My problem with chemicals

[Elafonisi]

Hello, I'm a big fan of South Beach, this is my second time trying it and today I just reached phase 2, man those first 2 weeks are hard. Anyway, some of the hardest stuff for me to resist is sweet and my one real problem with South Beach is giving up natural sugar for substitute. Sure, sugar leads to a lot of health issues and keeps your weight up but what does splenda do? I've always steered away from sugar substitutes because they are chemical. I also don't want to seem like a debby downer but the other thing I have a problem with is Sugar Free Coolwhip. It's filled with hydrogenated oil, they basically pump hydrogen in oil to make it last longer and in turn make the company more money. Hydrogenated oil is awful for your body and I see so many places that talk about South Beach offer that as a great, non sugary treat.....but let's be real, it's not just important to stay on South Beach, it's also important to be overall healthy.....so what are we putting in our body? Can we do south beach without ingesting tons of chemicals?

I feel like the earth provides us with the foods we need, that always seems like the healthiest way to live....we eat what grows or lives on the earth. When human beings in a lab get involved, it seems to deteriorate the quality of food and in turn our health suffers. When you go into most grocery stores and look at the ingredients on something whether it's supposed to be healthy for you or not, if there are 30 ingredients that you can't pronounce, I don't care if it has no sugar or carbs, that is not good for you.

However, like I said, the first 2 weeks of SB is really hard, and sometimes I give in to these chemical laden alternatives but I always feel weird about it.
I think phase 2 is much easier and I won't have that problem but does anyone feel the same as me? I feel like it's easy to eat whole foods, protein, grains, meat, etc without dipping into the fake, chemical world.....I think my main concern is sweets. I'm on the fence about Splenda but anything with Hydrogenated Oil (ie sugar free coolwhip) seems very nasty and harmful to me. Maybe I'll make my own sugar free cool whip without hydrogenated oil.

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splenda facts

Splenda Ingredients

Marketed as a tabletop version of sucralose, Splenda is an artificial sugar substitute marketed by Johnson and Johnson. Sucralose is chemically a derivative of sugar, produced by replacing three hydroxyl groups with chlorine atoms. Its sweetness intensity is considered to be 600 times that of table sugar. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has approved it in 1998 as a food additive. Speaking about ingredients of Splenda, the major chunk is sucralose, although it also contains small concentrations of other volume adding ingredients, like dextrose, maltodextrin or both.

Is Splenda Bad for You?

As per the proponents of Splenda, only 15 percent of the sugar substitute is absorbed by the body. Till date, there is no clinical report that claims the dangers of Splenda to the public. But, that does not mean that it is entirely safe for consumption. As already mentioned, Splenda is made from sucralose, which is a chemical substance prepared from sucrose. Considering this, you can guess the answer to the question 'Is too much Splenda bad for you or not'. Following are probable side effects of Splenda, which you should know before placing it in your kitchen cabinet:

[Kimboroni]

There is no requirement on SB to eat artificial sweeteners or any kind of Cool Whip. There is a requirement to eat lots of low glycemic veggies, some lean protein, and some added good fats. You can also have low-fat dairy, and then after the first 2 weeks you need to start adding in certain fruits and grains/starches. Any of the sweet treats are completely optional.

[Chris55]

Board members here have varying opinions on using artificial sweeteners and more natural sugar substitutes. You can probably do a search and find some interesting conversations, although the search feature has changed recently so I'm not sure what you'll find.

I don't do Splenda or any of the other chemicals, and I survived Phase 1 without them. I missed fruit a lot and it was the first thing I added back in Phase 2. I haven't tried agave yet, but did just throw out a box of Stevia because I didn't like it. I've found that after doing a good clean Phase 1, I wasn't really craving sweets. When I do have them, I have something real that's of high quality, enjoy a small serving , and move on. I eat dark chocolate with real sugar on a fairly regular basis - a few times a week, but small portions. Very sweet desserts don't appeal much to me - I'll have a small amount and after a few bites it's too much for me. So I mostly enjoy dark chocolate and ice cream (not as often now that it's getting colder). I learned to drink my coffee without sugar years ago and when I want something fizzy, I drink flavored seltzer. I try to use honey, brown sugar, molasses, and maple syrup rather than white sugar because I find that the flavor is stronger so I use less.

As far as the Cool Whip goes, something in it upsets my stomach big-time. Same with the fake crabmeat. Don't know what they put in either of them, but they both have the same effect on me and I go out of my way to not eat them, not even a bite of one of those fake whipped pies that everyone makes.

I think you can eat a healthy diet without using chemicals. Enjoying the natural sugar in fruit and even the sweetness of diary products is enough for me most of the time. I think that a little real sugar is better, more satisfying, and healthier than the fake stuff.

[Magna]

BTW, you can have reasonable amounts of natural sweeteners. Chris mentioned agave, which I like. I don't like the aftertaste of stevia or any version of stevia I've found so far. Other natural sweeteners you can have include whey-low, xylitol, and erythritol. There may be a few others I'm forgetting, and some types are only used as ingredients in prepared foods. If you do decide to use these, limit daily use to no more than 100 calories.

[Kimboroni]

I avoid artificial sweeteners for the most part. I use Whey Low to sweeten plain yogurt and when I bake, which isn't that often. Generally, I just limit sweets and enjoy small amounts of premium choices when I do indulge.

[Magna]

Just curious, but does Whey Low have any particular flavor or aftertaste? Is it mildly sweet, intensely sweet, or somewhere in between? I wondered about trying it but didn't want to buy a whole package just to find out.

[Kimboroni]

I've never noticed any kind of flavor or aftertaste, and my very picky daughter has never mentioned that either. I'd say it's just medium sweet, like table sugar. It also bakes well, where other sweeteners might not brown correctly or might chemically break down in baking. I really like it. And if you get on their newsletter list they send you coupons and specials.

[Magna]

Thanks Kim, I'll have to try it. One other question, do you know whether it's different from the whey-based sweeteners in health food stores? I think I've seen Bob's Red Mill and some other brands.

[Kimboroni]

I don't know-- sounds like a similar concept, but I've never tried any others.