Are There Splenda Health Risks You Should Know About?
Eating sweet things is one of the great loves of life. It is loved so much, in fact, that many of us enjoy eating these high density caloric foods a little too often. A reasonable compromise would seem to be replace the sugars out of these good foods with something that still keeps them sweet, but eliminates the risks that too much sugar can bring – sweeteners like Splenda. Could there be Splenda health risks that would make eating it worse than eating sugar?
Splenda Is Actually Sucralose!
Splenda is one of the brand names for the artificial sweetener Sucralose. This year, a non-profit watch group for foods downgraded the safety of this additive from “Safe” to “Caution” because of recent research that has come out about the product. It has been advised that people avoid Splenda until more research can be done on the artificial sweetener because in health studies on animals, some severe health consequences have developed through the consistent consumption of Sucralose.
In one Italian study in particular, rodents that were fed a consistent diet of Sucralose developed fast growing, precancerous tumors that were very disfiguring in nature. Researchers believe that this occurs because Sucralose changes how the body digests food. Instead of being able to communicate what has been consumed, it is unable to absorb food properly. This causes it to convert food into fat more readily.
Splenda Causes Artificial Hunger Too
One of the hidden Splenda health risks has actually been known for almost three decades! Artificial sweeteners have the ability to cause false hunger pains, means that people will think they are hungry when they really don’t need to eat. This causes a stimulated eating response, more calories to be consumed, and ultimately health risks for heart disease, obesity, and even diabetes.
Artificial sweeteners also encourage some people to eat more simply because they feel like they have more calories available to them to eat. Though sugars do contain calories, the overall caloric savings in just one serving of Splenda compared to one serving of sugar is just 16 calories!
There are also concerns that one of the Splenda health risks could be cancer. This is a controversial conclusion, however, as there is also a strong possibility that cancer can develop in animals simply because of age-related factors, just as it can happen in humans. Though not proven, several research studies have cautioned there may be a link.
Is Consuming Splenda the Right Choice For You?
There are Splenda health risks that much is for certain. Is it the right choice for you? For some people consuming Splenda may hold greater benefits than risks, especially those with insulin or metabolism issues related to sugar consumption. For others, Splenda may not be the right choice. That’s the reason why there is a “Caution” label on the consumption of this additive. It is listed as being safe, but it might not be safe.
Making the final decision is up to you.
