Artificial Sweeteners

[just bob]

I will post this in the hope that it might help someone else. For the last 3 -4 years I have had discomfort in my stomach. Not pain just feeling tightness and bloated. When it was at its worst there was a dull pain on my left side but nothing to cause alarm. I spoke with my Dr. about it and he suggested I get my colonoscopy which was due and if anything was there it would show up and so I did. The Dr. that did the scope said there was nothing there and nothing out of the ordinary and if there was anything at all out of order it was probably a mild case of diverticulitis and I should eat more roughage and go back to my family Dr. if it didn't improve. That was in the fall and you know what it did get better. I was doing that low carb thing and not eating much bread so I started eating bread everyday and I thought that was it.
This year the discomfort came back and was much worse than in the past. I felt like a balloon that was about to pop. No bad pain just the bloating and fullness. I don’t know why but one day I just started doing a mental process to determine for myself why this went away in the fall and came back in the next summer. Something was strange because my diet was the same and there were no other changes. Then it occurred to me that I drink iced tea in the summer and not at all in the winter. I buy it at Walmart and drink it like water because it is so convenient. When it is really hot I drink more than a gallon a week. Maybe this was the problem? Sure enough I looked at the label and saw sucralose (corrected from original post to avoid confusion) ) was the artificial sweetener in it. I then went to Google and looked up ill effect of sucralose and IBS, bloating, and fullness were at the top of the list. Apparently it eats away the good bacteria in your gut and causes a lot of problems. I quit drinking the tea and am on a diet without additives and preservatives trying to build up my good bacteria again. I’m also eating a lot of plain yogurt. It’s only been 5 days. I assume I still have inflammation? Amazing what a person can do without realizing they are causing harm. There are many other ill effects of sucralose. I’m surprised it doesn’t come with a warning label. I think DDT would have fewer side effects and cigarettes would be more healthful. A 12 year old kid could go into Walmart and buy a shopping cart full of tea and nary a word would be said. Let him try and buy cigarettes and the story changes in a hurry. I have many friends that drink a lot of diet pop and other diet drinks. I wonder if they're not suffering mild discomforts from their intake? Maybe it depends on the individual we all have slightly different make ups.

[XX Case XX]

I know quite a few people that use artificial sweeteners and have digestive issues and feeling bad all around. It stopped once they discontinued it. You're not the only one. I don't use it. I'd rather take my chances using real sugar if I need it.

On another note, why does the American Flag in your avatar only have 48 stars?

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Mike

[Mumbleypeg]

Glad you found the solution to your malady.

I drink about about a gallon of ice tea a day in the summer. But I quit putting sweetener in my tea when I was in college - couldn’t afford it. At first it was weird but after a couple of days I didn’t miss the sweet taste, and found the tea was more refreshing without it. Also use mostly decaf tea nowadays. Can’t tell the difference in taste. We brew it fresh every morning - never buy it pre-made, but I have seen unsweetened tea in gallon jugs at Walmart.

Ken

[rea1eye]

Are we talking sucrose - common table sugar we buy in 5 lb bags in grocery stores Made by plants

or

Sucralose - this is Splenda, an artificial sugar found in individual packets in restaurants for sweeting coffee/ tea?

Bob

[just bob]

I know quite a few people that use artificial sweeteners and have digestive issues and feeling bad all around. It stopped once they discontinued it. You're not the only one. I don't use it. I'd rather take my chances using real sugar if I need it.

On another note, why does the American Flag in your avatar only have 48 stars?

Honestly I didn't know it did. I just found it on line. Guess I'm really old school. Thanks for pointing that out.

___________
Mike

[just bob]

Are we talking sucrose - common table sugar we buy in 5 lb bags in grocery stores Made by plants

or

Sucralose - this is Splenda, an artificial sugar found in individual packets in restaurants for sweeting coffee/ tea?

Bob

You are right. I just went and looked and it is sucralose. My bad.


https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/su ... ood-or-bad