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If you were told to ingest a biologically alien synthetic chemical whose presence on this planet did not predate 1976,and whose structure is only a few atoms away from the deadly pesticide DDT, and you knew that not only were there no long term human safety studies performed on it, but that it had been already proven in tests to have following adverse health effects:
  • Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage)
  • Enlarged liver and kidneys.
  • Abnormal histopathological changes in spleen and thymus
  • Increased cecal weight
  • Reduced growth rate
  • DNA Damage
  • Adverse changes to gastrointestinal bacteria
  • Abnormal Pelvic Mineralization
  • Decreased red blood cell count
  • Hyperplasia of the pelvis
  • Aborted pregnancy (Maternal & Fetal Toxicity)
  • Decreased fetal body weights and placental weights
  • Bowel inflammation/Crohn's Disease
  • Triggering migraine
  • Increase glycosylation of hemoglobin (HbA1c) for diabetics

    ...would you still consume it?
Of course not! And yet, millions of Americans are doing exactly that by consuming Splenda.

Like "Splenda," the term "sucralose" is a cute little marketing ploy. The true name of this ugly little chemical is actually too long for the human tongue to comfortably pronounce (which is usually an excellent indication that it is not safe to ingest!)

1,6-dichloro-1,6-dideoxy-BETA-D-fructofuranosyl-4-chloro-4-deoxy-alpha-D-galactopyranoside

Despite the intended insinuation, sucralose is not a form of sucrose (cane sugar). Sucralose/Splenda is produced through artificially substituting three hydroxyl groups (hydrogen + oxygen) with three chlorine atoms in the sugar (sucrose) molecule. Natural sugar is a hydrocarbon built around 12 carbon atoms. When transformed into Splenda it becomes a chlorocarbon, in the same family as deadly pesticides like DDT, insecticides, biocides, disinfectants like Chlorox Bleach, and WWI poison gas like dichlorourea.

The makers of sucralose/Splenda argue that this "remarkably stable" chemical passes unchanged into the urine and feces, when in fact, up to 11% to 27% is absorbed into the body (FDA, 1999). In fact, the varying degrees to which sucralose is absorbed is used as a marker for gut and intestinal permeability to determine certain disease states. Once absorbed, some portion of this chlorocarbon accumulates in the body (between 1.6% to 12.2%). What effects will these accumulated chemicals have? According to James Bowen, M.D:
"Any chlorocarbons not directly excreted from the body intact can cause immense damage to the processes of human metabolism and, eventually, our internal organs. The liver is a detoxification organ which deals with ingested poisons. Chlorocarbons damage the hepatocytes, the liver's metabolic cells, and destroy them. In test animals Splenda produced swollen livers, as do all chlorocarbon poisons, and also calcified the kidneys of test animals in toxicity studies."
How can this be true for an FDA approved sweetener?

FDA approval does not in any way guarantee safety... sadly enough, in many cases, it guarantees the exact opposite.