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That's
right, Splenda overtook aspartame
quite some time ago, because it preserves its sweetness when it is
heated, making it more flexible, and a popular baking ingredient. But
it also makes it a big topic of controversy...
The main ingredient of Splenda is sucralose,
a substance that was accidentally discovered in the 1970's when
scientists were looking
for a new pesticide. Sucralose is made by adding small
amounts of chlorine
to regular sugar, making it approximately 600 times sweeter than
sucrose.
To
counter that figure, often bulking agents are added to the sucralose to
balance out its sweetness. The Splenda sweetener can be found in a
large array of products like candy and sodas, and large chains such as
McDonald's and Starbucks, who offer it to their customers in packet
form to sweeten coffee.
People suffering from Splenda side effects often complain about
headaches and migraines. But the symptoms go as far as stomach aches
and gastrointestinal problems, skin rash, dizziness, panic attacks and
many more. Does that remind you of another artificial sweetener we
talked about?
 Studies
on small rodents have demonstrated premature withering of the thymus,
an organ responsible for healthy growth and development of the immune
system in children. After puberty, our thymus naturally shrivels
because the natural defence system is strong enough to maintain itself.
But what happens when you take away the training wheels of your body
too soon?
The biggest problem is that - like aspartame - Splenda can be found in
so many different products nowadays, that it's easy to surpass the
suggested daily intake without even realizing it. The first victims are
always smaller groups of people who are sensitive to the chemicals. But
as Splenda's product count rises, so does the amount of people
experiencing severe discomfort from consuming sucralose.
As
with all artificial sweeteners, it's difficult to pin the blame on them
for negative side effects in the long run. This is partly because
Splenda hasn't been around for very long, so there simply wasn't enough
time to conduct long-term studies. The FDA's approval of the sweetener
seems rushed, to say the least.
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