Are artificial sweeteners bad for people with Crohn's Disease

[teeny5]

I know this has been discussed here before, but I never really thought about it until recently. I started drinking those Nestea drinks and decided to try the sugar free ones (to save on some calories). I rarely drink soda and was looking for something other than water to drink. Anyway, the regular one seemed ok. The diet ones seem to kind of give me tummy aches. Not really cramping, but discomfort for sure. I haven't been able to totally figure out if it is something I ate or the tea. Are artificial sweeteners bad for Crohnies? I tried to look in my books, but they don't really say a whole lot. Figured you guys would know. The diet Nestea has aspartame in it.

Also what the heck is the long phenyl..... word that is on the can in bold? Does that mean aspartame? Why does it show a warning? Now I am thinking it must be bad!

 

[Jeff D.]

Artificial sweeteners are artificial and to be honest I don't trust them. They take sugar and create a new molecule out of it. I would just have sugar if you are wanting sugar.

 

[My Butt Hurts]

The way I understand it (and I could be wrong) is that artificial sweeteners leech water into the intestines, which can cause diarrhea.

(From wiki) Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder. However, PKU is one of the few genetic diseases that can be controlled by diet.
I think that warning isn't for the general public.

I use Stevia packets sometimes as a sweetener in Kool-aid. It's not artificial, as it's from a plant, and it tastes close to sugar. You could use it in tea for sure.

 

[Jeff D.]

Stevia is one that I don't quite believe as artificial. It's not genetically modified as the others are, or at least that is my understanding.

 

[My Butt Hurts]

Right. It's been used for years and years, just not here.
I wonder why coke or somebody doesn't try it out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

You could probably find some better links, but here's one to start.

 

[Jeff D.]

I think it would distort the taste of Coke too much as it has quite a different taste I know.

 

[My Butt Hurts]

Yeah, but diet is diet - it all tastes like crap to me. Stevia is a way better taste and so much more similar to sugar than the artificial ones.
I'd think that people would REALLY want something more sugar-like and less artificial.
Maybe it's a cost thing.

 

[Jeff D.]

Oh yeah definitely. I think they should get rid of diet anyways as they do more harm then good.

 

[teeny5]

I have never tried stevia before. I had tried Splenda before. But, I guess that is artificial too?

I think they should get rid of diet too. I keep hearing more and more bad things about it.

Thanks for the info!

 

[fromthegut]

I tried Iced Tea and I think it was the lemon or citrus that bothered me too. It happens when I drink Fresca.It definitely has to be artificail sweeteners casue drinking Crystal Light bothers me. I think I am going to try Stevia again.

 

[SpoonNinja]

oh man they had recently changed all the drinks in my schools vending machienes to diet and some of the science teachers were against it because they said too much diet pop can cause cancer! i dont know if they were being serious but i never did see them drinking diet. apparently in the teachers lounge they had normal pop tho..so isk its weired tho.

 

[pb4]

Coke is comming out with a new coke that doesn't have any sugar in it but instead will have a Stevia type sweetner in it, which will be derived from the stevia plant, google coke and stevia and you should find tons of links related to it.

Aparently they're just waiting for patents to go through on it so no one else can copy them.

Here's just one of many links about it...

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/wireStory?id=6466108

 

[CD68]

oh man they had recently changed all the drinks in my schools vending machienes to diet and some of the science teachers were against it because they said too much diet pop can cause cancer! i dont know if they were being serious but i never did see them drinking diet. apparently in the teachers lounge they had normal pop tho..so isk its weired tho.

They are serious. High consumption of artificial sweetners is associated with an increased chance of getting cancer in rodents. Some decades ago when this was discussed word was that a human would have to drink a couple of cases of diet soda a day to be at increased risk.

 

[drew_wymore]

PKU is the warning .. except I don't see it on my diet pepsi can ..

 

[teeny5]

I can't believe that they changed all the sodas to diet sodas at your school. I understand that they don't want kids taking in too many calories, but at the same time I have always heard that diet drinks can actually cause you to gain more weight.

I will for sure be looking into stevia. I hope it tastes good. Sometimes the artificial sweeteners don't taste good or they leave a weird after taste.

 

[D Bergy]

I bought some Orange Juice with Stevia by accident. I can taste a little difference but it is not a nasty taste like Aspertame.

I will not use artificial sweeteners. None of them are good for you. Aspertame(Nutrasweet) is a neurotoxin.

Dan