are more likely to binge). So…sweet food with real sugar would just give you more energy (just make sure you brush), while sweet food with fake sugar will just make you weak (low blood sugar level) and hungrier (need to replenish the blood sugar), so you’ll eat more and gain weight. They are a lot of experiments with rats and the ones given fake sugar ate more and got fatter. It is a proven fact, among humans, that fake sugar, like in diet sodas, leads to obesity. Your body is a marvelous adaptable system with billions and billions of different parts communicating with each others. Sugar is sweet so your taste buds can feel that sweetness, which is like a language, and sent the message to your brain that you’re getting a good, new, easily accessible energy supply so your brain does numerous things to embrace that new energy input. Now, fake sugar is messing up the whole system, with its zero calorie sweetness and no energy at all, fake sugar is a big liar and makes the taste buds look bad and inefficient and malfunctioning. After a while, your brain will take care of those malfunctioning taste buds that wrongly taste sweet when no sugar is coming and shut them down! People with no taste buds would rather die of hunger than keep eating food that taste like solid water when they’re still craving sugar, salt and spices. Edit: About one of the other poster who wrote “refined sugar is basically Satan”. I don’t agree with that statement. Of course, avoid too much refined sugar if you don’t need it and won’t use it but when you do need it and will use it, it’s a blessing. A fireman going up an elevator shaft, with heavy gears on his back, will be happy to have sugar cubes in his pockets. Same with rock climbers and mountain climbers to keep their blood sugar level high and get the energy they need. They cannot carry the extra load of Sports drinks so they go directly to the source…pure granulated little sugar cubes.

Question: Is there any chewing gum that exists that does not contain ANY kind of artificial sweetener? I am 3 months pregnant and I have been hearing about alot of really bad things about artificial sweeteners from doctors and their effects on unborn child. I've had to give up chewing gum because I looked and looked and couldn't find any that didn't contain some form (alot of secret names) of artificial sweetener. Do they even make any? Please help!

Answer: Go to a health food store... youll find xylitol gum or something like that.... has nothing in it that isnt natural. Xylitol is a natural sweetner thats actually healthy for you.

Question: Is Splenda a better artificial sweetener to use? I've heard that Sweet and Low causes bladder cancer? I just try to cut calories were I can and I didn't know if maybe there was an artificial sweetener that isn't cancer causing??

Answer: Any artificial product will have risks and side affects. Nutrasweet can cause blindness if taken in very large quantities. Sweet n Low was reported to have caused cancer, again if take in very large quantities. The FDA has, of course, conducted studies on Splenda. Many of the studies were designed to identify possible toxic effects including carcinogenic, reproductive and neurological effects. No such effects were found, and FDA's approval is based on the finding that sucralose is safe for human consumption. They of course also think Nutrasweet and Sweet n Low are safe too, so take that recommendation for what it's worth. Concerns have been raised about the effect of sucralose on the thymus, an organ that is important to the immune system. A report from NICNAS cites two studies on rats, both of which found "a significant decrease in mean thymus weight" at a certain dose. Again, that is probably when consuming much more than normal amounts. Since Splenda is created from sugar, it is probably the best of the 3 as it is somewhat closer to being natural.

Question: what causes food to suddenly have a taste of artificial sweetener when it does not have any in it? The last 2 days when I was eating, I suddenly had the taste of artificial sweetener in my mouth, the first time while eating pasta and the second while eating dessert - I checked to make sure there was no artificial sweetener in them and there wasn't. What could cause this?

Answer: Just the carbs reacting with your saliva. There's an enzyme in your saliva that breaks starts breaking down starches into sugars. I bet it's the residual level of starches that's giving you that weird sweet taste in your mouth.