Breaking News on Splenda!

FINALLY! For those of you following us for a while, you KNOW how we feel about artificial

sweeteners. All the taste with zero calories? Zero calories does NOT mean zero side effects. 

I personally was a Diet Coke ADDICT for most of my 20's and couldn't understand why I had ongoing skin issues, bouts of depression, insomnia, foggy thinking and a slew of other things I just considered "part of life". After tragically losing my mom to breast cancer at the young age of 45, a spark ignited to really understand and research the foods (or rather "Frankenfoods") I was putting in my body. WOW, did I get a wake-up call. I kicked my Diet Coke habit, literally "cold turkey" and haven't looked back. Many of you know, The Healthy Edge vision and now online community was born out of the mental and physical transformation that took place in those years of finally taking personal responsibility for the decisions I have to make everyday when it comes to my health (or lack of health). 

Artificial Sweeteners are a sore subject for me because the RESEARCH is there and these chemicals are not proven safe (and the government knows it). Teens, children and even babies, are being exposed to these chemicals on a daily basis or multiple times during the day because they are literally EVERYWHERE: gum, soda, energy drinks, coffee drinks, hot cocoa, cereals, juices, diet foods, snack bars, cookies, ice cream, puddings, jello, crackers, salad dressings. 

Splenda has been advertised as natural and "derived" from sugar and so many people I talk to consider it safe because that is what they have been told over and over again. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit watchdog group, said just a couple of days ago that it was downgrading its safety rating of sucralose from "safe" to "caution," meaning that the additive "may pose a risk and needs to be better tested."

The change was spurred by a recent study from researchers in Italy that found that sucralose caused leukemia in mice, according to the CSPI. This study has not been published, and needs to be reviewed by other scientists to determine whether the findings are credible.

Here's something that we already knew about Splenda, which posed BIG FLAGS for me. Splenda was created accidentally when some chemists were trying to produce an insecticide.  Here is the process by which they produce the formula sold in stores:

“1.  Sucrose is tritylated with trityl chloride in the presence of dimethylformamide and 4-methylmorpholine, and the tritylated sucrose is then acetylated with acetic anhydride.

2.  The resulting sucrose molecule TRISPA is chlorinated with hydrogen chlorine in the presence of tolulene.

3.  The resulting 4-PAS is heated in the presence of methyl isobutyl ketone and acetic acid.

4.  The resulting 6-PAS is chlorinated with thionyl chloride in the presence of toluene and benzyltriethylammonium chloride.

5.  The resulting TOSPA is treated with methanol in the presence of sodium methoxide to produce sucralose.”  (Note that methanol, wood alcohol aka paint remover,  is one of the questionable ingredients in aspartame.)

What part of this five step process is "natural" and simply "derived" from sugar? I'm just excited that there is FINALLY some attention given to Splenda. Sadly, WE (humans) are the guinea pigs for what these substances are going to do long term to us and future generations that are yet to be born. This is not about minor exposure any more when it comes to these chemicals. This is about daily, ongoing exposure to chemicals that are not found naturally on earth. 

Artificial sweeteners are OBVIOUSLY not solving the obesity epidemic (they can actually cause weight gain) and energy drinks don't replace the need for sleep and sound nutrition which both naturally derives energy. Thank you to those of you who follow us that are looking for REAL health support, ideas and advice and willing to take personal responsibility for this aspect of your life. 

Amber Thiel is CEO and CoFounder of The Healthy Edge. If you are looking for support and transformation in your lifestyle and you KNOW it's just as much mental as the how-to's. Check out www.getthehealthyedge.com for a free trial to a powerful online health community OR contact support@getthehealthyedge.com if you need one-on-one guidance through your transformation.