Monk Fruit: A Stevia/Splenda Alternative Sweetener That Doesn't Suck? (Review & Giveaway)

So how did I not hear about monk fruit until now? Duh. I somehow missed the whole thing.

Well, actually, I did recognize "luo han guo," a name that monk fruit also goes by, as one of the ingredients in the sinisterly addictive protein bars I've been scarfing down ever since the Quest Bar Review.  But I hadn't really noticed the squat orange jar or packets on the grocercy store shelf until I got a PR email on behalf of the folks at Nectresse. I just thought of it as some obscure ingredient only food manufacturers had access to.

In brief, monk fruit is a natural sweetener with almost no calories or glycemic impact. And you can now get it in most grocery stores as an alternative to splenda, stevia, sugar, agave syrup, or whatever the heck else you use to sweeten things up.

But is it safe? And how does it taste? And what was that bit about a giveaway?

 

Emergency Exit

Please do not be alarmed: this is a test of our Emergency Product Review Broadcasting system.

I repeat, this is only a test. There is an actual post hiding here behind the "read more" below about reducing one's sugar/Splenda/whatever intake.

However, to reach this post you must click on a link. And then, warning: things may start to get weird.

If this were an actual Product Review Emergency, we would be sending you away from Cranky Fitness because we'd otherwise be violating Blogher's rules by posting a review here.

This post does not actually violate those guidelines, which is why it is Only A Test.

Soon, however, we anticipate a genuine product review emergency! We will be doing a review and a giveaway of an awesome-sounding, high-value product that we think you will be excited about having a chance to win. What's the emergency? Well, we wanted to keep one ourselves! We couldn't do that without sending you away to our new, slightly uglier, product review page. In the future, we will hope to score more cool free stuff give you helpful information about other products by conducting extensive testing in our Cranky Fitness Laboratory.



Today, however, it's just a test post about sweetener. But please let us know if anything weird happens when you go to the new page to read more!

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.

Splenda and Equal: Toxic Terrors or Tasty Treats?

There's a lot of controversy about the safety of artificial sweeteners, particularly in the blogosphere. (In real life, where most people aren't paying attention and are happy to eat total crap all day long, no one seems to care much. Those who can stand the taste use it to cut calories, and those who can't, don't).

But in the Internet world, these artificial sweeteners are indeed a Very Big Deal. To admit, particularly on a health and fitness site, that you use the stuff is like announcing you eat babies for breakfast. Lots of strong feelings on the subject.

Crabby came late to the whole debate, because she never thought either of them tastes "just like sugar." But eventually she got used to them and discovered that while in some foods they still taste metallic and nasty, in others they work just fine.

The FDA recently weighed in on Equal again, saying don't worry at all about cancer, but they weren't entirely convincing since it sounds like they didn't get all the data they needed but just went ahead and said it anyway.

Crabby does not pretend to have carefully analyzed all the studies. She tried to do some actual research but there are just too many vested interests and conspiracy nutballs out there cluttering up the debate to get a straight answer about Aspartame (Equal) or Sucralose (Splenda). Of the two, Splenda seems less controversial than Equal, at least among mainstream scientists.

People tend to find the articles that support what they already think, and Crabby is no exception. The Mayo Clinic and The American Diabetes Association say "no problem, keep dumping it in your coffee" (not an exact quote). But countless others say "cut that out, you'll die!" (Just google, you'll see a million of them).

It seems quite sensible to avoid consuming artificial sweeteners if it doesn't feel like a hardship.

Tomorrow, Crabby will explain why she uses Splenda anyway. (After putting this post up, she realizes it's running way too long so she's taking part of it out for now). Stay tuned!