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Alternative and SAFE sweetner! and get-off carbonation!

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by Steve R, Mar 6, 2007.

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  1. Steve R

    Steve R F1 Rookie
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    #1 Steve R, Mar 6, 2007
    Guys,

    If you're like me....you're concerned and wondering just how safe all this Nurtra-sweet, Sweet & Low and Equal is. I know this sounds weird, but it bothers me that ants won't drink from beverages that have these artificial sweetners in them....maybe they just know something we don't? I've heard rumors of cancers and other long-term affects that can come from these substances. Every time I load-up my ice-tea and cringe and wonder if I'm rolling the dice.

    Anyways....I found something that really kicks butt, it's called Stevia Extract...it's a "dietary supplement" made from plants. It's full name is Stevia Rebaudiana, it's a small plant native to Paraguay and Brazil, the name means "sweet herb" or "honeyleaf". Bottom line; it taste sweet, has ZERO calories and is rumored to have beneficial qualities as well. Lately I've been using it in my ice-tea. It dissolves fairly easy (much easier then brown sugar!) and the taste is good....I'd say it about 70% as good as sugar. If you've tried to enjoy ice-tea w/o sweetner it's a bit tough...but this gives is a nice taste which makes it easy to drink.

    As a personal suggestion, I'd suggest getting away from carbonated beverages. I tend to make my own flavored ice-teas from a combination of green-tea, raspberry tea and something a few others. Add some Stevia and you're good-to-go!

    I am NOT a distributor or anything...I'm just sharing something I found. The stuff is really cheap, I found some and ordered from here:

    http://www.swansonvitamins.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&SourceCode=INTL070&productId=12947&R=9021

    It's like 100 packets for less then $4

    On another note, try this stuff too....it's called Cholesterol Shield

    http://www.swansonvitamins.com/ProductDisplay/catalogId/10051/productId/11207/R/2514&SourceCode=INTL070&saleCatalogId=10051

    It uses plant sterols to bind-up cholesterol, just pop one before or as you eat and you'll never know, feel or sense anything different. All natural and it could make the difference between needing to take meds or not.

    Anyone know of any other great stuff, pass it along! ;)
     
  2. EC308

    EC308 Formula 3

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    #2 EC308, Mar 6, 2007
    We can call it Steve R for short. Weird thing happens when I use splenda. I get hives almost instantly. I have stopped using artificial sweeteners. Thanks for the tip.
     
  3. smg2

    smg2 F1 World Champ
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    #3 smg2, Mar 6, 2007
    I use plain old sugar, here's why. my diet does not contain any overly processed food, the only processed foods are bread, whole grain and I guess that's it. fruits and veggies, canned tuna, fresh fish and chicken.

    liquids would be water and green tea. i have a 5lb bag of sugar that's 90% still there in the freezer and I've had it over a 1yr. if baking I'll use it or to sweeten tea once in awhile.

    I also use butter if i need it. moderation is key here and I think a lot of people don't have that figured out. I'll gain weight when i spend more time eating out then at home.

    my sister uses stevia, but I find it funny because for her it's an excuse to use more than to just moderate the intake to start with. I can't even drink a can of soda anymore, way way to sweet. the local brewery here makes their own root beer, no sugar added and just perfect, but you gotta like sasperilla root. it's a treat every so often for me esp. at $6 a bottle.
     
  4. Buzz48317

    Buzz48317 F1 Rookie

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    #4 Buzz48317, Mar 7, 2007
    Thanks for the tip Steve. I am a diet Coke drinker and I have made the switch to Coke with Splenda (no hives here) and have a bag of Splenda at the house for sweetening iced tea. I did some research in an organic chemistry class a number of years ago regarding Aspertame and got some interesting results. In the system Aspertame (C14H18N2O5) will hydrolize Methanol (CH3OH). The methanol will then be oxidized in the liver to formic acid (CH2o2), an optic nerve toxin (btw this reaction is why you can go blind from drinking antifreeze and/or wood alcohol), formic acid is the active ingredient in ant venom that makes ant bites burn. The formic acid will then be broken down into formaldehyde (CH2O) which can cause all sorts of problems in the systems of the living.

    That's the bad news, the good news is that the amounts of these chemicals are very, very, very, very small...otherwise we would be all be walking around blind and half embalmed after drinking a diet Coke. So conspiracy theories aside diet Coke is probably a relatively safe drink, however I still try to limit my Nutra-Sweet intake.
     
  5. Mark_M5

    Mark_M5 Karting

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    #5 Mark_M5, Mar 7, 2007
    I like my sweetener the old fashioned way: sugar - but I also like Splenda.

    The real question is: do ants eat the stuff you're talking about?
     
  6. PhilNotHill

    PhilNotHill Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #6 PhilNotHill, Mar 8, 2007
    Ants and other insects cannot tell the difference.
     
  7. TopCloser

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    #7 TopCloser, Mar 8, 2007
  8. Jordan Ross

    Jordan Ross Formula Junior

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    #8 Jordan Ross, Mar 8, 2007
    Why then do I get terrible migraines (with intense visual disturbences on the order of blind spots eliminating >60% of my sight) after consuming aspartame?

    How can a diet coke can put me out of comission for 2 days if its safe? Sure I could have an allergy, I've just never heard or seen anything regarding allergies to this chemical.
     
  9. teak360

    teak360 F1 World Champ

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    #9 teak360, Mar 8, 2007
    Because people are affected by these chemicals, and you are the canary in the coal mine. I drink a diet drink once in a while, and I usually regret it, terrible aftertaste.

    I used Stevia extract years ago for cooking for my kids. They liked it. It takes a little time to get used to, but it works pretty well.
     
  10. Steve R

    Steve R F1 Rookie
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    #10 Steve R, Mar 9, 2007
    Some many years ago (when I was heavier) my mom actually screamed at me "why don't you get on Phen-fen....it's safe, everyone is doing it"....

    I calmly replied, "because I can guarantee you that in a couple years it'll be proven to cause some kind of health risk"...

    Well, needless to say I got the big "I told ya so" on that call....;)

    There's an old saying "ain't no such thing as a free lunch". I'm sure there's plenty of research that can document how safe aspartane & other sweetners are...but I don't like to 2nd-guess nature when I don't have to.

    First they gave us calcium...but it turns out we can't absorb it without the presence of Vitamin D...so they added Vitamin D...but then it turns-out that even Vitamin D needs something else in order for our bodies to utilize these other supplements. Well gosh, as simple as it seems it turns out that nature provides EVERYTHING we need already...all if not most these supplements are actually useless. Remember how vitamin E was the super-antioxident and everyone was taking 2,000 iu per day? Now they've linked the consumption of Vitamin E to a greater incidence of heart-disease: now they say to take no more then 400 iu per day. My bottle hit the trash months ago!

    I'm sure there's plenty of things that are bad for us...but when I find a way to remove or dramatically reduce one of them; hell yeah! Stevia extract is just a plant that has a sweet taste; it's all natural & simple. It makes my ice-tea good-tasting and it's a bit less Spenda/Nutrasweet/Equal in my body. And besides: who knows what else those artificial sweetners are combining with in your body to form?
     

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