Ok, I drink coffee every morning to get my caffine for my ECA stack. I use splenda as a sweetner.

I used a box of loose grains a week or so ago, but ran out. I bought a box of individual packets this morning. The consistency of the granuals is different. I took a look at the boxes.

For the loose granuals, the ingredients are: Maltodextrin, dextrose, sucralose.

For the individual packets, the ingredients are: Dextrose, Maltodextrin, sucralose.

Now, for both types the calories per serving is zero. Maybe my logic is flawed, but dextrose is a simple sugar with calories, maltodextrin is also a simple sugar with calories. When reading the ingredients for a product, they are listed in order of highest percentage. Not sure of why they are listed differently.

The Splenda website is not very technical other than to say that is it made from sugar. Gee, thanks.

Also, is there any information on the effect of splenda on insulin production?

I first used Splenda some time ago after reading an article about it in Wired magazine. It was really good. It had some crazy information about the product and how it worked. Try searching their site www.wired.com, and see what you come up with.

I think the gist of it is that Splenda (sucralose) is derived from other sugurs (i.e. dextrose, maltodextrin) by stripping an electron off of one side of the molecular chain and switching it to the other. Your body does not understand how to interpret this new form of sugar coming into your body, so it more or less just passes through.

I could be off, but if I remember right, this was pretty much the basis of it. The process for stripping that electron off I am not sure of, but I read on this forum somewhere that is it done with chlorine! Ick! Hope that isn't the case, cus that just seems gross.

Don't worry about the differences. Don't stress over splitting hairs. You'll do your body more harm by worrying about which Splenda you use than just using the product. Point being don't let little things stress you out when it isn't necessary. :tu: Stress elevates bp and releases cortisol and if you stress out like I do then that isn't good. I'm trying to get myself to not trip over little things. It's hard, but I'm working on it.

I use splenda as a sweetner.

For the loose granuals, the ingredients are: Maltodextrin, dextrose, sucralose.

For the individual packets, the ingredients are: Dextrose, Maltodextrin, sucralose.

Also, is there any information on the effect of splenda on insulin production?

Like Equal and Sweet and low, Splenda adds sugar as a filler product. The amounts adds up to less than 1 calorie, so they are allowed by law to say 0 calories. Splenda used in commerical products are in its natural liquid form and don't have added sugar.

Diabetics would see an increase in blood sugar if they consumed enough but a few packages a day, you couldn't see it.

For any of you guys using it in a recipe, the fillers add up. A cup of the stuff that comes in the bags is 96 calories. . . . Kinda crappy that the Splenda site doesn't mention that little bit.

I still use it because it is still way better than sugar and doesn't give me the crazies that the real stuff does.

I just picked a box up last night, with my first tub o' cottege cheese. I've got to say, even though 1/2 packet's enough for me, it really did the trick! I hate cottege cheese so much becuase of the texture and flavor - but I was able to get it down once I sweetened it up. I also tried it in my oatmeal this morning (another food that's always made me gag) and again, it was actually good. It also may be my shifting taste buds, but it's nice to be able to eat these healthier foods, thanks to this stuff.

It's defintely going in my Chai Tea here on out.

Good article about Splenda in the New York Times today -

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/22/business/22splenda.html

Sorry, free registration required.

They explain a tiny bit about how Splenda is made (It is with chlorine), about how Splenda in commercial products is handled by a different part of the business than splenda in packets, and how the whole "made with sugar" thing is really nothing more than a great and successful marketing slogan - the fact that sugar is involved in production doesn't really affect the quality of the product. The Splenda people deny ever claiming their product was safer, better, or more "natural" than their competitors'.

Also, there have been precisely zero independent health studies on Splenda, but I don't think that's much to worry about.

I just came across this post - very even in its evaluation, which was surprising.

http://www.wholefoods.com/healthinfo/sucralose.html

It also has some additional links at the end that may be of interest, such as a Japanese Government report.

A note on food labels- many times companies will add whatever is cheapest for them to buy/produce, and the label may change to reflect this. That's why sometimes you can get a coke made with sugar, and other times it's high fructose corn syrup.

I use Splenda in my tea. I find it to be remarkably similar to sugar. I've been noticing Splenda packets next to equal and Sweet N' Low in coffee shops, so I guess its catching on.

I think it would be best to ween one's self off of "sweet tasting" stuff altogether though. I gave up sugar in my coffee and never liked the taste of any artificial sweetener (even Splenda) in it, so I just drink it black now. Sometimes with cream, but I really like it black. I learned to like it black.

Cottage cheese? Now thats something I could never learn to like. :d_eek:

I don't know specifics, but I have read that all of the artificial sweetners made with sugar - tho they have no calories - still cause blood sugar to spike, which one can surmise might be telling the body to store fat if it isn't just after a workout.

Because of this reason, I use sweet 10, a sugar substitute that supposedly doesn't cause blood sugars to rise.

your body cannot digest splenda because the carbon atoms have been modified in such a way that they cannot be broken down and digested. therefor, zero effect on insulin