The Splenda Case study pointed out that sucralose is the culprit various GI problems, but it is important to point out that Splenda is not sucralose, but chemically altered sucralose. Also, consider that fructose causes GI distress in many people. Fructose/high fructose corn syrup is cheaper than sugar and used in every thing from soda to yogurt. What I really want to know is whether Splenda accumalates in the body. I know for a fact that another Artificial sweetner, aspartme, is converted to formaldehyde in the liver (I have seen the chemistry in the lab). What does spenda turn into I wonder? I suspect that is some people it may store itself in pre-existing fat tissue like many chloronated hydrocarbons.

Dear Joe,

Exactly. Because the grade of chlorine in sucralose is suspected to be phosgene, which is a pesticide and weapons grade of chlorine (such as mustard gas), it is more than likely factual that it would deposit as a chlorinated hydrocarbon.

Dr. Janet Hull

Hi,
I developed severe back and bladder pain. This started shortly after starting to drink a well known diet drink sweetened with Splenda. I stopped the drink. the pain gradually improved over a couple of days. Being very sceptical that any food or drink could have caused the problem. I starteed to use a yoghurt drink sweetened with splenda. Guess what the pain returned. I hve tested myself in theis way with splenda ( in very small amounts ) and I am know convinced. Pity so many good things contain it!!

I used splenda as a dietary sugar approx. a year and a half ago. Within 1 week I started to get these really bad headaches behind my eyes about two hours after having my morning coffee. I had also gotten horrific headaches (pounding) while having sexual relations with my wife. It was very odd. I decided on my own to leave the sweetner out of my diet, and within 3 weeks all the headache symptoms had gone away--nerver to return.

Thomas,

Every time I try to replace sugar with Spenda in my morning oatmeal I start getting incredible amounts of bloating and gas. I have tried on and off to see if this is the cause of my gas. I am pretty convinced that it is. It is a shame as it seemed to be a good replacement for sugar.

It has become extremely fashionable in our culture to blame artificial sweeteners on every ailment afflicting mankind.
Some of it may be factual, some simply hysteria.
I don't use aspartame because I've read enough information on it that leaves me leery.
I've been using Splenda now for a number of years. Recommended by Dr. Atkins over other sweeteners, it has the least objectionable taste to anything else I've tried.
I use it heavily--in soft drinks, cereal, coffee, ice tea, etc., and I've used it for years. Do I have headaches? No. Back or bladder pain. No. Am I healthy? Extremely. Have I ever found any literature (on the web or otherwise) that convinces me that Splenda is bad for you? No.
It would not surprise me if much of the recent anti-splenda "literature" is being dispersed by the companies that make aspartame because Splenda is threatening their market share.
Read and re-read the information about Splenda. The case against it is very thin. Especially in light of the reams of evidence against aspartame. I'll take my chances on Splenda any day--plus it tastes better.

I have to say I have had the complete opposite effect as everyone who has posted, and when I see that my message has been deleted I will know that this is just a dummy website set up by the producers of Sugar.

My wife and I have been using Splenda since it was released a couple of years ago. Though I had some mild intestinal troubles prior to using Splenda I have had almost no cases of any intentinal trouble since beginning to use Splenda (possibly a couple instances of diarea). While we really didn't loose any appreciable weight just by virtue of using the product, about a year after starting to use Splenda I began regular exercise and lost 15 lbs last year. Two months ago I began a diet based in whole grains, fruits and vegitables, with Splenda being used to sweeten our coffee and tea and oatmeal, etc and have lost another 20 lbs in just two months.

My wife will tell you that I certainly have gas on occasion, but that it is quite obvious that it is related to the beans that we eat for our protien. I came to your website looking for some sort of evidence to be presented, but found only conjecture, personal experiences and some bit about chlorine (which didn't stand a basic logic test).

I'm not about to say that Splenda is safe, and I want to get to the point where I'm not using it eventually; but right now it actually is helping me bring the weight down.

Best of luck to you all.

Dear Romney,

First and foremost, Dr. Hull is independent of any "industry". She is neither supported by the sugar industry nor does she recommend refined sugars to her clients.

The information provided on her sites is information she found from the manufacturers of Splenda and the FDA. This is not conjecture.

We find it disappointing that the medical industry has given to telling patients their stories of health issues associated with chemical sweeteners is "anectdotal." Over the last 15 years, the proof is in the naturally sweetened pudding...these chemicals reduce people's health.

May I suggest to you that you give going artificial sweetener free and seeing how your health improves?

Lucy

I asked my children 9, 8 and 5 years old to give me the names a spice that they knew to be safe to use on food. I then took the three names they gave me and found evidence on the internet that these three spices caused all sorts of diseases. True story.
Moral of the story. Everything in moderation, even bodily poisons like caffeine and alcohol, carcinogens like saccharin, and tooth rotting substances like sugar.
I've had abdominal distress most of my adult life. I'm a triathlete and eat a very healthy diet. I've found through much trial an error that milk and milk products is the primary culprit to my gas and diarreha problems of the past, as well as lots of processed foods. Splenda was introduced into my diet recently with the removal of most milk and milk products, and my abdominal cramping disappeared completely, as did my gas.
I love Splenda and will continue to use it and eat the products that contain it, while I continue to substitute more natural foods for the processed stuff in my diet. I have a sweet tooth, what can I say. Everything in moderation.
Jeff

I have had no problems with splenda. I was on a very low carb diet for 7 months. I consumed several of the Atkins bars and the ice cream bars made with splenda every day along with several sodas with splenda. The chocolates made by Russell Stovers seemed to occassionally give me diarrea, but Like I said I was eating several bars (5 bars, 2 ice creams, and 2 chocolate pieces) every day. I also experienced gas. I recently went off the diet and am now counting calories. I still drink sodas with splenda about 4 a day. I have no pain and no gas. I guess now matter what we will be affected by something, could be obesity or sugar and fat can also cause illnesses. If we were all smart we would only consume fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, with no added sweetners, and lots of water. I believe that most pre packaged foods are bad for us and are why we are a fat nation. We cannot blame any one item. What about all the chemicals in our deoderants and lotions, and hair sprays, etc.....

I've been searching the web for facts on splenda as I've heard recently that people are trying to pull it off the shelves. I'm glad to see some positive reviews of the product on here as I haven't had any problems with it either. Some people are on diets (South Beach) and need the artificial sweetner to stick to it. Splenda is the ONLY one that I can tolerate... the others leave a horrible after taste. My mother and my grandmother also use splenda and have been using it on and off for two years at least. They also have not had these problems. We will all contine to use it as long as it is able to be purchased. I just thought I'd add my positive review to the others on here.

Hi everyone, I'm a 53 year old female. I would like to tell you about my expierience with Splenda. I noticed a definite pattern after using Splenda in my coffee or tea, or from using products labeled "sugar free" containing splenda. If I used splenda in my morning coffee or tea by mid afternoon I would be aching so bad all over my body and the stomach cramps, bloating and gas would be so bad I didn't even want to eat. I wanted to make sure if this is what was causing the symptoms so I decided to go on/off of it to see what happens..without fail everytime I was "on" it the symptoms would appear.."off" of it..I would feel 100% better. There were days I could hardly move off of the sofa between the stomach cramping and the joint soreness. I'm in good health otherwise but decided to cut back on sugar by using splenda. I've stopped using it completely and feel so much better all over I can't believe it..I will never use this product again and will tell everyone I know to please be careful using it. Linda

I, too, started to use Splenda after hearing of the dangers in aspartime. then I started to have constant diarreha. I researched Splenda and found out that is one of the side effects of this product. I stopped using it and the diarreha stopped. In my research I learned so much about the history of all artifical sweeteners I am in the process of preparing a Power Point presentation to teach others of their dangers.

I was going to start using sucralose instead of sugar, but now I guess I won't.

However, I'm having a problem with a couple of statements I've seen here that the chlorine in sucralose is "different" from the chlorine in, say, salt. Chlorine is an element and chlorine is chlorine is chlorine. Chlorine attached to a molecule is an ion (sharing one electron with some other ion), and a chlorine ion is a chlorine ion is a chlorine ion.

Do you mean the specific chlorine compound is different? This sentence by Dr. Hill really confused me: "Because the grade of chlorine in sucralose is suspected to be phosgene, which is a pesticide and weapons grade of chlorine (such as mustard gas), it is more than likely factual that it would deposit as a chlorinated hydrocarbon." Could you give more details for the scientifically minded? "Grade of chlorine" -- what do you mean by that? Phosgene is carbonyl chloride, COCl2 (that's C-Oh-CL-sub 2 in case my HTML markup didn't work): one carbon ion attached to one oxygen ion and also to 2 chlorine ions. Phosgene isn't a chlorinated hydrocarbon -- it has no hydrogen. What do you mean by "...would deposit as a chlorinated hydrocarbon."? Deposit where? How would it turn into a chlorinated HC?

I understand that the sucralose molecule (which is way larger & more complex than phosgene) could maybe degrade into something and phosgene, but what? And how? Sucralose comprises 11 carbons, some of which are in an amorphous ring, and 6 of which are in a benzene ring (this is also true of sucrose), 3 oxygen ions, 3 Cl ions (the Cl ions replace hydroxyl (OH) groups in sucrose, i.e., you take sucrose, remove the OH groups, and attach Cl's), 11 carbons, 2 CH2OH radicals, 4 OH radicals, and 12 H's. Hull's statement just comes right out of the air -- no science to back it up.

Also Joe Johnson says that Splenda is not sucralose but chemically altered sucralose. I can only find one non-specific reference to this, a paper written by an undergraduate chemistry student, who refers to Splenda as C-14 sucralose. He doesn't explain, and his model of the sucralose molecule has 11 C's in the rings, and one in the CH2OH radical. Where did you get your information, Joe?

Thanks.

Ann (different Ann from one who's posted before).

WOW! The comment on the joint aching has me wondering what I am doing to myself. 3 years ago...I stopped eating all sugar. I was shocked to see HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP was in my bread, ketchup, breakfast bars and drinks. When I stopped eating this and started using Splenda I dropped 35lbs. But also in the last 3 years, I have developed terrible joint aches in my knees and hips. You would think that I would feel better now that I am 35lbs lighter.....but I feel terrible. I will stop using Splenda today!

Very interesting comments from everyone. A single teaspoon of Splenda will cause me almost immediate distress, keeping me at the toilet every few minutes for hours. I haven't had to wait a week for headaches to start - they start within a few hours - but that might be due to dehydration from the diarrhea. I stay away from all artificial sweeteners. My simple country logic tells me, humans can't improve on what nature has provided when it comes to sweetening. Nature has a few more billion years of experience.

Hello All,
I recently began to drink Splenda because my wife thought that Aspartame was too dangerous; well ever since I started drinking soft drinks with Splenda I thought it was great because it tasted fine. The problem is lately I have had gas so bad that the dog goes in the other room, and worst of all I keep getting these headaches that are so pointly powerful. I am a health enthusiast and my opionion is to listen to your body.

The times I have eaten products with sucralose, I also have developed stomach spasms. The pain was quite severe on and off for about half an hour. I suppose it's an effect that only some people experienced, but I've quickly learned the product certainly is not for me.

I started using Splenda in my coffee instead of sugar. I drink a lot of coffee and thought I should back off on the sugar. My back is killing me and it feals like my kidneys are shuting down. It hurts so bad I cant sleep and am thinking of calling 911 My ribs hurt to the point I can only lye on my back. Splenda in my coffee is the only thing I have changed in my diet. Stopped puting it in my coffee and fealing better.

Even a small serving of anything containing sucralose causes me severe flatulance with abdominal pain and diarrhea. I make an effort to avoid it and continue to wonder how it can be allowed into more and more foods at the store. I have to study food labels now to avoid it. I guess that not everyone is sensitive to it the way that I am, and I sure hope that it's not building up in the liver of users to cause them trouble later on.

I purchased a low cal icecream and after a couple days after consuming a bowl each day, I've noticed I've had terrible gas & diarrhea . I checked the icecream and it's sweetened with splenda. I believe this to be the culprit of my malaise and will check all labels from now on to avoid splenda.

I started the South Beach diet in April 06 and lost 24 lbs. I've been eating Hershey's no sugar chocolates sweetened with Splenda everyday for the past 3 months. I thought I had a bowel problem. I had chronic gas, bloating, heartburn, and sometimes cramps everday. I heard it was problematic in excessive amounts but I hardly had any. THe day I quit Splenda my bowel and stomach returned to normal. I won't touch this stuff ever again!