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While some links to cancer have been made with saccharin, if you must use an artificial sweetener, it is best to use saccharin.
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On 4 November 2003, we received this note from M.W. of Manchester, Connecticut, concerning her use of saccharin.
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"I have tried NutraSweet and Equal and always end up going back to saccharin. I get bad headaches from NutraSweet and Equal (aspartame). It leaves a bitter aftertaste and causes severe PMS.
I don't use a lot of saccharin these days, but the small amount I do use has never bothered me in any way that I am aware of. I used to use a lot of saccharin in my 20's. I had a real sweet tooth and it was the main sugar substitute back then. I am in my late 40's and have never had cancer. Hopefully, that will stay the same. I've been using saccharin since I was about 18 (or whenever it first came out--but I can't remember that far back!).
I am hypoglycemic and also gluten intolerant, so my diet is somewhat limited. I also have an autoimmune disorder that I developed in my late 30's. Hopefully, that wasn't caused by the use of artificial sweeteners! I wonder about the assorted additives that I have consumed (often unknowingly) throughout my 20's and 30's. After I became ill, I began making all my food from scratch and buying only natural, hormone-free, antibiotic-free meats and vegetables. I never buy anything that has any additives. Saccharin is probably the only chemical that I knowingly ingest, although I do chew Trident gum on occasion and it does not seem to affect me. I suppose the amounts of sweetener in it are very small.
I tried a new gum product that is sweetened only with Xylitol. I haven't noticed any side effects, however, I only just tried it in limited amounts. Trident also contains some Xylitol.
Recently, I bought sugar-free soy cookies made by Zeesoy, Inc. The cookies are sweetened with NutraSweet (forgetting that it might bother me and assuming there couldn't be much in a single cookie). The cookies tasted like "poison" to me. That's the only way I can describe it. My mouth puckered up. It had a very bitter "gag me" taste. I had to rinse my mouth out afterward. That night, I developed a bad headache and had nightmares. I wrote the cookie company a polite but complaining e-mail. They wrote me back and said I must have bought an old batch as they are now using Splenda. They offered to send me some free cookies.
I decided to research Splenda and its side effects and found your site. I have decided not to try these cookies! Especially since your site mentions that Splenda may affect immune function. I already have problems with that, so I don't want to aggravate it any further.
Nobody wants to use saccharin anymore since the big cancer scare, which is too bad. The new sweetener being marketed quite a bit is Stevia. But I get side effects from that and it is super-sweet. A large vitamin company uses Stevia in one of their powdered multi-vitamin supplements, and I almost gagged when I tried it. It mixes with water. It was repulsive to me. I returned the product and got my money back. I bought it from a "health food" store which is ironic.
In closing, my personal experience has been that saccharin, in moderation, has no side effects or aftertaste. I haven't found anything to replace it. Usually, I just do without added sweetener. If you go without for long enough, you lose the craving.
Thank you M.W. for sharing your story with our visitors. We hope that all who read it will take notice of the effects of the other artificial sweeteners.
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If you've used sucralose and experienced any of the negative side effects, please e-mail us your story.
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