Sweeteners!! Artificial sugar aka sweeteners make me so ill - help meeee!

[shirlanz]

My goal in life was to walk or waddle as I have cerebral palsy which effects how I walk, after breaking a hip, this was the first time in 51 years I had ever broken anything, wow it scared me, I had gotten used to the idea of bouncing every time I fell, and how embarrassing on carpet as well, but I realised I have to loose this extra weight that I gained in hospital, puddings, puddings three times a day and for 8 weeks!! wow, I had no clothes that fitted me, not only couldn't I walk, and was totally housebound dependant on carers, seeing to the most basic every day needs that most people take for granted, so I needed help ,I hated diets mainly because I have bad eating habits, comfort eating to ease pain, hmm not good, so one of my lovely carers mentioned she was on slimming world, well I couldn't go anywhere so she said she would just do the basics weigh and measure me, and give me tips, re: sins? oh syns. First shop I thought would be fun as the types of food one could eat were vast, but I hit a big massive snag, I am violently allergic to all kinds of artificial sweeteners. When you are on a diet oh use Müller yogurts awesome, got them delivered only to find SWEETENER so my friend gained ten yogurts I managed to find all sorts of low fat ones without the evil sweetener if I was to try one with sweetener in I would have a five day migraine and sickness - so not worth it, so desserts all low fat recipes in slimming world say add sweetener, so am asking so I can bake or have a something that is slightly sweet other than yogurts, what can I use instead of sugar and I have tried all artificial sugars all have same affect. I would just love a recipe for a cake or dessert that normally SW says sweetener that wont bury me in a weeks SYNS....thanks x

 

[EmmaJH90]

Have you tried stevia? It's a natural sweetener. I avoid artificial sweeteners like aspartame (given that it is ant poison) but stevia is made from plants. Maybe you could use it for baking?

 

[strawberryshortcake]

I've tried stevia and find it good, but haven't tried baking with it...some people say it has a bitter aftertaste but i can't taste it...they also mentioned, the more often you use it, the less you can taste the aftertaste...might be worth a try...i found lots if recipes online using stevia!!!

 

[EmmaJH90]

I don't think it's bitter either, not half as bitter as artificial sweeteners anyway!

 

[shirlanz]

thank you for your suggestion taking time to get back to me very much appreciated I will get some stevia and see if it attacks me, if it does well back to bananas, frozen yogurt, and research there is a sugar out there for me that is low in calories and isn't lethal to ants (didn't know that, thank you, you learn something every day).

 

[EmmaJH90]

Another artificial sweetener, can't remember which one, is actually made from the top layer off tarmac. So yeah, even if you're not allergic it's worth avoiding them!

Stevia *should* be okay for you as long as the one you buy doesn't have any other sweeteners added to it, as stevia itself is 100% natural. There's an interesting episode of Food Unwrapped all about it which may still be on 4od if you wanted to know more. Good luck and let me know how you get on

 

[AnnaFaraday]

You all might find this interesting:

snopes.com: Was Aspartame Invented As an Ant Poison?

 

[EmmaJH90]

You all might find this interesting:

snopes.com: Was Aspartame Invented As an Ant Poison?

Whilst it may not have been invented as one, the following quote taken from that article is enough to make me avoid it:

"Aspertame is neuropoison. It most likely kills the ants by interferring with their nervous system."

 

[SallyVater]

I'm not a fan of sweeteners really, not because I think they're dreadful poisons but because I think there is some evidence to suggest that they interfere with our insulin production which can actually cause us to eat MORE in order to balance that out. Also they taste pretty rubbish.

A tsp of sugar is only 1 syn, as is honey. Honey is great in tea and coffee and drizzled over greek yogurt.

 

[DollyGirl92]

Also if you'd like to save 1/2 a syn on honey, try agave nectar (the groovy foods one is what I use, 1/2 syn a teaspoon) it tastes really similar and is half the syns! I also second trying Stevia though, in my experience for baking, cooking and consuming, the Truvia brand is the best one to go for as it's more like sugar in pretty much every way, none of that powdery stuff like most sweeteners.

 

[SallyVater]

I use agave nectar as well, oh and the Sweet Freedom syrup is excellent as well.

 

[AnnaFaraday]

Whilst it may not have been invented as one, the following quote taken from that article is enough to make me avoid it:

"Aspertame is neuropoison. It most likely kills the ants by interferring with their nervous system."

That quote does not come from the article itself, but from the widely-circulated email that Snopes is refuting.

There is some evidence to suggest that Aspartame is not good for you, but none that I can find that says that it is a "neuropoison" (no such word) or that it kills ants or any other creature. Lots of stuff online which says that it is true, but no evidence.

 

[EmmaJH90]

That quote does not come from the article itself, but from the widely-circulated email that Snopes is refuting.

There is some evidence to suggest that Aspartame is not good for you, but none that I can find that says that it is a "neuropoison" (no such word) or that it kills ants or any other creature. Lots of stuff online which says that it is true, but no evidence.

Ah I see, sorry I'd misread it.

Either way, there's a lot of varying opinions for and against aspartame. One of which being that it would be very inconvenient to a lot of big companies (e.g. Coca Cola), if it was found to be unsafe...

As other people have said, I'd rather use up a syn on a tsp of sugar or use stevia than add more and more chemicals to my diet.

 

[gazter]

Ah I see, sorry I'd misread it.

Either way, there's a lot of varying opinions for and against aspartame. One of which being that it would be very inconvenient to a lot of big companies (e.g. Coca Cola), if it was found to be unsafe...

As other people have said, I'd rather use up a syn on a tsp of sugar or use stevia than add more and more chemicals to my diet.

Its ultimate in pseudo hoax health scares. There isnt a shred of evidence that aspartame is bad for humans within the recommended maximums not a single shred. It has been investigated repeatedly by both US and EU food and drug experts. But still there is a almost a pathological obsession by some organisations to label it as harmful. Every now and then some influential organisation persuades a new nation or supranational body that aspartame is now unsafe and warrants immediate investigation.

It then gets investigated and is again found to be safe. And then a new scare comes along, and again they are investigated.

The sheer amount of foods and drinks that have aspartame, which has been regularly consumed for thirty years, means that any correlations with health problems would be pretty observable.

Science is *never* settled, and new evidence might come out to show otherwise, but currently, aspartame is as safe to consume in its recommended dosages as is any other food or drink.

PS. There are a number of people who have difficulty breaking down aspartame and it creates a build up. Those people are best avoiding it.

 

[shirlanz]

Thank you for all your pros and cons, I have no option but avoiding them each and everyone of them including stevia which made me just as Ill, and what was disappointing was that I was so exited at the thought of finally able to eat and bake with a less fattening sweetness. I also live in hope my waistline decreases before my brain dies from sweetener. This article was written by migraine.com 2011.

Migraine Triggers: Artificial Sweetener
By The Migraine Girl—July 12, 2011When I was younger, I, like most kids, loved to chew gum. My parents hardly ever let us buy the super-sugary Bubbalicious, but once in awhile we’d either sneak it or get special permission.
Now the mere thought of chewing that makes me want to gag, but at the time it was such a treat.
My mom rarely chewed gum, especially any of the then-new “lite” types that contained less sugar and more NutraSweet (aspartame). She said she thought the Nutrasweet gave her a headache, and I believed her. Luckily I didn’t feel the same way.
That is, until I became a migraineur in seventh grade or so and found that I had the same intolerance. Luckily for me, I wasn’t a big fan of chewing gum by then and couldn’t stand the taste of diet soda, so I was usually in the clear. But sometimes this trigger sneaks up on me even when I am very careful of how I eat.
I remember getting off the subway one night—this is when I lived in New York—and running to the drug store to get some drinks and snacks to fuel me during my all-nighter. (I’m famous for waiting til the last minute to do work.) This was when a major-brand vitamin juice drink was new on the scene and I was kind of obsessed. Not too many places carried the product then, so I grabbed what I thought was a good substitute and went to the checkout.
On the way to my apartment, I cracked open the vitamin-infused drink and took a long swig. Within a half-second I realized my mistake. The back of my tongue nearly ached with the artificial sweet tang of sugar substitute. I looked on the bottle, and there was the culprit: Sucralose. I tried to drink a ton of water and hoped that rinsing my mouth out would help diminish this notorious trigger’s effect. Unfortunately, it was too late. Within the hour, I was down for the count, smushed under my covers with a pounding, nauseating migraine that made it impossible to work on my paper.
You can bet I no longer assume any food or drink is on the safe list—I always, always check the ingredients list for any of those dangerous words: aspartame, NutraSweet, sucralose, Splenda, MSG (monosodium glutamate), “natural flavors” (which MSG is often masked as), and more.
For those of you who have artificial sweeteners on your list of major migraine triggers: have any unpleasant surprise stories to share? Any times you ingested this by mistake and paid the price.