Splenda, aka Sucralose, is a chemical added into our food supply. Chemicals have no business in our bodies. This, as you should know, is a major cause of health problems. And yet, many people will discard the information and keep using this stuff. Until.......they get so many problems their doctors can do nothing about, except prescribe drugs which also do nothing to help.
Below is a list of Dr Joseph Mercola, M.D., reader reviews, of Splenda. Remember, you vote with your dollars. If you believe something is dangerous and should not be sold, be sure to tell others who use it of the potential harmful effects. If enough people quit buying these products, they will eventually vanish.
Here are the reviews:
The Potential Dangers of Sucralose Posted By Dr. Mercola | December 03 2000 | 168,781 views Share96
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The following testimonials have been sent to us by people from all over the world who feel they have been harmed by Splenda. We have not researched each of these accounts in-depth, but instead are posting them to draw attention to the fact that Splenda’s safety -- or lack thereof -- is not only unknown and severely questionable, but worse still is not even being explored on a sufficient scale.
That Splenda is being marketed so freely and pervasively is most concerning given that there are currently NO large studies underway researching the safety of this artificial sweetener, and Splenda was released with few studies to support its safety. This is the same pattern that occurred with the artificial sweeteners aspartame and saccharine--two sweeteners that are now widely known to cause numerous health problems. In the same way that Splenda was released with few studies proving its safety, few studies were conducted on aspartame and saccharine until the negative health effects began to be seen, raising alarm and prompting investigations into the true (lack of) safety of the products.
If it sounds strange that Splenda could be marketed so widely without any real safety studies, I ask you to consider the source behind the product. Splenda is made from real sugar and is then molecularly modified to be calorie-free (essentially, Splenda is produced by chlorinating sugar). The sugar industry, which is a huge and very powerful government lobby, is profiting quite nicely from this no-calorie sweetener. It is no secret that the U.S. government is influenced by the sugar industry, and it is not a stretch to think that their influence may be the real reason why no real studies have been done.
So, with that in mind, I urge you to take a look at the many Splenda testimonials below, and then ask yourself, is eating this largely experimental product really worth the risk?
Dear Dr. Mercola,
I want to thank you for your Web site and especially for your documentation on the dangers of Splenda. I also want to pass on this testimonial in the hope it may help others.
Last evening after dinner I began to feel flush. My husband commented how red my face was getting and, sure enough, one glance in the mirror confirmed a bright red, tight, shiny visage staring back at me. In the next few hours my eyes began to swell. I went to bed hoping I could "sleep it off." How wrong I was.
This morning I got up and my face was still red, bright and swollen with puffy eyes. I am a pharmacist and I have seen many anaphylactoid (allergic) reactions before. I began to feel concerned that I too was having one. I have had only one other reaction like this before in my life--to Bactrim.
I went out for my usual morning run but by the first quarter mile I could barely breathe so I walked slowly back to the house. My right shoulder was burning so I went to the mirror and was horrified to find a HUGE 6 inch by 3 inch welt at the base of my neck (see photo).
I also felt very panicky and shaky and immediately had two bouts of diarrhea in rapid succession. After 15 minutes and a cool shower on tissue that looked scalded, I was having difficulty breathing. I was seen in the local emergency room where the physician immediately gave me a dexamethasone injection in the hip and a prescription for Epi-pen and oral prednisone over four days.
At the time I didn’t know why I looked like I had ingested a sulfa drug. My husband and I tried to figure out what was different in my life over the last 12 hours. Laundry soap? Nope. Cake? Animal dander? No and no. A dear friend came to visit me in my misery and mentioned that I had started to flush at church, several hours before dinner.
I remembered that I had had a cup of coffee and had tried the new creamer sitting by the pot. I remembered the Splenda label on it, which prompted my husband and I to search the Web and we found your site.
The description by Marcia in the testimonial area caused me to burst into tears. Yes, Marcia, there are others like you. I am throwing that stuff out when I get to church! This reaction that I have had looks like a drug reaction! I am appalled an "artificial sweetener" did this to me.
Twelve hours after treatment my eyes are no longer swollen and my face is no longer red, but my neck welt is the same size, same redness and as tender as a sunburn. There are a few blisters in the welt. Even after treatment it still looks this bad! Perhaps the manufacturer of Splenda can sell it as a biochemical warfare agent after it is removed from the market as a food additive.
Thanks for getting the word out!
Lori Hunt, RPh
Pickens, SC
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I also have had horrific effects from splenda. In May of this year, I started having drop attacks that I thought were strokes or TIAs. Later they got so severe, I thought they were heart attacks caused by coronary artery spasms. At the time, I had no idea what was causing my attacks because all medical tests were coming back negative. But after several visits to the ER thinking I was having a stroke or a heart attack, I began putting two and two together--whenever I would drink or eat a splenda product, within a few hours or sometimes even a day or two, my body would go numb and tingly in different areas. I was tested for MS, heart disease and for brain lesions. Sometimes, it was the entire left side of my body, sometimes my right, sometimes just my legs, sometimes just my arms or my lips or face. It would get worse at night while I was sleeping, then I would wake up and my heart would immediately go into an arrhythmia and race at about 160 beats per minute. I would get dry mouth and extremely nauseous. At this point, I would be terrified and the numbness would get so bad I would not be able to walk. In addition, I would get extreme esophageal reflux, which was not affected by anything, including prevacid, pepcid, etc.
I also had such bad IBS that I was given more drugs to control that. Since May, I have spent quite a lot of money going to doctors, all to no avail and with no diagnosis ever made. Finally I was told I was having anxiety as no one could figure out what was wrong with my body. I started wondering if it could be all the low carb stuff I was eating, as this was the only change in my life. Around the beginning of May I had started on a "low carb" life style and started drinking the low carb slimfast and eating the sugar-free low carb candy that is now so abundant in stores. I quit everything for a while and the symptoms seemed to subside and then almost went away. Last week, for some dumb reason, I decided to retry the slim fast because of my weight loss goals and today I had another attack of numbness and a panic attack. During these attacks, I can hardly breath and my legs and arms are weak, I am dizzy, numb and my muscles ache horribly. It feels like I am about to die. To say they are severe is an understatement.
Needless to say, I have learned my lesson and will NEVER use sucralose again. It is dangerous and seems like a huge toxin to the body. If just one person reacts this way, it CAN‘T be a good thing. It seems like we are being poisoned by these huge conglomerates that don‘t care about health and only interested in lining their pockets. The price of being thin is definitely not worth loosing brain cells or getting huge amounts of neurological and cardiological damage or who knows maybe even death. My digestive track and my arteries were actually going into huge spasms so much so that my doctor and I both thought that I was having angina. My doctor prescribed nitro just in case - even though I have low blood pressure, low cholesterol and a low body weight. This is how serious things got with my health while ingesting this deadly poison.
Sincerely,
Sallie Ceideski
Charlottesville, VA.
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I‘ve been following the Paleolithic diet with some success for a couple of years. Last year, when Splenda became more widely available, I started using it pretty regularly. While it‘s not on my diet, I figured since it was "all natural" and not absorbed by the body I would be just fine.
I hadn‘t made the connection till now, but I have been unable to lose any weight for the past year which is about how long I‘ve been using splenda in the form of drinks like Hansen‘s diet sodas, Big Red and Diet RC. Furthermore, I‘ve had two unusual episodes of unexplained pain. The first, shortly after Christmas 2003, was very extreme. I had no diarrhea or gas, but I had terrible cramping for several hours. The pain was so unbearable I nearly passed out. I was a pale green color and there were a few moments where everything started to turn white like I would pass out. Since it had been Christmas I had been eating a lot of goodies (many made with Splenda) and less of my usual healthy veggies and such. I thought maybe I had burst my intestines or something from lack of fiber (the only explanation I could think of for such extreme pain) so I had my boyfriend take me to the emergency room.
When the doctor pressed on my left lower belly I could not help but scream in pain. They gave me a shot of morphine but it only helped me to not mind the pain so much, but I felt it all the same. Thousands of dollars and a CT scan later... absolutely no problems were found. The pain slowly abated after about two days. I felt really crazy but after reading these other testimonials I really wonder if it had something
to do with the Splenda. Recently, I have associated Splenda usage and bladder pain. I‘ve been getting all the symptoms--burning, pain, and frequency of a bladder infection. But again, after doing a urinalysis at my doctor‘s, no infection has been found. I tried drinking a lot of water to clear up the ghost infection (and less Splenda-sweetened drinks and the symptoms went away. But because I never thought there was a connection, I began drinking Splenda again, and now my bladder symptoms are back. My Dad directed me to your site. Thank you for the information. I may have never seen the connection because I was so sure that Splenda was a very safe and natural product.
Laura Murphy
Austin, Texas
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Dr. Mercola:
I have had a terrible ordeal of having horrible stomach problems, indigestion, continual pain, constipation then diarrhea. I traced it back to diet RC cola, which has Splenda in it. I had tried to switch off of other diet drinks and went to this drink. For four weeks I have had terrible, terrible abdominal pain, etc. I stopped drinking this and the pain has left. Amazing how this product can have such a profound effect on people. Thought you should know.
Greg Clore
Plano, Texas
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Yesterday I went for an iced coffee with my friends. Since I have been watching my weight I opted for the splend a rather than my usual sugar. I finished half the coffee in about five minutes time and immediately my throat felt like it was closing in on me, my arms and legs became completely numb,I was covered in a rash, and thought yesterday was going to be my last day on earth. I thought I was going to die there in my friend‘s car. She rushed me to the emergency room where my blood pressure was sky high. I was given breathing treatments and benadryl and was told I was having an allergic reaction to this drug called splenda. Today the rash still covers me, my throat still feels swollen and I‘m afraid to death that any moment I may get the feeling of my throat closing up. I am a mother of three children and I am highly irate there are no warnings on any splenda product I‘ve come across. Monday I will call an attorney and see what my legal rights are.
Lucella Bennett
Leominster, Massachusetts
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About six months ago, I decided to try the Atkins diet. They strongly recommend Splenda (right on their home page!) so I went out and got some packets. I also bought a flavored water called Fruit20, which contains Splenda. I used these products for three days and started feeling sick. My husband said he‘d heard there were problems with Splenda so I did a little Web searching. It didn‘t take long to find reams of info on how evil this stuff can be. I experienced almost every symptom including bloating, abdominal pain, gas, nausea, headaches, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, depression and dizziness.
But here‘s the kicker--I STILL HAVE THEM, even though I haven‘t consumed any Splenda since those initial three days! Have you ever heard of this? I‘ve been making the rounds to doctors and done several tests. An ultrasound revealed nothing. (Based on my symptoms, gallstones were suspected.) The motility test was slightly irregular but nothing major. Endoscopy suggested acid reflux, but the meds (Nexium, Aciphex, Protonix--I‘ve tried them all) don‘t work. Based on all this, I‘m told I have "nonulcer dyspepsia," which is essentially symptoms without a cause. I told my gastro about the Splenda and he poo-pooed it. I‘m at my wits end and have an appointment with my GP to discuss the possibility of clinical depression since it seems this is related to unexplained stomach pain and vice versa.
--Nancy Keswani
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I am so THANKFUL to have found your site, and the information provided on Splenda. I was tricked into trying it out; like most, reading the "Made from Sugar" claim convinced me. I am, as I write, having horrendous stomach pains, the cause of which I am most certain is Splenda. I have been using it to sweeten my iced green tea (oh, the irony) for a couple of weeks, but just recently I‘ve noticed my body feeling worse and worse. The other night, I went out to dinner with friends, and had a cocktail--which I can normally handle quite well. After returning home, I was parched, and prepared a nice, tall glass of said tea.
All that night, and the next day, I was plagued by diarrhea, and severe stomach pains. And now, having just finished another glass, here I am with the same result. I cannot help, after reading the stories on this site, but think that Splenda is to blame--I am throwing it out the moment I close this letter.
--Danielle
New Jersey
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I have been drinking one or two Propel water drinks (Gatorade water) every day or every other day for just over two months. I was having symptoms but blamed them on a new intense exercise regimen (martial arts twice a week during which time I drank the Propel), stress at work, and stress of dating (I was stressing over a girl at the time).
Here it turns out there is sucralose in Propel. The very real and undeniable symptoms I suffered included fatigue, mild stomach cramps, sudden urge to go to the bathroom (others apparently have suffered outright diarrhea) and at same time often a type of constipation where I feel the strong urge to go to the bathroom but when I try to I can‘t purge all the way or to satisfaction, irritability, sleeplessness (at 4:44 AM, I felt totally relaxed and awake, like it was 4:44 PM … it‘s like a strong caffeine or ginseng buzz, and I can‘t sleep), very tired eyes and headache (I NEVER get headaches but I‘ve had a couple during this two-month period, and I remember thinking it was very strange), inability to concentrate and focus at work and lowered motivation, anxiety (feeling overwhelmed and scared, unable to cope), mild depression, itchy skin (under my armpits and also my scalp, I scratched my head so much that I developed small sores that scabbed over), heightened sensitivity to noises (smallest sounds are irritating), mild physical impotence or reduction of libido.
I drank one even today (before I read the Web site warnings), and so I had the chance to pay attention for signs of the symptoms. They took about five to eight hours to fully set in, I believe, from the time I took the last Propel (I believe symptoms grow, peak and then wane). I am sleepless, just went thru strong urge to go to the bathroom, can‘t focus, and am impatient and irritable. I also believe it makes you somewhat impotent as well, just like symptoms related to going to the bathroom, I still have my sex drive just like urge to go to bathroom, but can‘t really perform (am very weak in terms of being able to rise to the occasion and remain hard) … it reminds me of how mood-altering herbs/drugs can often inhibit libido. In fact, the overall effect of Splenda seems on par to me with herbal supplements, like St. John‘s Wort or Ginseng, as the effects are subtle but undeniable,
and out of your control.
Has anyone else noticed a problem with sexual performance due to Splenda?
--Bryan Prendergast
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In the past, I had already read enough [about Splenda] to know I didn‘t want to use the product … ever. But, for some reason, I felt drawn to read the testimonials. I‘m glad I did.
My mother died almost three months ago, and I‘ve had some emotional times, some interference with my work, etc.--the normal grieving process. But, for about the last three weeks, I thought I was going downhill fast. Even when I‘d sleep at night, I was still groggy and unable to stay awake during the day. I was irritable and uncomfortable most of the time. My brain didn‘t work in the "normal" way, I was forgetting things a minute later, couldn‘t follow-through on tasks in a logical order. This has really been affecting my work. The only days I noticed that I was more like myself were Sundays (I had attributed it to the fact that I always looked forward to going to church).
Several hours after reading through the testimonials, something occurred to me. About three weeks ago, the local bread store had a promotion, and if you bought so much, you got five loaves free...their choice of the free stuff. Well, I ended up with Good Hearth Carb Action Wheat Bread. I never liked it because it doesn‘t taste good, but it was free, and I‘m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so we ate it. We ate it every day but Sunday the past three weeks (I make "special" meals on Sundays), either for breakfast or lunch, sometimes both. I just assumed they could claim lower carbs because the bread slices were thin and small, about one-third smaller than your average sandwich bread slices. (That‘s what a lot of "diet" breads do.) It had no taste, though. I was forever adding salt and garlic salt, etc., just to make it palatable.
Yesterday, I was sluggish and late getting up again. We didn‘t have breakfast at all, and lunch was leftovers. Through the day, I started noticing that my mind was clearing, and I wasn‘t nodding off to sleep every time I sat down. But, it wasn‘t until suppertime that I started connecting the dots. The only real difference in our diet the past three weeks has been the free bread. I pulled it out and looked at the list of ingredients, and was mad at myself for not guessing sooner that this stuff has sucralose in it! It also has a great deal of soy, which is probably why it doesn‘t taste good.
So, the two loaves of bread that are left are hitting the garbage can!
In just one day without the sucralose-laced bread, I can see a definite difference. I was able to get up this morning and my mind is clear. I hope the improvement crosses over to my work!
Laura in LA
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Some time ago I tried Splenda in a packet of hot chocolate. I knew I was allergic to aspartame (made me dizzy), but thought maybe Splenda would be a good alternative. It made my lips itch! This was the oddest thing. I drank about one-third of a cup of this hot chocolate and found that my lips stopped itching, but they felt numb. I swore off Splenda. About a year later I accidentally purchased a drink with Splenda (labeled as sucralose) and could not endure the strong chemical flavor, undoubtedly from the chlorine. I read all labels carefully and stick with natural sugars in my foods. I‘m a runner and figure I‘ll run off any extra calories, but will be hard pressed to endure another allergic reaction.
--Patricia Brown
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About four months ago, I started drinking Diet Rite cola. I drank it for about two weeks and then one day at work I got laryngitis as I finished my second drink that morning. My face and sides of my neck broke out in red itchy hives of varying sizes, some had a red streak running up from them. I didn‘t realize the Diet Rite was the culprit until the next afternoon when I drank another cola and again broke out in hives, this time more widespread. No more Splenda for me.
--Yvette
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I am writing to you to let others know of my problems with the product Splenda. We have been drinking a carbonated flavored water sweetened with Splenda for over a year. During all of this time, my husband and I were always feeling tired, under the weather, lost interest in doing our favorite things, all our joints were aching, nausea, gastro problems, and most recently I had developed this terrible rash on my neck, armpits and on my chest.
Of course, we just attributed all of this to changes in the weather, or arthritis, allergies, or the "What did I eat?" syndrome, UNTIL--I was doing some research on the Internet and discovered your page! What a blessing! After reading your page, and all of the testimonials from others, we stopped the Splenda water and using it in my coffee IMMEDIATELY! I had sent your page to my sister, who is diabetic, and she was having all of the symptoms also, including the rash! She is discarding all of her Splenda as well.
We have been off Splenda for three days now, my rash is slowly going away, my energy is coming back, and my husband no longer has the nausea that he had experienced for the longest time. When is the government going to take this stuff off the market? And, who can we contact to get this off the market? This definitely is worse than chemical warfare! I hope this bit of information helps someone else out there, and they discard the "POISON " too!
--Terri from New York
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