Long Term Effects of Splenda?

Sara, is there a university near you that has a Dietetics or Nutrition program?  If so try and get a dialogue started with the head of that department by email or by phone.  She/he would have access to all the latest publications and research regarding Splenda and other artificial sweetners.
 
Sorry I can't be much of a help here.  Splenda was still in its trial stages when I went to school.

If you visit [linkhttp://www.mercola.com]www.mercola.com[/link] and do a search on Splenda, there will be a lot of information about it.  Dr. Mercola is an osteopath who practices in my area and he is very opinionated about artificial sweeteners.  While Splenda isn't as bad as aspartame, it's important to be fully informed. 
 
How about trying one of the natural sweeteners, like Stevia?  It comes from a root and can be found in most vitamin or health food stores. You only need a tiny, tiny amount to sweeten drinks. 

Does anyone think I am making a mountain out of a molehill? I am concerned about what the Splenda may be causing, especially if he uses it for many years.

 
Sara:
 
I agree with you, I also share your concerns.  Just a few years ago the other types of artificial sweetners were perfectly safe, etc.  I just wonder how long it will take them to discover something is wrong with Splenda.  I also agree that it doesn't taste like sugar at all.
 
Sorry I can't provide more insight or help.

So tough....anything your are likely to read will be skewed one way or the other. If you would like to know what it is exactly and how it's made this article is okay....she does NOT like the product so take it with a grain of...salt...lol. I know diabetics don't have many options and that's just so hard to deal with I'd wager...esp with Splenda being relatively new...
[linkhttp://www.janethull.com/newsletter/0704/splenda-here-we-go-again.php]http://www.janethull.com/newsletter/0704/splenda-here-we-go-again.php[/link]

I Googled it and here are a few interesting links and excerpts for you:
 
From:  Sucralose Toxicity Information Center
 
"Conclusion - While it is unlikely that sucralose is as toxic as the poisoning people are experiencing from Monsanto's [linkhttp://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame]aspartame[/link], it is clear from the hazards seen in pre-approval research and from its chemical structure that years or decades of use may contribute to serious chronic immunological or neurological disorders"
 
From: Sugar substitutes and the potential danger of Splenda
 
"Observational evidence shows that there are side effects of Splenda, including skin rashes/flushing, panic-like agitation, dizziness and numbness, diarrhea, muscle aches, headaches, intestinal cramping, bladder issues, and stomach pain. These show up at one end of the spectrum — in the people who have an allergy or sensitivity to the sucralose molecule. But no one can say to what degree consuming Splenda affects the rest of us."
 
From: Truth About Splenda.com
 
Fiction: Splenda has been thoroughly tested.
Fact: There has not been a single long-term human study to determine the potential health effects of Splenda on people. The FDA relied on a few short-term tests when it reviewed the safety of Splenda for human consumption. Worse, these human tests were all conducted by the manufacturer of Splenda, hardly an unbiased source. The vast majority of tests reviewed by the FDA to determine whether Splenda was safe for human consumption were conducted on animals, including rats and rabbits.
 
My personal recommendation from someone who's best friend is a diabetic - ween him off the taste for sugar completely.  Splenda probably has it's place in doing that. Good luck!

Does anyone think I am making a mountain out of a molehill? I am concerned about what the Splenda may be causing, especially if he uses it for many years.

There always seems to be alot of concern about artifical or "man made" anything mostly for good reason, but splenda has been around for quite a while now.  It actually is the sweetener we reccommend in the medical community because of it's safety profile.  My dad and his brother are diabetic too and have perfect control of their sugars with minimal medications and aggressive diet control.  We use a lot of splenda in my house as well as low carb pasta, breads, substitutions (like mashed turnips instead of mashed potato).  My mom is the carb natzi!!!  Juvenile DM is especially hard because kids can't see the problems that develop from sub-optimal glucose control.  The best thing you can do is limit as much as possible and use the artificial sweeteners sparingly to keep things as close to normal as possible.  There has been some good literature about children and DM with regards to motivation in keeping their sugars under control.  They all point to the same thing, keeping your routine as close to "normal" with substitutions like I mentioned is the best way to encourage a child to avoid those "naughty" simple sugars and not sabotage your efforts to keep them healthy.  You seem like a motivated and good mother, I'm sure you will figure out a happy medium.  If splenda was evil, I'd probably be dead as I consume so much of it for the above reasons.  If you would like any more ideas for substitutions I'd be happy to share them if you PM me.  My mom always makes two dinners these days, the same thing, but one for dad with all the substitutions and one for us( We'd all eat them but they are a little more expensive, the low carb stuff I mean so dad gets the special food).

Encheladas with low carb tortillas
Turnips mashed instead of potatos
Sweet potato cassorole with splenda brown sugar topping
The ideas are endless and they taste awesome too. 

Splenda scares me because it's made by basically replacing most of the sugar molecule with chlorine. We know chlorine can have harmful effects, and yet Splenda is supposedly perfectly fine (I also have this issue with our drinking and bathing water being chlorinated).
 
The FDA's "acceptable daily intake" of sucralose is 9 mg/kg per day. A packet has 12 mg of pure sucralose. For a 30 pound kid (no idea how big Deacon is, I'm just giving an example), that's 10 packets per day. If you're feeding him drinks sweetened with Splenda, I'd think it'd be really easy to exceed that amount.
 
Xylitol might be something to look into for him. It's a naturally occuring sugar alcohol, with no "effective" carbs, and supposedly it's really good for teeth. There's two problems with it though. One, it's extremely poisonous to dogs, and two, large amounts can have a laxative effect.
 
I'm not trying to tell you not to give your kid Splenda, I'm just putting this out there. I understand how difficult it can be to limit sugar. Suddenly everything you look at has huge amounts of sugar, things you would have never expected to have much. It's tough.

Well none of it is really going to be good.  I do remember reading a long time ago that Splenda was causing issues in childrens concentration among other things.  The article went over all the artificial sweeteners and basically said the best bet is the old pink sweet and low (Saccarine).  Its been around the longest and has had more studies than the others and is found at this time to be one of the least dangerous. 
 
That was just an article I read a long time ago when it was on Yahoo's homepage.  I dont think any of them are good, nor do I seem to care.  Im not going to drink regular drinks or only water so I get my fair share of all of them.  I choose the saccarine when I have the choice for coffee and things like that.
 
 

I must have an allergy to artificial sweeteners.  Just a piece of gum can give me a head ache for hours.  I always said if I ever came down with diabetes I would be in big trouble because the stuff makes me so sick.  Good luck to you and your family.  BTW, tell your friend if stress causes diabetes the whole dam world would have it.  People just say the dumbest things.   

I have done my research on Splenda and the other artificial sweeteners. It seems impossible to distinguish what is myth and what is fact. Besides how they are created of course. I am trying to stay away from the sugar-free stuff as much as possible. It is possible for Deacon to eat without having to consume the sugar free items in the store. Yes, there are so many things that have tons more sugar than they used to. I have done my best to keep as much processed foods out of our house as much as possible. Having to buy kool-aid and splenda has been something to get used to. My other sons still have 100% juice. We just have separate pitchers now.

I have bought some Stevia to try but it has a bitter aftertaste to it. I am considering trying xylitol next. There is also Agave syrup. I am so concerned about Deacon consuming Splenda at this early age and for who knows how long.

One of the best things that has come out of this, is that we are eating healthier. I do not make 2 different meals. We all eat the same thing. I have to cook for 6 people. I made it clear long ago that I am not a short order cook. I have even gotten everyone to eat eggplant parmesan. With Deacon's really low carb allowances, pasta is not something we can have right now. I have been searching for replacements.

--Sara

No real good advice here, but I also think Splenda has an aftertaste.  My sisters swear by it but then again, they like Diet drinks.  Bleh...  Give me water or a Big Red and I'm happy.  But it's one BR a day or none. 

I have no idea what they are sweetened with, but what about those pedialyte flavored type drinks.  I buy plain pedialyte for any sick animals at work and for my dogs if they are going to be running around in hot weather a lot.   I see the flavored juice type there too.  Since I don't have kids, I haven't looked into them, but it might work?

I remeber when I was really little my mom telling me that artificial sweeteners cause certin cancers..wheather is true or not I am not sure.
 
But, to me anything that is artificial can not be good for your health. I prefer to not use them, I also do not like the taste, I also don't like the taste of Diet drinks either.
 
I would look into to other things if you could. Sorry I am not more help.

I don't use artificial sweeteners, but I once asked a friend about this.  She is a microbiologist and did medical research for years.  According to her, these sweeteners are perfectly safe.  Of course, consuming excessive amounts of anything can cause serious medical conditions.  You'll get really sick from eating a lot of cane sugar or eating ten hamburgers a day, just like you would if you consumed tons of sweetener.  IMO, people in the Western world consume WAY to much sugar and sweet foods to being with.  I bet if we looked at the amount of sugar we like to eat, even THAT would be considered unhealthy, so I suppose eating the same abount of Splenda could also be very unhealthy. 

Most of the web sites you can find that promote the conspiracy theories surrounding these sweeteners have little to do with actual scientific research published in academic journals or peer-reviewed sources.  I don't really know or care one way or the other if these sweeteners are safe because I'll personally never use them, but if it was of a concern to me, I'd check credible research databases for abstracts and articles and then talk to my physician rather than Googling for .com sites that anyone with an opinion can publish.  When health and nutrition are concerned, I think it's best not to gamble based on op-ed opinions, but instead get a professional opinion.

I hope you can find a solution for your son so that he's able to enjoy the foods that everyone else gets to eat!