ok. I've been visiting these boards for a little while now. I have friends and other poeple I know low carbing it. It seems splenda has become.. well. a given for a low carb diet.

Here I read about what everyone thinks low carbing is. "Whole/Natural foods." "Just eat real food" "If it comes in a box, it's not low carb" "No Frankenfoods!"

I could go on and on. But here they are.. Low Carbers all supporting this.. this man-made chemical combo (that friggen sizzles when it hits your coffee) as an acceptable product to use. here's a cut and paste on what this stuff is

Sucralose is produced by chlorinating sugar (sucrose). This involves chemically changing the structure of the sugar molecules by substituting three chlorine atoms for three hydroxyl groups.

No I'm now science major, but damn it all if that sounds natural!

But here it is recomended and suggested to every newbie asking for advice. In fact, it's mentioned in so many posts i would not doubt if it is the most popular product on the average low carbers shopping list.

It bugs me. I have tried it. It's how I know it sizzles. But I decided that this low carb life IS about real whole foods. Keep it natural. Stay healthy.

I guess it doesnt bother me that people use it. To each their own. What does bothers me is the hypocritcal way low-carbers talk about eating whole/natural foods only and yet embrace this lab devised concoction.

okie doke. thats all sorry. had to get it out.

I don't use splenda. I don't buy foods with splenda as an ingredient. Now that I'm in maintenance, if I need to use a sweetener I use maple syrup or molasses or natural honey.

I use stevia plus, too. (it's permitted in all phases of the Fat Flush Plan, which is the eating plan I follow).

Some people find it hard to believe, but since I've been eating the FFP way, there are days that an apple - just a plain ol' organic apple - can taste too sweet to me.

I'm of the opinion that folks who cannot give up their sweets will not have long term success in shedding and/or maintaining a weightloss.

(I'm the opinionated type <---in the interests of full disclosure. )

I think that if someone is fighting huge sugar cravings...its better to try splenda than it is to go back to sugar.
I have to disagree with you though...many lcers eat only natural food !
No one is trying to endorse splenda because they feel it is 'good' for you. They are however, trying to help others stay with atkins, and fight their sugar cravings, through using splenda, as a sugar alternative if you need to.

I think most of us would agree...eating whole and natural foods IS the goal for most of us. Atkins is not about substituting one frankenfood for another...it is about changing the way you eat if possible. Many people have a hard time with change...splenda helps !

If I have the choice of a Splenda sweetened soft drink or a hogh-fructose corn syrup sweetened one, I will take the Splenda one. It's the least harmful of the two. I haven't had a soft drink in about a month though.

Early on, when I didn't fully understand low-carbing, I ate quite a bit of the so-called Frankenfoods. I very seldom have any sugar alcohols or any packaged low-carb foods. I do use a combination of Splenda and stevia when I fix sweetened items. I make BBQ sauce using Splenda and stevia.

The big difference, in my mind at least, between frankenfoods and an artificial sweeterner is that the frankenfoods are designed to be eaten as a major part of a meal, while the sweetener is used in much smaller amounts, more like a spice.

If they legalized stevia as a sweetener for soft drinks, then I would drink more of them.

I have had a long time battle with artifical sweetner. I use to abuse the pink an blue packets to the point where i was gaining wieght on a nutritionist's plan, cause i wansn't letting her in on the fact of how much of the substance i was using. I have had different occassions where i have tried to swear off artifical sweetners cold turkey and couldn;t do it. So, if i have to pick a regular diet coke, or a diet rite, i try to choose the splenda sweetened one over the aspertame.

I've been using Splenda for about 2 years, well before I even gave any thought to the LC lifestyle. I've heard good things and bad about it, but so far I haven't been bleeding from the ears or twitching, so I guess it's not killing me. It's helped in my induction when I was trying to ween myself off of sugary junk food. I don't use a lot, and the fact that it sizzles doesn't bother me. Now Rice Crispies, that's a whole other story, those things are so loud that you can't hold a normal conversation while they are snap, crackle, and popping away!!!! I do understand your point though, I suppose it is a bit hypocritical to make Splenda the 8th wonder of the LC world while advising to eat only whole foods. Anyhoo, I'd still recommend it in small quantities, but I'm just a lowly newbie! I'm just sticking my two cents in. OK, more like a nickel,lol. Have a great day!

My Splenda has never sizzled before... how odd.

LOL mine sizzles!! LOL I think someone said the right thing above - yeah we are trying to get back as close to a wholesome diet as possible, but if people have to use spenda to give them the kick they need to go in the right direction with their diet, then I am all for it. i don't agree that using splenda really goes agains the idea of eating healthily - after all - like the post said above, at least when you're suing splenda you're not shovelling in the sugar.
Also splenda seems to be better because it is refined from real sugar (making it not 100% SYNTHETIC) and also it doesn't effect your blood sugar levels like some artificial sweetners can - which is why everyone goes for splenda as a matter of choice.

However, if you don't eat it then great for you!!

well. the argument that splenda, or any artificial sweetener for that matter, is acceptable as a crutch for those hooked on sugar I think is silly.

The whole point of induction is to break the cravings. Would anyone ever suggest low carb bread as a crutch to someone hooked on bread? Dreamsfields for someone hooked on pasta? certaintly not on induction! I get what you all are saying though.. better splenda then sugar.. sure! but neither and learn to enjoy real foods for what they are? even better. And yes, I can see where splenda is used more as a spice, not the same as a bread or a pasta, but when it becomes a part of so many of your meals/beverages.. I'm not sure what is worse.

made from sugar...yes. so what. opium is made from poppy seeds. Yum poppy!

but all and all. you are all right. to each their own. It just something that always bugged me and thought I'd see what people had to say.

But perhaps you are mixing all low carb plans with the Paleolithic diet?

Essentially, low carb is not about eating processed foods or not, but about eating excessive carbs or not.

If you ate Atkins-like, but added 10 apples a day to your diet, you would not lose weight. You would still have excessive carbs, even though they would be considered by most to be healthy. But if you ate Atkins-like and added a bag of pork rinds, which are processed but low in carbs, or put sugar-substitute in your coffee, you would probably still lose weight.

I agree with you. Something hard to miss, however, about "would anyone ever suggest low carb bread... certainly not on induction!"- is that the atkins website DOES endorse all this junk!!!!! I think it would be hard for someone who knows nothing about nutrition (which i think is the boat many people with serious weight or diet problems are in, or have been in at some point...,) to go to the atkins sight and actually learn the importance of whole foods. Especially since info on the site would clash with what was already said in the book. It's pretty dumb, actually. The leader died, and his legacy is being turned to trash (and helping people less!!) becuase of money- mongers. I think this is 1 reason something like splenda is accpeted.
I do use it sometimes. And it definitely sizzles. But i no longer think it's as great as atkins' himself promoted it to be. I'll drink my coffee black, thank you very much.

You have a point Bronx Guy. But I'm trying to take everything in moderation. Rather than deprive myself of sweetened chocolate (LC cocoa + splenda, OR dark chocolate with alcohol sugars), I eat the ONE THING that deprivation of could sabotage my diet. In other words, splenda keeps me sane. I'm not one of those who constantly preaches "keep it natural", though. Yet, I've eaten more whole foods on this LC diet than I EVER did before dieting!

*shrug* Dr. Atkins recommended Saccharin as a sweetener and also Splenda in limited amounts and yet he probably would have been the first to tell you that whole, unprocessed foods are the best for your health. Was he a hypocrite? I don't think so...just practical enough to recognize that most people crave a little something sweet once in a while and he considered the substitites healthier than sugar; the lesser of 2 evils, if you will.
To each their own. I try to stick with unprocessed as much as possible, but I have no problem with Splenda.

Yes, and no. There is a science to Atkins that is more involved than simply eating whole foods and keeping it natural. It's not *only* about lower carb, it's *also* about higher fat and protein. And it's about a way of eating that can realistically, even easily, be followed, by people who do not necessarily have the self-discipline to follow stringent or strict dietary rules.

If you can cut anything sweet or "un-natural" out of your diet and not look back, then more power to you. However, the reason (IMO) why Atkins has enjoyed such phenominal and unprecedented success, is that it's something that real people can do. It doesn't require you to go hungry. It doesn't require you to give up tasty, wholesome foods. And thanks to products like Splenda, it now doesn't even require that you give up your sweet tooth ... at least, not entirely.

Whether you consider it "silly" or not, Splenda is an Atkins-acceptable alternative to sugar. One of the goals of the science of Atkins is to prevent spikes and dips in blood sugar, which produce carb cravings and inefficient burning of the calories that you take in. Splenda, and artificial sweeteners like it, in moderate amounts, do not have an effect on your body's blood sugar levels.

I can continue to eat the Atkins way for the rest of my life, consuming Splenda all the while, and still lose weight down to my goal. So I'm not sure what's sillier: eating things that taste good and that I enjoy and losing weight, or denying myself those things just so I can be "all natural" and losing weight.

Hmmm. I think I'll have some sweet tea.

Additionally ... I'm not sure what "Atkins mostly" means, but what I have found, and have seen many other people around here find, is that as you go along on the Atkins plan, your cravings for sweet stuff really take care of themselves. Your taste buds come out from under the fuzzy blanket that they've existed under for years, and you're much more sensitive to sweet tastes than you were previously, so it takes far less sweets to satisfy any craving you might have. It's one of the automatic side benefits to this WOE that I love so much.

If newbies are still on their way to that place, then I will happily tell them to have a sugar free jell-o, or put some Splenda in their coffee. For many of us, those types of treats have been the difference between a major slip up, and an Atkins-legal indulgence.

Well said Spiritof72! I agree 100%!