Dan's Low Carb Journey: Post from Nov. 20, 2011 ( SWEET )

My 160 pound weight loss

To see my first posts scroll down. The oldest posts are at the bottom.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2011

Since my lifestyle change and resulting weight loss, (I've lost 144 pounds in the past 20 months) I find that I no longer have a desire for nor do I like sweet food or drink. I wondered if it was just me or do others who adopt the low carb lifestyle experience the same thing. I posed the question on the Livin La Vita Low Carb Forum. As I expected some people experience the same thing. It seems, for some at least, our taste changes, we no longer like or desire sweet tasting foods.

Many are still in the old mindset. they think they must have sweet foods. The old paradigm says we must have dessert with every meal. You feel you haven't had a complete meal if there is no dessert. It's part of our education, or should I say indoctrination from youth. We now know that if you eat sugars it makes you want to eat more of everything else.

Avoiding sugar is a crucial part of a healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, the belief that artificial sweeteners can allow to have the best of both worlds is simply not true.

There is lots of information online on the dangers of those sweeteners.

Splenda was developed in a lab like other chemical food additive. And like all the other chemical concoctions, Splenda, my friends, is not good for you.

Splenda is the trade name for Sucralose, a synthetic compound stumbled upon in 1976 by scientists in Britain seeking a new pesticide formulation. It is true that the Splenda molecule is comprised of sucrose (sugar) — except that three of the hydroxyl groups in the molecule have been replaced by three chlorine atoms.

Read this article from Dr. Mercola on the dangers of Splenda.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/04/26/major-media-finally-exposes-splendas-lies.aspx

Here is the process by which they produce the formula sold in stores:

“1. Sucrose is tritylated with trityl chloride in the presence of dimethylformamide and 4-methylmorpholine, and the tritylated sucrose is then acetylated with acetic anhydride.

2. The resulting sucrose molecule TRISPA is chlorinated with hydrogen chlorine in the presence of tolulene.

3. The resulting 4-PAS is heated in the presence of methyl isobutyl ketone and acetic acid.

4. The resulting 6-PAS is chlorinated with thionyl chloride in the presence of toluene and benzyltriethylammonium chloride.

5. The resulting TOSPA is treated with methanol in the presence of sodium methoxide to produce sucralose.” (Note that methanol, wood alcohol aka paint remover, is one of the questionable ingredients in aspartame.)

In addition, the bags and packets of Splenda commercially available are not pure sucralose. They also contain bulking agents. All artificial sweeteners use bulking agents. Do you know what they use? Sugar. Dextrose, sucrose, and maltodextrin. (Maltodextrin is corn syrup solids composed primarily from fructose and glucose in a starch form.) All sweetener packets are at least 96 percent sugar. Splenda is 99% sugar.

The packets are labelled calorie free as a result of manipulating a loophole in the food labeling laws. The product can be described as sugar free if a serving contains less than 5 grams of sugar, and calorie free if a serving is less than 5 calories. So they set the serving size on bags at .5 grams and the packets contain a serving of 1 gram. A one gram packet contains 4 calories. This can be confirmed on the manufacturer’s website in the FAQ section: “Like many no and low calorie sweeteners, each serving of SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener contains a very small amount of common food ingredients, e.g., dextrose and/or maltodextrin, for volume. Because the amount of these ingredients is so small, SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener still has an insignificant calorie value per serving and meets FDA’s standards for “no calorie” sweeteners. “

To make matters worse, when sucralose was shown to not raise blood sugars, it was the pure substance that was tested, not the mixture that is sold to the public. Dextrose, sucrose, and/or maltodextrin are definitely going to raise a diabetic’s blood sugar. There is also a great deal of evidence that artificial sweeteners actually cause an increase in appetite, causing people who consume them to take in more calories than they would otherwise."

Genetically modified like corn, wheat and soy.

Learn more about Splenda on the following sites:

Splenda Exposed

http://www.splendaexposed.com/

Sugar substitutes and the potential danger of Splenda

http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx

Sucralose (Splenda) Toxicity Information Center

http://www.holisticmed.com/splenda/

Sugar substitutes and the potential danger of Splenda

http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx

The potential dangers of Splenda

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/12/03/sucralose-dangers.aspx