April 23, 2007

Splenda and Equal, Part II

So here's where the "reverse chronological" aspect of blogging gets tricky, at least for new bloggers who don't organize their thoughts properly before they post. Yesterday Crabby began a discussion of Equal and Splenda, but realized she was running on way too long and so she stoppped. The first part of this discussion appears below and so you might want to start there and end here.

So to continue, here are the reasons why Crabby uses Splenda despite all the nagging internet articles telling her she shouldn't:

1. While Equal raises more concerns, Splenda has survived a boatload of testing. Given that there are carcinogens in everything we eat, drink, or breathe these days (even sunlight is carcinogenic) Crabby is just not that worried about the tiny level of risk that Splenda seems to present. If new studies come out saying "Yikes, we were wrong, this stuff really is going to kill you," then it will be a good time to re-evaluate. (But only if these are real studies by real scientists, not propaganda by people hawking books).

2. Crabby doesn't use 20,000 packets a day of the stuff, or whatever quantity it is you have to get to before problems start appearing.

3. Sweets are wonderful! Life is short! But it's hard to eat all the sweets one craves without risking obesity and other health concerns. Crabby is not ever going to turn into a person who doesn't eat sweets. Splenda works for her--she lost weight when she started using it years ago and hasn't gained it back.

4. Crabby doesn't care that it isn't "natural." Real, whole foods are generally more healthy and nutritious than made-up chemicals, but there are exceptions. Sugar and butter and lard are natural, but they're not good for you. And if a wild boar one day bites Crabby in the ass and gives her some rare and fatal Wild Boar Disease, you can bet she will head straight to the doctor and swallow whatever made-up chemicals the doctor prescribes.

Feel free to give her hell about this (just do it gently).

UPDATE:
More confusion over whether Equal has links to cancer. Italian scientists are saying yes again, FDA says their studies are flawed. (This is Equal though, not Splenda.) Bethany over at Thatsfit has some links.

6 comments:

  1. Well, if anybody gives you hell about it, Crabby, then they need to give me hell about it, too. :) I love 100 calorie Splenda-sweetened ice cream treats -- they're a heckuva lot better for dessert than sitting down with a half-gallon of regular ice cream, 2200 calories all told -- eeeek! ;-)

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  2. I wish I could eat things with Splenda! It gives me gas. Really. Sorry for the TMI, but I've tested this theory enough times to know. And to annoy my husband.

    'Nuff said.

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  3. It's all in moderation. I'm into sugar myself but then I don't have any health problems like diabetes and I don't have any weight issues.

    I do have a post on my blog about Red #40. It's a food coloring found in mostly junk food like doritos and m&m's. You wouldn't believe what this can cause in young children and possibly older children and adults.

    Love the blog sorry to go on for so long.

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  4. Hi rosemerry!

    Going on too long? Sorry, but you're not even close! Crabby loves hearing your comments, and Bunnygirl, there is no such thing as TMI on this blog.

    Welcome rosemerry, and thanks for the tip on coal tar die. (Crabby can pass on Doritos, but M&M's hit too close to the heart.)

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  5. Oh, Crabby, I hate to think of you putting such junk into your body. Personally, I can't stand the taste of artificial sweeteners, chemical aspects quite aside. They taste like what they are, fake. Give me good old honest sugar (or honey) anytime. I have a friend who swears by stevia, the all-natural, super sweet sweetener. I tried some. Yow! A little goes a long way. Of course, the alternative is to enjoy treats that are naturally sweet without any help. Dried mangoes, say. I'll never give up chocolate, though. It's one of the Noble Sugars, along with Honey and Wine.

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  6. Hurrah! Appleton has returned!

    Such a purist, and Crabby admires you for it. Yes, honey and chocolate and mangoes are all wonderful.

    But if you have already corrupted your tastes buds as Crabby has, you can actually find yourself savoring a cup of chocolate pudding made with nonfat milk and sweetened with splenda as though it were a real treat. (Must be the kind you heat though, not the instant, or worse, the kind that comes already made).

    And I tried stevia once and to me--yechhh.

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