I recently went on a blind date and was delighted when he casually dumped four packets of Splenda into his tiny cup of coffee.  I’ve been a Splenda fan for years - - adding it to everything from Greek yogurt and smoothies to Cheerios and coffee - - and am always thrilled to find a fellow enthusiast.    The fact that said date is also a doctor made his obsession even more intriguing, as the debate over the safety of artificial sweeteners is hot and heavy.

So which is worse - - the chemicals or the calories? The war is on.  And with obesity at an all-time high, it’s hard to tell if these sweeteners are hurting or helping our waistlines. 

Though it’s used as a calorie substitute, artificial sweeteners have ironically been linked to increased weight gain by “tricking” the body into thinking that it needs more nutrients and thus stimulating the appetite.   Scarier even than increased appetite are potential side-effects such as skin-rashes, stomach cramping and dizziness, which have been seen to occur in extra sensitive individuals.

Admittedly, vanity always wins for me.  I’ll happily take the potential side-effects over extra inches on my waistline (I can’t afford to go up a size in my super-tight, super-overpriced designer jeans).  But then again, my grandmother has been eating cake for breakfast and adding upwards of 4 heaping tablespoons of  REAL (gasp!) sugar to her coffee for the past twenty years and still has a body that most thirty-somethings would be envious of…good genetics or lack of chemicals?

I also have a tendency to be excessive in pretty much all areas of my life, so maybe the typical Splenda fan doesn’t use up to 10 packets a day like myself…

But websites like this  - - Splenda Exposed - - scare me…for a second.  Maybe I’ll put two packets of Splenda into my yogurt tomorrow instead of the usual five.  I suppose the bigger issues is how willing we are to deal with the potential health consequences of chemical sugar substitutes to avoid weight gain - - because I can’t speak for anyone else, but there’s no way that I’m going to give up my sweet tooth.

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