Silent Sweet Seduction - Four words – art i fi cial
Do you know the history of artificial sweeteners and their use being approved by the FDA? If not, enjoy taking in some fabulous facts that can change your life.
The first artificial sweetener to the market was Saccharine in 1957. It came to the market as Sweet’N Low. After 50 years of studies, the FDA approved it for oral use with a warning on the label that it may cause cancer. A chemist, Constantin Fahlberg, discovered Saccharine in 1879 at Johns Hopkins University by noticing its sweet taste by accident.
Aspartame in Equal and NutriSweet came to the market in 1981 and was discovered by a chemist, Jim Schlatter, in 1965, while working in the lab on a new drug, and he similarly tasted the sweetness of the chemical. The name aspartame comes from “aspartyl-phenylalanine methyl ester." The reason it took the FDA so long to approve aspartame for oral use was due to the many studies pointing to its risk, particularly the ones related to migraines and autoimmune diseases.
There is a known component of aspartame that converts to formaldehyde at body temperature (anything 90 degrees or higher). It wasn’t until Arthur Hull, a new commissioner to the FDA, overruled the scientific review panel’s concern about safety and approved it for oral use after eight years of denying its approval due to health risks. It wasn’t too much later when Arthur Hull went to work for the owner of aspartame, G.D. Searle, for $1,000 a day. Although the FDA urged Congress to prosecute against Searle, it ended up with both lawyers hired by the FDA convincing the FDA not to prosecute. Both lawyers ended up joining Mr. Searle’s law firm. This is but one of the many “Money, politics and the FDA” untold stories.
Then came along the wonderful pesticide, sucralose, which was discovered in 1976 by Shashikant Phadnis. He was a student working for the British sugar company and confused the word “testing” for “tasting.” While at King’s College, he tasted a rather sweet compound and hence comes along another new artificial sweetener. Sucralose as Splenda was first approved for oral use by the FDA in 1998.
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Great information Dr. Ramsey - thanks for sharing! Makes me think twice about grabbing a package of artificial sugar.
May 26, 2009 - 10:50amThis Comment
This is very helpful information, as I have an increased risk for diabetes, and thought by using stevia (Sweet Leaf) that this was "safe". After reading your article, I now understand that it is "safer" (emphasis on the "er"), and can use in small quantities. I didn't realize I was still triggering the preparation of insulin in my body...fascinating!
I have a few questions, if you have time:
May 26, 2009 - 1:04pm1. What qualifies as a "small quantity" for using stevia? Can one packet, used daily, be considered a small quantity, and therefore a non-issue as far as my "insulin triggering" goes?
2. Truvia: you said it contains another ingredient (eriythritol). What is this, exactly?
3. Flavored Stevia: Are these artificial flavors?
4. To bake with xylitoal, it is used just as regular sugar? What exactly is a sugar alcohol? (fermented sugar, I assume??) Is sugar alcohol safe?
Don't use Splenda at all!
I like to say sucralose, not Splenda, because that is what Splenda is. And it is in a lot of stuff Sadly, the package doesn't have to say Splenda, or diet, to have sucralose in it. You have to read labels. So, you might still be using it and don't even know it!
A lot of people, including myself, have gotten/are getting sick from it.
Many people don't get any symptoms at all
Sucralose is poison. It ruined five years of my life. I had a laundry list of medical problems while taking it. I went to several doctors. I had a dozen different tests. I was told that I had a number of different problems. I was on different medication for many years.
The slogan, "Made from sugar..." is very misleading. Splenda might be made from sugar, but it is far from sugar. The resulting chemical is a class of chemicals called organochloride. Organochlorides are typically poisonous.
carbon monoxide - made from oxygen so its like a breath of fresh air.
Check out what others are saying
http://www.foodanddiet.com/NewFiles/splenda-story-list.html
http://www.belicove.com/archives/beliblog/000651.html
http://splendasickness.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtwUfbKiWmY&ref=mf
Check out organochlorides
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Organochlorides
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Organochloride
Check out Duke University study
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18800291
More interesting Links
May 27, 2009 - 3:37amhttp://www.thepeopleschemist.com/view_learning.php?learning_id=14
http://jstevens.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/how-sucralose-aka-splenda-is-ma...
http://bumperstickers.cafepress.com/item/sucralose-made-me-sick-bumper-s...