Nutrition and Physical Activity

Volunteer Splenda

In today's high stress world of nutrition, every decision one makes about feeding themselves and nourishing their body can come with much thought. If we are what we eat, than it makes a lot of sense to focus on this area and understand the true benefits a well balanced nutrition can offer. In attempting to find a replacement for sugar, some food companies have devised numerous replacements for this product for various reasons. The purpose of this essay is to investigate the product Splenda, an artificial sweetener. This examination will explore the history of the product, the safety issues associated with this product and Splenda's possible relation to the obesity epidemic that is appears to be occurring throughout the world.

Splenda is an artificial sweetener that is made by the British company Tate & Lyle, and Splenda's sales were as high as $206 million as recently as 2006. Splenda according to their website " is the commercial name for sucralose - a molecule discovered over 33 years ago that gives SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener Products their sweetness. Sucralose is made through a patented process that starts with sugar and changes it into a no-calorie, non-carbohydrate sweetener. The result is a sweetener that tastes like sugar, without any of sugar's calories.' In other words, it is manmade sugar that is designed to limit calorie intake within the diet.

Like many things that appear too good to be true, Splenda has fallen under this same type of skepticism. Some have accused Splenda as being a dangerous substance. Lewis (2008) claimed a "new study makes it clear that Splenda can cause you to gain weight and lose the benefits of medications designed to improve and protect your health." Other researchers have found that this product may cause cancer in mice. Rattue (2012) reported " According to earlier studies by Dr. Soffritti and team, approximately 3,000 rodents who were fed with aspartame, the most commonly used artificial sweetener, had a higher risk of developing certain types of cancer; the risk period was calculated from conception until death."