By: Therlos Netto
Submitted: 2011-01-14 11:36:21 | Word Count: 870
As people have confirmed over the years, ingesting a lot of sugar brings a lot of negative effects, not the least of which are diabetes and obesity. Splenda is one of the artificial sweeteners that have been made to serve as an alternative for sugar, and it is also the most popular one in the market.
Splenda is made up of sucralose, which is primarily composed of glucose and maltodextrine. A lot of people consider this to be the best glucose alternative. It provides sweetness without carrying calories, so it can make food flavorous without causing the calories to go to your hips or cause any health problems due to overeating. It also does not cause any surges in insulin, which is welcome news for diabetics who are wary about anything that could affect their blood sugar levels.
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However, there are also people who claim that there are Splenda side effects that go with its advantages. One of the controversies surrounding Splenda dates back to its origins. The artificial sweetener is actually not made from sugar, as it claims, but actually a synthetic compound. Sucralose was actually discovered when scientists were experimenting on chemicals to create a new pesticide, and one of its components is chlorine. While this chemical has been added to food or beverages without causing any harm to people, too much chlorine in your system can be toxic. This problem becomes worrying with the fact that the healthier your intestines are, the more sucralose your body absorbs, so those who have fine gastrointestinal organs will end up taking in even more of the chlorine in their systems.
There are also people who have experienced adverse effects within a day of ingesting Splenda. popular side effects are rashes, headaches, joint pains, clogged nose, breathing problems, and stomach pain. Even more alarming, there are also some who actually experience heart problems , vomiting, worry, and depression. These are just the short-term effects. Unfortunately, there have been no extensive studies on the long-term Splenda side effects, so people remain clueless on what will happen to their bodies should they ingest this artificial sweetener for an extended period of time. There have also been some animal testing done that showed that Splenda causes damage on test rat's livers, kidneys, and thymus glands, and that's only when they ingested it short-term.
While it can be said that the negative effects of Splenda are only experienced by those who are sensitive to artificial sweeteners, availing of it is ultimately your decision.
