phoney yumminess

[stePH]

So what do y'all think of artificial sweeteners?  What's your preferred?

I've had years to accustom myself to drinking diet sodas, but my unrefined palate can't tell the difference between Sweet & Low, Equal, or Splenda.

[Heradel]

Something tells me you had the topic before you had the content.

I can't stand them. Plus, there was a study a little back that said they make you more prone to gaining weight than regular sugar, so I guess I don't trust them either.

[Chodon]

My wife can sense if there is splenda in the room with her...and she hates it.  I can kind of pick up a strange aftertaste with splenda.  I eat anything placed directly in front of me though, so it doesn't bother me too much.

[stePH]

Something tells me you had the topic before you had the content.

  Why do you say that?

I can't stand them. Plus, there was a study a little back that said they make you more prone to gaining weight than regular sugar, so I guess I don't trust them either.

I thought that was because one tends to make up the calories one would have had in the drink by having more food.  I don't think I do that; I just quit drinking regular sodas when I realized how many extra calories they contain.  Now I don't drink empty calories unless there's alcohol.

[Bdoomed]

Rofl! Love the topic name. Personally I hate diet sodas and artificial sweeteners. I can taste the difference all too well, and I can't stand it

[Ocicat]

My preference: sugar or honey.

I'm sure they are both better for you than the artificial stuff on many, many levels...

[birdless]

Aside from strongly disliking the aftertaste of artificial sweeteners, I just have an inherent distrust of them (left over from back when they were part of a source of cancer scare... was that ever disproved?).

[Darwinist]

Aside from strongly disliking the aftertaste of artificial sweeteners, I just have an inherent distrust of them (left over from back when they were part of a source of cancer scare... was that ever disproved?).

I don't know for sure, but I thought I read something like you would have to drink a crazy amount every day (ie. 30 cans of Diet Pepsi) for it to be a health risk.

There's a guy where I work that weights 3 bills and pounds down 5 cans of Coke a day and tells me that I'm going to die of cancer at a young age because I have a couple cans of Diet Pepsi in the afternoon.  Gotta have my Phenylalanine.   

[Russell Nash]

I switched over to all of the diet stuff, because the regular is far sweeter in Germany than in the US.  The Diet Coke (known as Coke Light, but now there is also Coke Zero) tastes more like real American Coke than the German Coke does. 

Recently I've been trying to recognize the things I eat as food.  When you read the side of a soda bottle, you get lost after carbonated water.  And of course carbonated water is made from adding carbolic acid to water.  So I just started drinking plain water. 

The water in Berlin is well-known for it's quality and recently tested better than almost every bottled water available in town.  It was only beaten by the local water company.

[Chodon]

I switched over to all of the diet stuff, because the regular is far sweeter in Germany than in the US.

And they say globalization is ruining local cultures.  Bah!

[Russell Nash]

I switched over to all of the diet stuff, because the regular is far sweeter in Germany than in the US.

And they say globalization is ruining local cultures.  Bah!

The stuff in London was like syrup it was so sweet.

[birdless]

Is that related to the English dental problem stereotype?

[Russell Nash]

I switched over to all of the diet stuff, because the regular is far sweeter in Germany than in the US.

And they say globalization is ruining local cultures.  Bah!

The stuff in London was like syrup it was so sweet.

Is that related to the English dental problem stereotype?

From what I saw on the tube I wouldn't call it an unjustified stereotype.

[Roney]

The stuff in London was like syrup it was so sweet.

Is that related to the English dental problem stereotype?

From what I saw on the tube I wouldn't call it an unjustified stereotype.

Why do you think my avatar has its mouth so tightly shut? 

[wintermute]

Bear in mind that "sugar" in the US is generally not actually sugar but High Fructose Corn Syrup, which tastes almost (but not quite) as bad as artificial sweeteners, and has been linked to increased obesity rate far more strongly than cane- or beet sugar.

Between huge tariffs on imported sugar (intended to protect the two guys in Florida who grow sugar cane domestically), and the subsidy on corn, HFCS becomes much cheaper than sugar, despite being far more labour-intensive.

This is what happens when you let politics get in the way of deliciousness.

For similar thoughts about trans-fats, see here.

[stePH]

Bear in mind that "sugar" in the US is generally not actually sugar but High Fructose Corn Syrup, which tastes almost (but not quite) as bad as artificial sweeteners, and has been linked to increased obesity rate far more strongly than cane- or beet sugar.

My wife and I have resolved to eliminate HFCS from our diet, so we do a lot more label-reading these days than we used to.  That shit is in almost everything!  Even stuff that no reasonable person would expect to find it in.

[wintermute]

Bear in mind that "sugar" in the US is generally not actually sugar but High Fructose Corn Syrup, which tastes almost (but not quite) as bad as artificial sweeteners, and has been linked to increased obesity rate far more strongly than cane- or beet sugar.

My wife and I have resolved to eliminate HFCS from our diet, so we do a lot more label-reading these days than we used to.  That shit is in almost everything!  Even stuff that no reasonable person would expect to find it in.

Word.

Fortunately, I live moderately close to one of America's finest international markets, so it's not too difficult for us to buy food from countries where the economics aren't so screwed up. Between that, and buying fresh food at local farms, it's difficult to get too concerned about HFCS any more

[Heradel]

Hopefully the rise in corn prices will start making HFCS a little less economical.

[Chodon]

My wife and I have resolved to eliminate HFCS from our diet, so we do a lot more label-reading these days than we used to.  That shit is in almost everything!  Even stuff that no reasonable person would expect to find it in.

My father-in-law was diagnosed with an allergy to corn and potatoes.  He's pretty much SOL when it comes to finding stuff to eat.  He eats a lot of chicken and vegetables now.  Poor guy.

[stePH]

Fortunately, I live moderately close to one of America's finest international markets, so it's not too difficult for us to buy food from countries where the economics aren't so screwed up. Between that, and buying fresh food at local farms, it's difficult to get too concerned about HFCS any more

We buy most of our food from Trader Joe's and New Seasons, as well as produce from the local farmers' market in Portland.  I've never heard of Jungle Jim's before now.

Oh, and KRAFT has recently eliminated the crap from their salad dressings.  My wife likes to think it's due to her feedback in surveys (she does lots of surveys).

My father-in-law was diagnosed with an allergy to corn and potatoes.  He's pretty much SOL when it comes to finding stuff to eat.  He eats a lot of chicken and vegetables now.  Poor guy.

I have a part-time coworker who is allergic to sugar and wheat.

[Planish]

My son has been experimenting a bit with stevia. It's pretty potent stuff, and the bottle I bought for him came with this teeny little spoon.

Something you must not ever do is lick your finger, dip it into the powder, and then lick your finger to see how it tastes. I don't know which was a worse experience - tasting too much stevia, or biting into an Ibuprofen capsule.

When I tried it in coffee, it was ...okay. Marginally better than aspartame, which upsets my stomach.

[Thaurismunths]

Artificial sweeteners are Teh Devil.
Web MD pretty much regurgitates the Purdue article about the study done by their researchers. In short "artificial sweeteners may disrupt the body's natural ability to "count" calories based on foods' sweetness."

Aside from strongly disliking the aftertaste of artificial sweeteners, I just have an inherent distrust of them (left over from back when they were part of a source of cancer scare... was that ever disproved?).

That depends on the sweetener.
Saccharin (cancer.org)
"Because the bladder tumors seen in rats are due to a mechanism not relevant to humans, and because there is no clear evidence that saccharin causes cancer in humans, saccharin was delisted in 2000 from the U.S. National Toxicology Program's Report on Carcinogens"

Aspartame (cancer.org)
"...a laboratory experiment found more lymphomas and leukemias in rats fed very high doses of aspartame (equivalent to drinking 8 to 2,083 cans of diet soda daily) (1) . However, there were some inconsistencies in the findings. For example, the cancers found in the treated rats were not specific to aspartame, and the number of cancer cases did not rise with increasing amounts of aspartame as would be expected."

The results on more artificial sweeteners listed on the Cancer.gov website.

[birdless]

The results on more artificial sweeteners listed on the Cancer.gov website.

Thanks, Thaur. I'm gonna have to check that out.

[stePH]

The HFCS apologists are launching an offensive.  Last night I saw the "two bites" commercial and threw up in my mouth a little.  Then I went to the web address given in the ad: www.sweetsurprise.com

[wintermute]

The HFCS apologists are launching an offensive.  Last night I saw the "two bites" commercial and threw up in my mouth a little.  Then I went to the web address given in the ad: www.sweetsurprise.com

Question three in their "Sweetsmarts" quiz is an out and out lie. They say that the FDA considers HFCS to be a natural ingredient, and yet 7-Up were spanked quite soundly by the FDA and USDA for claiming that their new recipe was "all natural". They quickly changed it to "no artificial colours or sweeteners".

Part of the story is here. I'm going to see if I can find more...