The Lethal Science of Splenda

UPDATE: 1/20/10  Truvia complaints  

UPDATE: 1/13/10
Not only is Splenda a risk to the health of people who use it, it seems as if it is a health risk to everyone because it is not cleared by water treatment systems. Note, however, that *the science proves that sucralose is broken down in the human body* and this is not reported by the writer in the article that follows.

That Splenda you're drinking will be in our water supply for awhile
By Laura Vanderkam

WASHINGTON, D.C.—People like sucralose—the artificial sweetener marketed as Splenda—because the human body *can’t break it down* and use it. That means the substance has almost no calories and makes it a popular ingredient in everything from cookies to diet sodas. Unfortunately, it turns out that modern wastewater treatment methods don’t break down Splenda either.

That, according to Smitha Ramakrishna, 17, one of 40 finalists in the 2009 Intel Science Talent Search who’ve gathered in Washington, DC, for the final judging rounds this week, means that the sweetener can accumulate in the water supply after people excrete it, potentially harming fish and other living things.

Ramakrishna, a senior at Corona del Sol High School in Chandler, Arizona, first became interested in water issues on a trip to India when she was 12. Her parents took her to an orphanage. She was appalled by the poverty—the lack of tables and chairs for eating, for instance—but what struck her most is that these children didn’t even have access to clean water. In Arizona, despite an ongoing drought, “you turn on the tap and it’s there,” she says. “You take it for granted.”

She came home and, despite her tender years, started an organization called AWAKE, dedicated to water conservation and education. Over the years, AWAKE has helped 3,000 kids in India gain access to clean water through reverse osmosis projects and rainwater harvesting systems.

By high school, however, Ramakrishna decided she wanted to focus more on the science of clean water, and less on the policy. She tried to start doing research at Arizona State University, though since she was the first high schooler her lab had ever had—and she was under age 16—this caused much controversy. “It’s almost child labor,” she says, laughing, explaining the problem. The case went all the way up to the university president’s office. But eventually she was allowed to subject sucralose to various treatments, like bacterial digestion, typically used in wastewater treatment plants. She found that sucralose resisted most of these treatments, and was only broken down into biodegradable molecules with extensive time and concentration of titanium oxide and ultraviolet light. Since few plants use these methods, that means almost all the sucralose people eat or drink winds up in the ecosystem.

It’s too soon yet to say what that will cause. Preliminary studies, Ramakrishna says, suggests that sucralose might poison fish in large enough concentrations. She plans to study this question more in college, potentially at A.S.U., where she continues to work—as do more than 10 high school students, now that she’s broken the barrier. “It’s opened a whole new door,” she says.

Originally posted 12/16/09 (2/52,000 in AOL search): Studies have shown that sucralose can:

* Cause the thymus to shrink by as much as 40% (the thymus is your immune powerhouse - it produces T cells)

* Cause enlargement of the liver and kidneys

* Reduce growth rate as much as 20%

* Cause enlargement of the large bowel area

* Reduce the amount of good bacteria in the intestines by 50%

* Increase the pH level in the intestines (a risk factor for colon cancer)

* Contribute to weight gain

* Cause aborted pregnancy low fetal body weight

* Reduce red blood cell count

Particular warning to diabetics: Researchers found that diabetic patients using sucralose showed a statistically significant increase in glycosylated hemoglobin, a marker that is used to assess glycemic control in diabetic patients. According to the FDA, sucralose "increases in glycosolation in hemoglobin imply lessening of control of diabetes."

Here's a quote from another article - Among the results in the study by Drs. Mohamed B. Abou-Donia, Eman M. El-Masry, Ali A. Abdel-Rahman, Roger E. McLendon and Susan S. Schiffman is evidence that, in the animals studied, Splenda reduces the amount of good bacteria in the intestines by 50%, increases the pH level in the intestines, contributes to increases in body weight and affects the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in the body in such a way that crucial health-related drugs could be rejected. Turner noted that the P-gp effect "could result in crucial medications used in chemotherapy for cancer patients, AIDS treatment and drugs for heart conditions being shunted back into the intestines rather than being absorbed by the body as intended."

Even limited use of diet soda is known to damage kidney function

"Two or more servings per day of artificially sweetened soda and faster kidney function decline; no relation between sugar-sweetened beverages and kidney function decline was noted.” Moreover, this association persisted even when the researchers accounted for age, obesity, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, physical activity, calorie intake, diabetes and cigarette smoking. Clearly, artificially sweetened sodas are detrimental to kidney health."

Other studies have shown it is linked to cancer and has led to kidney calcification.

There are 35 articles with important information about sucralose and aspartame as well as toxicity of new so-called "natural" sweeteners you can read in Natural Health News.

We suggest using safe sweeteners like "Just Like Sugar".  For more information look for their logo in the right hand column of our BLOG.  Pure extract of stevia is also safe, and can be ordered from us.  You must make sure that any stevia product you purchase is pure, not combined with other harmful ingredients.

And from 2006 -

KOMO TV - Seattle, Herb Weisbaum, Published April 9, 2006

SEATTLE - An investigation by the Environmental Working Group, a well-respected consumer organization, finds high levels of benzene contamination in diet soda.

Benzene is a known cancer causer, something you do not want in your food.

The EWG based its report on data collected by the Food and Drug Administration from 1995 through 2001. It showed that 79 percent of the diet soda samples tested during this six-year period "were contaminated with benzene at levels above the federal limit for benzene in tap water."

The average benzene level found in the diet soda was 19 parts per billion, nearly 4 times higher than the tap water standard which is 5 parts per billion. No brands were identified by the FDA, so I can't tell you which pop they tested.

The Environmental Working Group is not suggesting people stop drinking soft drinks. It does want the FDA to make its test reports public and to take action when manufacturers violate the established safety standards.

The EWG did criticize the FDA for making statements that the benzene levels it found were "insignificant" and "do not suggest a safety concern."

The consumer group says benzene is more likely to be formed when soda pop is stored at warm temperatures for long periods of time.

Read more...