Sugar Shock
I have a question, maybe you can help me. Ever since Jackson figured out how to chew gum without swallowing it, he's had a half-pack-of-Trident-a-day habit, and I hadn't thought much about it. My mother used to buy cinnamon Trident for us by the case. Sugar-free gum! It's what's for breakfast.
In those days I think Trident was made with stuff that causes long-term brain damage. I'm pretty sure; I would be more certain except, you know, for the fact that my short term memory is, uh . . .
The New Yorker had an article about artificial sweeteners a few weeks or possibly months (surprise! I can't remember) ago, but what I managed to retain about the story was that Splenda is taking over the sugar-free world (unless you try to cook with it; it is a colossal failure in the kitchen -- nothing bakes, melts, or browns like real sugar). Which is, like, hooray, no more cancer-causing saccharin, no more brain-eating aspartame! Except in this New Yorker piece they included a quote from a scientist who looked at the molecular structure of Splenda and felt nauseated, or his hair stood on end, or one of any number of unpleasant gut reactions that I can't, of course, recall. He was just like, "Yeah, I guess they proved it's safe, but something about that formula gives me the creeps and I don't know why but you couldn't make me put that stuff in my mouth on a bet."
Which got me thinking about that Malcolm Gladwell book Blink that I read at Christmas, where he interviewed these experts who would have these inexplicable gut feelings about what they were looking at, like an expert in Greek sculpture would look at some newly discovered kouros that the Met paid sixteen gazillion dollars for, and he wouldn't be able to put his finger on what he didn't like about it, the tone of the statue's flesh just made him uneasy. And then, voila! it turned out that someone had dipped the thing in coffee and buried it in their garden for three years to make it look olde fashioned and fool a bunch of wizards at Sotheby's.
Anyway, when I read that some scientist looked at the formula for Splenda and then, whatever, turned around and threw up in a wastepaper basket? He had a gut feeling.
So I have stopped buying foods with any artificial sweeteners in them, including my beloved Hansen's Diet Black Cherry soda. Which means now I buy Jackson real rootbeer, not diet. And real Bazooka*, much to his father's consternation.
But it's really hard for me because I'm a freak about dental health. I have fillings, crowns, or root canals in every tooth in my head; I have paid thousands of dollars to save my teeth from a childhood of living on M & M's and Dr. Pepper, and I spaz right the fuck out at the thought of Jackson going through the same thing.
I brush and floss Jackson's teeth every night. I asked the dentist yesterday if that was absurd behavior on my part, and she raised her eyebrows and told me the pediatric dental guidelines recommend that you brush your kids' teeth, or at least climb into their mouths and supervise them, until they're nine.
(Jackson turned five yesterday, did I mention that? We had a party and thirty kids showed up. God. It was mayhem. My hands are still shaking. He had a ball.)
So I ask myself, could I say no to sugar? Could I say, "I'm sorry, sonny boy, you will spend the rest of your childhood without knowing the sweet taste of Pixie Stix, and from now on your birthday cakes will be flavored with honey and carob"?
I'm not sitting here clutching my chest in horror or anything, but that does seem a little bleak.
I would just like to hear what people think about sugar and fake sugar and their long-term health consequences. Feel free to write long, rambling comments about stevia, government conspiracies to include high-fructose corn syrup in every possible commercially produced foodstuff, and how you plan to combat the ill effects of alien gamma rays with your tinfoil hat. Seriously, I want to know.
* A couple of months ago I noticed that the Trident packaging changed and the started showing off this new ingredient called Xylitol, which is an alcohol-based sugar that's miraculously supposed to protect your teeth from cavities. It is also fatal to dogs, except our dog, who chewed up a good portion of a pack Jackson left on the floor one night to no discernable ill effect.
In those days I think Trident was made with stuff that causes long-term brain damage. I'm pretty sure; I would be more certain except, you know, for the fact that my short term memory is, uh . . .
The New Yorker had an article about artificial sweeteners a few weeks or possibly months (surprise! I can't remember) ago, but what I managed to retain about the story was that Splenda is taking over the sugar-free world (unless you try to cook with it; it is a colossal failure in the kitchen -- nothing bakes, melts, or browns like real sugar). Which is, like, hooray, no more cancer-causing saccharin, no more brain-eating aspartame! Except in this New Yorker piece they included a quote from a scientist who looked at the molecular structure of Splenda and felt nauseated, or his hair stood on end, or one of any number of unpleasant gut reactions that I can't, of course, recall. He was just like, "Yeah, I guess they proved it's safe, but something about that formula gives me the creeps and I don't know why but you couldn't make me put that stuff in my mouth on a bet."
Which got me thinking about that Malcolm Gladwell book Blink that I read at Christmas, where he interviewed these experts who would have these inexplicable gut feelings about what they were looking at, like an expert in Greek sculpture would look at some newly discovered kouros that the Met paid sixteen gazillion dollars for, and he wouldn't be able to put his finger on what he didn't like about it, the tone of the statue's flesh just made him uneasy. And then, voila! it turned out that someone had dipped the thing in coffee and buried it in their garden for three years to make it look olde fashioned and fool a bunch of wizards at Sotheby's.
Anyway, when I read that some scientist looked at the formula for Splenda and then, whatever, turned around and threw up in a wastepaper basket? He had a gut feeling.
So I have stopped buying foods with any artificial sweeteners in them, including my beloved Hansen's Diet Black Cherry soda. Which means now I buy Jackson real rootbeer, not diet. And real Bazooka*, much to his father's consternation.
But it's really hard for me because I'm a freak about dental health. I have fillings, crowns, or root canals in every tooth in my head; I have paid thousands of dollars to save my teeth from a childhood of living on M & M's and Dr. Pepper, and I spaz right the fuck out at the thought of Jackson going through the same thing.
I brush and floss Jackson's teeth every night. I asked the dentist yesterday if that was absurd behavior on my part, and she raised her eyebrows and told me the pediatric dental guidelines recommend that you brush your kids' teeth, or at least climb into their mouths and supervise them, until they're nine.
(Jackson turned five yesterday, did I mention that? We had a party and thirty kids showed up. God. It was mayhem. My hands are still shaking. He had a ball.)
So I ask myself, could I say no to sugar? Could I say, "I'm sorry, sonny boy, you will spend the rest of your childhood without knowing the sweet taste of Pixie Stix, and from now on your birthday cakes will be flavored with honey and carob"?
I'm not sitting here clutching my chest in horror or anything, but that does seem a little bleak.
I would just like to hear what people think about sugar and fake sugar and their long-term health consequences. Feel free to write long, rambling comments about stevia, government conspiracies to include high-fructose corn syrup in every possible commercially produced foodstuff, and how you plan to combat the ill effects of alien gamma rays with your tinfoil hat. Seriously, I want to know.
* A couple of months ago I noticed that the Trident packaging changed and the started showing off this new ingredient called Xylitol, which is an alcohol-based sugar that's miraculously supposed to protect your teeth from cavities. It is also fatal to dogs, except our dog, who chewed up a good portion of a pack Jackson left on the floor one night to no discernable ill effect.
114 Comments:
First of all:
"The duo were trying to make an insecticide. On a late-summer day, Phadnis was told to test the powder. Phadnis thought that Leslie asked him to taste it; so he did"
What sort of scientist TASTES what is supposed to be insecticide?
And secondly:
Life wouldn't be very much fun without ice cream now and then. I think in all things, moderation is a good thing. I'd rather live a very short SWEET life, than a long bitter one! :)
Xylitol is naturally found in strawberries. I think it works by putting a protective coating on the teeth. It is a major ingredient in tooth products worldwide and first worked it's way into kid's toothpaste by Tom's of Maine. I think they are using it in most of their toothpastes now. My pediatric dentist swears it's the best thing for kids teeth and even recommends a xylitol gum.
Xylitol is naturally found in strawberries. I think it works by putting a protective coating on the teeth. It is a major ingredient in tooth products worldwide and first worked it's way into kid's toothpaste by Tom's of Maine. I think they are using it in most of their toothpastes now. My pediatric dentist swears it's the best thing for kids teeth and even recommends a xylitol gum.
I grew up in a home where sugar was not found (fake or real). Not BANNED, but not kept. On occassion, I would find a box of Fig Newtons.
But I think the key is moderation. When I went to friends' houses or birthday parties, my mom never said, "Don't Eat Cake, child." But on her watch, sugar treats were not available. It just made them sweeter elsewhere.
I was one of those carob-chomping, honey-sucking kids. Because sugar was not allowed in our house. It was socially damaging to my elementary school reputation. (No one wants to sit next to the girl who steals your twinkies.) I'm a sugar fiend to this day, so I don't blame my well-meaning, if cupcake stealing, parents. But I do sometimes wonder if the sweet tooth would be so pronounced if I hadn't spent so much time longing for cookies as a youngster. To completely negate this story, my brother is the healthiest 10-mile running, fruit eating person you will ever meet.
My compromise these days is to eat baked goods with real sugar and avoid the fake stuff as much as possible. I also caught myself checking bread ingredients for corn syrup the other day.
I realize that this would make considerably more work for you, but have you considered letting him have the sugar but making sure he brushes after having an especially sugary thing (soda, cake, ice cream, candy, that kind of thing)?
Um hm, like Moose, i was raised with honey and carob and my face still screws up in yechiness whenever i think about carob chips. I too have the worst sweet tooth to this day and believe it's related.
In the case of my daughter, she didn't have any sugar - real or fake - until she was 4 or 5 and then only in moderation. At 13 she has a much better grip on her sugar consumption than i ever did or probably will.
Unfortunately i teeter back and forth between sugar and splenda and haven't decided which way i feel the healthiest yet. At this point i'm leaning toward real sugar because it's, you know, real.
Hope this helps and, heh, good luck!
As far as the soda thing, my husband is a black cherry soda addict, and I found an all-natural soda (whose brand name escapes me) at Whole Foods made with cane juice rather than the high-fructose crap. It probably doesn't stop tooth rot, but it seems less gross.
As someone who has also spent thousands on her teeth, and just turned 30 and looks forward to a future of spending a lot more, I agree that there needs to be limits. But I think Emily hit it on the head: if you ban something, you make it more enticing. Teach Jackson that sugars' ok, in small amounts, and to scour his teeth immediately after.
Oh, and Moose, bread products are often LOADED with corn syrup. I have spent many minutes in frustration in the bread aisle looking for whole wheat hamburger buns that didn't contain it.
I have few hard and fast rules as a parent. You must worship Steve Jobs, only say fuck where it's appropriate, and never chew gum. N.E.V.E.R.
My kids get all sorts of crap once in awhile, but never gum. My mom was a dental hygenist and she thought that and pop were the downfalls of western civilization. My kids get pop at Christmas and Easter. Seriously. Now they eat fast food and candy and all of it in moderation (okay I am still trying to grasp that moderation bullshit) but no pop and gum.
Besides the dental stuff, I have heard that chewing gum ruins your jaw and bite.
Oh and I consume so much diet pepsi that when I donate blood they have to spin it out of the red and white blood cells so they can give it to others.
You couldn't keep the candy away if you tried. He's got a Grandma, doesn't he? I agree about moderation and Xylitol sounds intriguing, but for now we drink real Sprite, real rootbeer, tea with sugar, Koolaid (how's that spelled?)usually once a day. Water the rest of the time. Candy is sometimes (unless Grandma's around)but there's sugar in other stuff, I'm sure.
I'm like you with the teeth and totally blame my Mom. You'd think that considering we live longer, we'd have adapted to keep our baby teeth until at least 20 when we'd get a fresh set to last 60 more years.
Let us know how it goes.
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I'm not sure of the exact science of how they 'make' splenda, but I know that part of the process involves passing real sugar through some chlorine formula to make it Splenda. That does not sound at all appetizing. We do the real stuff in our house, but in moderation. I think alot of it has to do with if you are blessed with good teeth or not. I can brush 6 million times a day and floss until my hands fall off and I would *still* get cavities like nothing else. My father? Mr-I-smoke-a-pack-a-day-like-no-one's-business-and-sometimes-forget-to-brush? Something like 3 cavities his entire life. So super unfair.
As a diabetic with some awful awful teeth, I am all for artificial sweetner, but I just don't like the taste of splenda. Also it just looks funny, like little flakes.
My own personal sugar demon (like Mrs Harridan) is the high fructose corn syrup. Why do ritz chips need to be sweetened? Or other bread products? And who has ever seen HFCS? There's something rotten about it.
I don't trust artificial sweeteners, and I put some stock in that scientist's reaction. Same thing with butter v. margarine: too much butter'll kill you, but at least you know exactly what's in it when it does.
Stick with the real stuff and embrace moderation. If you're substituting anything, substitute in-season fruit for cookies as an afternoon snack. The less sugar you eat, the less your body craves it. I imagine that works for five-year-olds too... although hell, maybe not. I could plow through any number of doughnuts as a five-year-old, and now I definitely have a limit. 5.
I'm pretty leery of extreme perspectives on any topic. I've taken a casual approach to the whole kid dietary thing as a consequence.
In our day to day meals, we don't add jelly to toast or butter to our veggies. I read the labels to avoid HFCS and trans fats showing up in weird places like bread and green beans and I try not to serve things that send our blood sugar levels through the roof.
That said, fake versions of foods like ice cream, soda and candy don't taste good to me. When we endulge, we go for it: cream cheese, chocolate,butter, sugar, whipping cream.
The key for us is trying to be balanced so we don't feel deprived.
Well, I'm kind of along the same lines as everyone else here. I think sugar, in moderation, is ok. Brush your teeth. Try to buy real vs. artificial.
My son has a friend (7 years old) and I swear to God that kid never gets any sugar. He came over here and sucked down three popsicles before my son was even done with one. I think the banning makes it a lot more enticing.
I always had a lot of sugar at my grandparents house (not at home) and only have two cavities. I think with teeth, you do have to take care of them but a lot of things I think are genetic and you just can't do a lot about it.
Ok. A lot said, and nothing said, all at once.
I drink Diet Coke but I avoid artificial sweeteners for the kids. We also try to avoid high fructose corn syrup. We do allow sugar in moderation but it is hard.
I went to buy a pack of Trident the other day and saw the excited Xylitol declaration on the package and didn't buy it because I didn't know what it was.
I'm TOTALLY wary of the artificial sweeteners... so I don't let my kids have them. However, me? Oh *I* drink diet coke ALL THE TIME.. You'd think that if I don't let me kids eat it, *I* wouldn't eat it.. but no. Use splenda and equal at home in my tea/on my cereal as well. I used to buy into the marketing for Splenda, that it was the best thing since vodka martini's, but lately I've been hearing more and more rumors to it's undercover nastiness. I feel guilty drinking the diet coke, but actually it's more because of the caffeine than the sweetener. I know I shouldn't be drinking that much caffeine. Ergh.
Growing up, we never had soda in the house. It was a now and then sort of treat, like when we went out for pizza or something.
We also did not have sugary cereals. There were no Chocolate Coated Sugar Bombs in our house, I think the sweetest we ever got was honey nut cheerios. Everything else had no sugar added (grape nuts, all sorts of chex, raisin bran, plain cheerios, etc).
I try to do the same thing in our house, the coke in the fridge is there solely for my husband, the kids get water, juice or milk (dairy and soy). The cereal is a leetle more lax than when I was a kid (we have honeycomb cereal) but back when I made pancakes and waffles on a regular basis, I used whole wheat and even whole oats (ground to a flour) and made syrup a special weekend treat, and used low-sugar jam on the weekdays.
I think moderation is key. I'm glad you posted, because I have gotten into the habit of letting my kids have a sucker (dum-dum) on the way home from daycare/school every day, and I should really cut that out... or at least make them brush when we get home.
My kids are also still pretty young (4 & 2) so I hope I don't cave as they get older.
I'm a chemist and a label-reader (but not yet a mom), so I have to say that Splenda scares the panties off of me, too. I'm not an all-or-nothing woman, though, so I don't think a little of anything will hurt you if you're healthy to begin with.
I can't afford to be all Free-Trade Certified and Certified Organic, but if I was feeding kids and could afford it, I would try to do it that way as much as reasonable. I just try to steer mostly clear of 'partially hydrogenated.' While we humans are brilliant at synthesizing new 'good' things to replace 'bad' old ingredients, I'm still betting that it'll take years of consumption before any decent studies on Splenda prove or disprove ill health effects.
"Made from sugar" is carefully worded, to say the least. We're a litigious society, and the FDA is a lapdog to whomever can cough up the most cash to get their product approved. If xylitol's naturally occurring in strawberries, I say that's totally acceptable. I think high-fructose corn syrup is bad more for the way it's manipulated farm-subsidies and blahblahblah, but at least fructose is a naturally occurring substance, which cannot be said of Splenda!
I think it's best to consume things as close to the way they grow (animal or vegetable) naturally, but I wouldn't outlaw anything completely. Moderation's great, but I think the guilt over a cookie binge is more unjustified than buying everything with Splenda pimped on the label, because the cookie binge won't kill you, but years of consuming lots of a novel and unnatural ingredient just might! Sadly, we won't know for sure until it's too late for some people.
I don't let the kids have artificial sweetener (other than to taste mine to see what the deal is). My personal logic is that they are growing their bodies and developing their brain and I don't think non-food chemicals are probably very good for that.
As for me, I'm full grown (and then some) and my brain has reached its peak and begun deteriorating so I have Fresca with my vodka just to cut down on the calories (because giving up alcohol is not an option) and I stopped drinking hot coffee for the most part and just drink a cold brew coffee with milk only (or if my sweet tooth is raging a tiny bit of chocolate syrup). Amazingly milk in my cold coffee tasts very sweet to me now - it's my treat.
Honestly, I'm pretty sure diabetes would kill me before Splenda would--not that I consume massive amounts, but as a substitute, I don't have any problems with it. I'm not a chemist, but you know, table salt is also made up of ingredients that, by themselves, will kill you dead. So an "icky" chemical composition isn't enough to sway me.
Natural is often better. But human beings do not seem to have a limit on how much sugar they will eat, and it wreaks havoc on us. It's addictive, like opium (another NATURAL substance). Basically, science may kill you, but natural things can kill you too.
Oh, and honey? Not any more healthy for you than cane sugar. Your body treats it pretty much the same.
So we just won't buy a lot of sugar, avoid corn-syrup impregnated things, have some fruit around, and try to get lots of exercise. And use Splenda or whatever now and then. Personally, iced tea tastes much better with Sweet n Low than it does with real sugar, imo.
i am diabetic but have fabulous teeth AND i was also the kid with the carob chip cookies. for me, the parental deprivation led to extreme indulgence once i was financially able. i still bring on "sugar" related things when those feelings occur. my understanding is that splenda IS sugar, but missing a cloride molecule (i could be wrong about the science). i have a girlfriend who is a dieitician and we have both read lots about Splenda, and while not perfect, i am not about to give up the ONE thing that I can drink aside from water that won't send my blood sugar soaring. i am all for everything in (a little less than) moderation.
love to you and Jackson on you sugary quest.
someone once told me that if you have say, diet coke, and you leave it out in the sun or heat it up to some insane temperature and then cool it down, the fake sugar in it actaully turns into formaldahyde. (is that how you spell it?) i am pretty sure that thats not true but it makes for a good story and personally, i find fake sugar a little weird and evil anyway.
anyway, um, i dunno what i'm going to do with my kid. at the moment hes three and he likes fruit more than sweets and i stopped drinking soda when he was born and everything is good! but then i know that one day he will go to school and it will be all over, rover. but really, fake sugar? creeps me out.
I am in dental school, and I come from a long line of dentists. Xylitol really works, by actually stopping the bacteria that cause cavities. For the maximum benefit, you are supposed to chew gum with xylitol 5 times a day, and you only have to chew it for about 5 minutes at a time.
Artificial sweeteners give me the creeps too, but there's no evidence that they cause any problems... yet, anyway. If you're going to give kids real sugar, it shouldn't be a huge problem dental-wise as long as brushing and flossing are performed religiously. Be sure to use a fluoride toothpaste, or ask your dentist about fluoride supplements... this can help repair teeth that are starting to form cavities. If anything, stay away from gum with real sugar, or anything else you keep in your mouth for awhile -- the longer it's in there, the more likely it is to cause cavities. Sorry if I sound like a toothpaste commercial!
Making a kid give up sugar is bound to make him crave the stuff and turn into a 740 lb diabetic by age 30. Or a sociopath. I'm just saying, a life without ice cream and soft drinks is bound to warp a kid. You ever met a truly happy dieter?
I agree that the best way to consume foods is as close to they way they grew as possible. We have been avoiding high-fructose corn syrup and have found it very hard to do. It's in everything! As for sweets and my son (2 1/2), the way I handle it is that I don't keep any sweets in the house, but I never make him turn down anything that's offered to him elsewhere. So, if we're at a friends house he can have that cookie or whatever. It's kind of a built-in moderation. =)
Well I only got my first cavity when I was 28 and it's still the only one I have. They had to pry two wisdom teeth out of my head kicking and screaming (the other two remain). My teeth, apparently, are made of iron.
My mom never kept sugary cereals around...when I was a kid it was a HUGE deal to get some Lucky Charms. But now the thought of that stuff makes me sick. Wheaties and Raisin Bran are what really get me going. Ditto baked goods -- I have to use real sugar, real butter...anything fakey tasting just grosses me out too much. And I recently stopped drinking diet soda so basically I am just a big stupid donkey girl scout about the whole thing. No one likes me very much.
Anyway, roundabout way of saying, everything in moderation. Fake sweeteners are probably bad for you in massive quantities. But then, so is anything. I'm not sure about gum...I've heard it fucks up your jaw but I can't chew it for very long anyway.
Was there any useful information in this comment? No. Hugs and kisses anyway.
I am one of those people who cannot have fake sugar. It's not that I'm convinced that it'll give me cancer or something; artificial sweetners give me migraines, and my body's reaction has developed to a point that if I accidentally take a sip of diet coke, I have an immediate reaction and start wanting to puke. Nothing tastes worse!
Now, all these people out there are claiming that Splenda is made of entirely different stuff, that it's totally good for you, whatever. What I know about Splenda is that it induces the exact same reaction as all those other artificial sweetners - migraines and wanting to puke. So you know, I don't think it's that different after all.
The thing that annoys me about splenda is that with nutrasweet and so on, anything that had it in was obviously labeled diet. But splenda is assumed to be just like sugar, so people sneak it in places. Do you know how hard it is to find yogurt these days without splenda in it? Or green tea?
On the other hand, I have a really, really hard time finding chewing gum because it's all made with fake sugar. All of it. The only kind I can chew without getting sick, at least that I've found, are those Carefree Koolerz. They have such a shameful name, but the orange creamsicle whatever flavor is truly amazing, and more to the point, the fake sugar they use is xylitol.
So - I could go the chemistry angle, but basically, my body doesn't register it as fake sugar, so I'm assuming it's not quite as bad for you as all that other stuff.
And for the record, I grew up eating regular sugar. I was never a huge junk food fan, so I stayed away from potato chips, and ate in moderation, but I've only ever had one cavity. Just brush and floss!
consternation is an awesome awesome underused word. i plan on using it very soon to do my part to reintrouduce it in the common vernacular.
happy birthday jackson.
artificial sweeteners are more evil than white bread. if it is processed, it is bad.
I grew up eating the worst crap imaginable. We had mashed potato flakes in the house for god's sake. Pixy sticks and wax bottles filled with super sugar saturated colored water and sour apple gum and sugar babies. It's amazing that i have any teeth left.
I don't know the answer. But the saying at our house is "Moderation in all things, including moderation".
my sister & brother & i were raised on complete & utter crap - gallons of soda a day, candy bars by the truckload, little debbies by the case, & practically nothing of any nutritional worth . i literally had to BEG my mom to buy me things like lettuce & grapes & orange juice. and, on top of that? my first trip to the dentist was when i was 19 years old & a had a tooth rotting out of my head.
anyway, while i don't condone that in the least - i survived. i've got a few fillings to show for it, but i also wasn't made to brush my teeth regularly until i was 11 or so. so i don't know how much that has to with the sugar or the lack of dental hygiene. i know, i KNOW. you're so wanting to hang out with me now, aren't you?
so, now i don't consume any artificial sweeteners because it just plain makes me uneasy. i knew a lady who drank a 12-pack of diet coke every day, & had to wear diapers by the time she was 45. her doctor blamed her lack of bowel control on all of the nutrasweet she'd consumed - he said it had literally rotted out her digestive tract. i don't know the reliability of that statement, but i tend to steer away from the stuff now. the constant wearing of protective undergarments is not a goal of mine.
that being said, i eat real sugar, LOVE real sugar, but try to keep my intake at a somewhat moderate level. i haven't had a cavity in years, don't have diabetes, am at a normal weight, & have perfect blood pressure, etc. so, i guess what i'm trying to say is that i'm really pro-sugar/anti-fake-stuff.
Fussy, I love you. I think you are the best, the very best, of the major league mommybloggers, and every time I visit, you re-affirm my fondness. I love your unwillingness to play up pseudo-neuroses for cheap laughs/sympathy. I love the way you mother -- seriously, gravely, I mean, but with a wry, analytical detachment from the process.
As to your informal poll -- I'm an incorrigible Splendaholic. I think most stuff that's sweetened with real sugar tastes disgustingly, cloyingly, too too too sweet.
(Also, I don't know if these two opinions are somehow related.)
de-lurking here:
My mother told me last week that if you stick a tub of margarine outside, flies will.not.land.on.it (because it is mostly plastic?). I don't buy margarine so I haven't tried it, but someone should and let us know. Point being, if it is that way with margarine, what about artificial sweetners? They scare me and always have. Usually they make me feel weird and give members of my family headaches.
I agree with everyone else here who said "as close to natural as possible."
I eat sugar, Splenda, margerine, and trans-fat by the handful. Think of all the Fresca/Tab/Pixie Stix/Jolly Ranchers we drank/ate as kids. We're still here. If it turns out that Splenda is the devil, we'll be dead by then and the kids will be adults, left to deal with it. But don't forget to put sunscreen on them!
I have no comment on the suger/sugar substitute debate... because it seems to me everything is bad for you if you close enough. Except water maybe? But I just wanted to say, I have heard that pediatrician's are now recommending that one uses a toothpaste with that Xylitol (sp?) stuff in it.
How many of us carob gnawers were also children of the 60's - early 70's?? Just wondering. We basically ate anything, as long as it had no sugar and a high enough fiber content that a beaver would cheerfully cart it off for future dam-building.
So yes, we are a sugar-eating household, but we do so cautiously. My son has achondroplastic dwarfism, and one of the fastest ways for him to develop mobility problems as an adult is to carry a lot of extra weight. Hence, the fostering of healthy eating habits is something of a priority.
Last year, we went on a Splenda kick and learned two very valuable lessons:
a)Splenda, while the tastiest of artificial sweetners, will give you the mother of all hangover headaches all. day. long.
b)To increase the fun quotient, it can also make your kid poop all. day. long. Can't be good for the bowel and it's hell on the toilet paper budget.
I don't like artificail anything. I like the real thing and that means sugar. Sugar, like everything, is ok in moderation. My kids, now 19 and 17, have had sugar in moderation their whole lives, neither of them have any cavities. I on the other hand have probably eaten less sugar than they have and most of my teeth have fillings. Maybe it's genetic. Anyhow I think eating food as close to its natural state as possible is best.
Splenda makes me sick. It actually gave me a stomach ache. I was trying to kick my ice cream habit slowly and I decided to go off the deep end and try the ice cream with Splenda. I'm sure it's "fine" in a, it'll take 30 years to figure out differently, kind of way, but I'm back to slapping the fat right on my thighs the old fashioned way. I'm guessing my heart will hold out longer than the artificial stuff/the Big C. Who knows?
My completely unsubstantiated opinion is that dental health is mostly genetic. My husband never goes to the dentist, eats crap, doesn't floss, and doesn't have 1 cavity. That said, if you're prone to teeth problems, I don't know if laying off the sugar will help or not (aren't I helpful?). I will say that sugar effects my mental health to a surpising degree. If I eat sugar, I'm a bitch; if I don't I'm Glenda the good witch of the North. If I eat it with protein, less so. Same with white flour. As for artificial sweetners, you have to die of something, may as well be diet Coke with lime.
Another Carob and Honey child of the 70's, here. After I was about 5 my parents let me have real sugar and it is my heroin to this day. I have to say, though, that I have never dug fizzy sugar drinks and I think that that is the main reason my teeth are so healthy (32 years old, no cavities!)
On the fake sugar front...man, I avoid that shit like the plague. I'd rather have a little extra jiggle than scarf down those creepy chemicals. A chemist friend of mine said that the Splenda is sugar bound to a chlorine molecule, it sounds bad to me, even if no one can prove it.
I don't think children should be given anything fake on the food front. Ever. I taught my kids to swill their mouths out after eating. No need to brush and go all crazy during the day, but swill and spit after eating anything. As far as gum with sugar...swill after chewing? I don't think you need to get too weird about the whole thing, but he'd probably be better off having M&Ms and then swill and spit than chewing gum.
I have not one virgin tooth in my head, either. Sickening.
Moderation...if you deprive them, they end up being the ring leader for underground sugar circles in grade school. If you give them too much, they end up being freaks with horrible moodswings.
I think it really shouldn't surprise people that when they eat foods cooked up by scientists in a laboratory test tube, it later turns out that they are bad for you. Eat butter. Eat sugar. Just in small doses. There, rant over.
i've heard that it's actually the starchy foods that stick to your teeth (like potato chips) that cause the most trouble.
I try to stick with the "natural" (if processed white sugar is natural) as much as possible - so real cokes, real sugar. I don't like margarine and for the same reasons I don't like Splenda. It actually kind of scares me.
One more thing - I have never had a cavity and was brought up with real things - but taught that everything is okay, just in moderation.
I do think a lot of dental health is genetic though.
Earlier this week I had the balls to tell the Supplements Girl at Whole Foods that I didn't give a flying fuck if the peppermint oil had sugar in it as long as it STOPPED THE BABY FROM CRYING. She looked at me as if I was standing right there in front of her lighting up my crack pipe and then launched herself into a ten minute tirade about how sugar impedes enzyme absorption or some shit like that and how my poor innocent daughter is going to grow a third arm if I allow her to even look at the substance. (Which honestly just had me stiffling my grin as I heard Eric Cartman in my head screaming GOD DAMNED HIPPIES!!)
So yeah, I think people tend to overreact about sugar, particularly that it causes hyperactivity. Has everyone forgotten that an entire generation of American children survived their first two years on formula their mothers made from Karo syrup and canned milk? A little Bazooka seems pretty harmless to me.
PS - Thank you for the sweet comment last week. It made my day.
I grew up in a house (ahem, you know where 7-11 is? the house directly behind that) where my arrival with a single peice of Bazooka Joe in my POCKET was greeted with, "I SMELL SOMETHING FRUITY....DO YOU HAVE CANDY?" and the whole-wheat, whole-grain, no soda/treats of any kind.
The only thing it did for me was make me an incuranble sugar addict. I don't drink soda, etc but...keep me away from the sugar!
PS. My teeth? Completely going/gone to hell. Its totally genetic, since I've been a tooth brush/flossing junkie since I was little.
Sugar: Not the enemy. Moderation: A Good Thing.
I was raised by a super health whole-foods mama who told us that carob was chocolate and when we asked for chips she cut up CUCUMBER. We were little, and I guess kind of dumb. But when I caught on, oh man, the jig up.
Remember money-back bottles? We don't have them anymore but back when pop came in glass bottles, I would collect them on my way home from school with an intensity and commitment that would have made me CEO of the Money Back Bottle Collectors Corporation, then take them to the corner store, buy orange and purple penny candy with my loot, and devour it in the TWO blocks remaining before my house, frantically scraping my tongue with my teeth as I closed in on 8 Lakeside Ave so that the artificial colour would come off (it never did) before my mom noticed.
The flip side is that when away at university, when other people craved Kraft Dinner and chocolate cake (which never darkened my mother's door), I would get wistful comfort-food cravings for brown rice and broccoli, maybe followed by a nice pear.
Anyway, the most effective thing my parents did to encourage good dental health was to promise us all $500 if we could make it to 18 without a cavity. They confessed later that they simply NEVER thought we'd make it, but were of course pleased that we did. As children, $500 was such an unimaginably astronomical sum (still is a lot!), that even though receiving it seemed as unimaginably far away, it really made us fastidious about brushing. Not only about brushing regularly, but brushing CORRECTLY. (Picture the eight year old: "Daddy, and how do you floss? Oh, can you show me again? I don't want to damage my gums and leave my tooth enamel more susceptible to plaque." I swear to god.) I still don't have a single cavity and I'm 33. I know part of it is lucky genes (some people have "softer" teeth I know), but part of it is this crazy oral hygiene habit that has been the one constant in my life from childhood.
As for the general health aspects... sure sugar, "the white poison" IS just plain old bad, but I still eat it in moderation because that's what goes in fudge and cake and hell, even Thai food. (I should note, my mom also loosened up substantially about sugar etc. in our teens, and it's been a long time since it has been anything rebellious.)
All that artificial stuff though? Just doesn't sit right with me as a concept. Even canola oil, all that GMO shit (while you can't truly avoid it), and the evil of Monsanto etc. creeps me out on so many levels and makes me try to stick with olive oil and butter. But you know, you guys eat good food mostly, right? And Jackson sees what pleasure you get from preparing and enjoying a special meal occasionally, even if you don't eat spectacular stuff every day, right? So that covers that part off. The joy of good food.
As for the rest, try the money. Then he'll eat Pixie Stix, but he'll brush after.
I have one small comment that is more of a memory from when my first born was about Jackson's age. I was like you and freaked over every piece of sugar that went in his mouth. Because he had a fondness for waffles and syrup I was buying the sugar-free syrup. My pediatrician went "aacck!" As in don't serve that to your kid. He said I was better off giving him the regular stuff in moderation and keeping up with brushing and flossing and then basically told me to get a grip. I would say artificial sweetners... no good. I use splenda in my Starbucks but now...
Still.. I've made it a point not to introduce soda into my kid's diet and lucky for me they have no desire for it. They like water! Amazing! I think soda is one of the worst things sugar-wise.
I've had 1 cavity in 30 years and I've been chewing sugar-filled gum since I was 3!! A lot of your dental health is genetic. Dentists weren't a part of my parents radar, not on a regular basis, and the dentist is amazed at my teeth.
Real sugar is better than anything... in moderation and included in a healthy well-balanced diet. I really limit my sugar in my diet but if I'm dying for something sweet I try to make it sure it's the natural kind, fruit.
Only reason I would suggest the no pop rule is that I don't drink anything but Diet Pepsi and water (and beer and whiskey. oh, and tequila but those don't count). I love my pop and have limited my intake but I don't think i could give it up forever.
I believe breast milk will also rot the teeth right out of your child's head, so why not let them enjoy a little sugar-filled gum? I mean, you can't even blow a good bubble with breast milk and it all leads down the same dark path.
(Seriously though, brushing, flossing and good genes are the way to go.)
I wouldn't go crazy with the sugar, but as long as it's in moderation and you brush and floss his teeth every night. I don't see why you should deprive Jackson of sugar. When I took my son to the dentist at 3 years old the dentist told me that I should be brushing and flossing his teeth every night. Sounds like you're doing what you should be.
For the record, dental problems are not genetic. But they do run in families, and here's why -- cavities are caused by bacteria. There are many species of bacteria that can cause cavities, and some are worse than others. So how do you get these bacteria in your mouth in the first place? When your parents kissed you when you were little, or when you started swapping spit with your newest boyfriend/girlfriend (eeeewww). So, it's actually been shown that parents who chew xylitol gum are less likely to pass cavity-causing bacteria to their children! For evidence, see here:
http://tinyurl.com/m6hm6
Also, I'm in dental school and my family is full of dentists, so I'm not pulling this out of my ass!
Very true. As a microbiology freak I can tell you that your kid inherits your oral flora (bacteria) and that it what makes all the difference. Plaque is actually a biproduct made by the bacterium "Streptococcus mutans" so if you want to really keep his teeth in great shape start him on Listerine as soon as he can handle it!! Otherwise, natural sugars are better than chemicals in our household!!
I agree that genetics probably plays a large part and therefore sugar moderation is probably the best route.
I had no sugar at all for the first four or five years of my life, and I'm pretty sure the only fillings I have (a few in the back) happened because of a brief brushing rebellion when I was 12 or 13. Ha ha! I showed THEM.
Anyway, I don't eat or drink diet anything and I've not had any problems since that lame teenaged rebellion. I think Nutrasweet is seriously evil and I cringe every time I see my forgetful husband drink it.
Finally, just because the FDA approves something doesn't mean it's safe or good for you. Just remember that, people.
Steer clear of the artificial sweetners, man. They are bad news.
Sorry if I'm posting something that has already been addressed. After reading 20 of the comments, my brain started to wander...
I've heard tell that artificial sweetners are especially damning because while the brain/body combo requires sweets from time to time, the body cannot process splenda filled products as sweets. Which means that when we eat something with an artificial sweetener, the message our brain is getting is that it hasn't had what it required and as such will put out signals for more which we'll try to fill with Splenda products and before you know it, Meltdown. Health problems. Obesity. Diabetes. etc.
Real sugar is what the body wants.
We only eat real sugar, but we limit it... a lot. Like chocolate chip, oatmeal, peanut butter cookies, muffins, ice creams, things like that are ok as regular treats. But candy and sugar cereals are pretty much off limits all the time, except for holidays and such.
That way when we are consuming junk, at least there are nutrients there as well. I also try to bake with whole wheat flour and add flax seed and/or nuts and things to increase the nutritional value.
Oh yes.. we also eat a lot of fruit!! It really cuts down on the sugar cravings. Like for desert tonight, I had a handful of dark chocolate chips and half a cup of raspberries. ;)
Ian (Father of the Spawn) should be writing this, but he's stuck in an all-day meeting with some grey people in suits on this lovely sunny day. I was born with the tits, so I get to stay home. Tra la.
Ian's grandmother used to make him Golden-Syrup-and-Smarties sandwiches. He buys six-packs of Diet Coke and Irn-Bru, and he used to have root beer imported by the case from the States until he found a couple of shops in London that stock it. Our last American holiday was a root-beer-tasting tour that took in every brand he could find on the shelves. It was all he drank.
During one dental appointment in his childhood, he received ten fillings. This put him off dentists more than it put him off sugar. (He is more virulently anti-gum than anyone I've ever met: not from a health perspective, but because he thinks it makes people look like ruminating livestock.)
Many years later, he went to several different dentists in the space of a week just to gauge their opinions. One said he needed six fillings: another said he needed no fillings; another said he needed two. He went with dentist #2.
Anyway, his teeth are fine. Except for the ten fillings that dentist put in when he was a kid. And the fact that the bottom row needs straightening and looks like a neglected graveyard. But that's what makes his smile so ... his.
We both go through the occasional lentil-weaving detox phase of just eating gluten-free organic food. We sleep better, wake up easier and feel good. But it's boring, so we slip back into eating crumpets and toast and marmalade. Always with full-fat butter, and full-fat milk in the tea, and lovely brown sugar in the coffee. I'm with the "everything in moderation" posters above. A little of what you fancy does you good.
* * Happy birthday to Jackson for yesterday!!! * *
I find that if I have the sugar things in the house my twin girls 12 will look at the treats and ask were's the fruit. I just pick a fruit of the day and cut it up and thats what they eat on all day. about the trident I can't live with out it myself. We don't drink pop that much we like water. If you tell them they can not have the treats I find they want them more.
I am glad to hear that your dentist said age 9 as the age you should "help" your children with their teeth brushing. I had a hygenist tell me I was being overbearing by brushing my 4 yr old's teeth.
I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on my teeth in the past few years and it totally sucks. Honestly, without modern dentistry I would be toothless.
After my oldest son got a cavity, we cut out juice and sports drinks. Only water available during the day. Sodas and sports drinks are treats. The constant bathing of the teeth in sugar is what is bad for them.
I've had an enormous sugar habit my entire life. I also love gum. Not the nice little sticks of sugar free, but the big, sugary pieces that I'll only chew in the privacy of my own home.
I'm 34 and I've never had a cavity. Not one.
I don't think it's all about the sugar -- I think there's a bit of genetics, a bit of your early years (I gave up the bottle at 8 months old, according to my mom, and this was in the age of bottle propping), and maybe just a bit of good luck.
And artificial sweeteners? NEVER. They give me the creeps.
Mrs. Kennedy, you have more than one librarian fan!
I have no ethics. My husband gave our daughter sweetened whipped cream and flan before she was even 6 months old.
This is no "proof" but I have relatively little dental work and have consumed much sugar and very little artificial sugar (when I was 16 and always "dieting" I drank diet soda). I have not bought artificial sugar products in years.
Happy birthday to Jackson, and it is an anniversary of sorts for you, too.
Artificial sweetners creep me out, too, but I'm not a scientist. I'd rather have rotten teeth than, say, seizures or brain cancer.
Anyway, I think if you're brushing and flossing his teeth, and you keep the sugar to a reasonable amount, he'll be fine. Another good habit to get into is to have him rinse his mouth with water after every meal/snack. My friend who is in her 30s and grew up in India did this and her teeth are great even though she never had dental care until recently.
Good luck!
Ah, I like the points about how even though it might taste sweet in your mouth, your brain will not recognize artificials as what it's looking for, thus very much not relieving the craving! And the thing about it turning to formaldehyde in the sun is also what happens in your liver! I think that's just Aspartame, but the same goes with alcohol. That moderation thing really sucks sometimes, I agree with 'moderation in moderation' ;-P.
Another point for those that use artificial sweeteners to cut back on calories: I did use try to the disclaimer of "if you're relatively healthy to begin with," so if you're diabetic or heading that way, simply subbing fake for real sugar's not going to save you from that. That's a whole different world of controlling your body with what you consume.
Something I've noticed that's the opposite of how many people eat: I was never forced to clean my plate as a kid. As long as I was eating enough, my parents knew better than to force us to finish, because that's how you UNTRAIN yourself to listen to your body! My body tells me when I'm full, and I don't keep eating just because it's on my plate. There have been studies that show that "thin" women may not necessarily eat better things than those that struggle with weight issues, but they DO almost always JUST EAT LESS, in portion sizes, gram for gram. I of course realize that overeating is rarely the only cause of being overweight, and I agree with what most of you will be thinking, that as a woman blessed with an inherited metabolism that keeps me thin regardless of what I eat, I should probably just SHIT THE HELL UP, because I have no idea what it's like to really struggle with my weight.
I only include that idea because the comments about artificial sweeteners giving you headaches are basically the same concept: listen to your body. It'll let you know when something's you're eating's not right!
heh, I meant SHUT THE HELL UP, not SHIT THE HELL UP. oops.
Also, that thing about salt is really misguided. Salt's composed of sodium and chlorine IONS, which are much different than elemental sodium and chlorine (never and rarely found in nature, respectively). You'll never produce the dangerous versions by accident. Na2 explodes upon contact with water, but Na+ near Cl- is water soluble....science rules!
OK, I have to comment first, and then read the other comments, so I may be back.
CORN - it's evil. I'm reading Michael Pollan's The Omnibore's Dilemma, and I highly recommend it.
GUM. I hate it - I hate the smackiness of it and the stickiness in the hair. My kids love it. My husband is OK with it. They know they get it if he gives it to them, but that the only time I will is on a plane.
SUGAR. I've also taught my kids that any color sugar packet other than white or brown is POISON. Seriously bad stuff! I would much rather they eat the real deal than that fake sh*t.
Our approach is moderation - they certainly eat sugar and sweets, but we don't keep a lot in the house...let's see, right now we have those brown sugar cubes which are like crack whenever the kids can find them, a pint of mango gelatto, and...that's it. If we eat cookies we made them and they go fast. They can eat sweets when they're offered them by someone else - I don't get all nazi about it - but they also know that sugar is a substance that should be consumed in moderation. Sometimes they remember this, sometimes they don't.
I say, ban the gum, or ration it. Maybe a pack a week?
Good luck, and good post, thanks!
p.s Rudy's Organic bread - we get honey whole wheat - has NO HFCS. I get it at Whole Foods.
As I am a diabetic, I tend to eat a lot of different foods with sweetener in them--to avoid having a sugar high or low..well, when I found out I was pregnant, the doctor told me to IMMEDIATELY stop ingesting artificial sweeteners! I was freaked out--do you KNOW what that did to my diet? I actually had to pay attention to food labels and things (that and now I have to check my blood sugar levels 4 times a day--but anything for the baby). I found out from my dietician that SPLENDA (aka sucralose) is the only sweetener I can safely ingest without fear of harming the baby BECAUSE (and this is the info I think you actually need) it is not absorbed at all by your body--therefore it cannot harm the baby in the least. Of all the sweeteners, Splenda has the least potential of harming you or having any long term effect becuase it is just expelled by the body.
Enjoy the Splenda--not the other weird ones--and I'm sure Jackson's teeth will be safe! ;) And then you can have at least Diet Crush products..there is no Cola using Splenda, so I'm out of luck!
I think what the dietician meant, or SHOULD have meant, is that it's not metabolized by your body FOR ENERGY, like sugar is. Very, very few things can pass 100% through the body without ANY chemical reactions!
[From http://www.red-ice.net/specialreports/sucralose.html
Is There Any Long-Term Human Research?
None. According to the Medical Letter on Drugs & Therapeutics, "Its long-term safety is unknown". According to the Sucralose Toxicity Information Center, the "Manufacturer's '100's of studies' (some of which show hazards) were clearly inadequate and do not demonstrate safety in long-term use".
Is Sucralose Absorbed or Metabolized? Despite the manufacturer's claims to the contrary, sucralose is significantly absorbed and metabolized by the body. According to the FDA's "Final Rule" report, 11% to 27% of sucralose is absorbed in humans, and the rest is excreted unchanged in feces. According to the Japanese Food Sanitation Council, as much as 40% of ingested sucralose is absorbed.
About 20% to 30% of absorbed sucralose is metabolized. Both the metabolites and unchanged absorbed sucralose are excreted in urine. The absorbed sucralose has been found to concentrate in the liver, kidney, and gastrointestinal tract. According to The Sucralose Toxicity Information Center, sucralose is broken down "into small amounts of 1,6-dichlorofructose, a chemical which has not been adequtely tested in humans".
Chlorinated Pesticides According to Consumers Research Magazine "Some concern was raised about sucralose being a chlorinated molecule. Some chlorinated molecules serve as the basis for pesticides such as D.D.T., and accumulate in body fat. However, Johnson & Johnson emphasized that sucralose passes through the body unabsorbed".
Of course, this assertion about not being absorbed is complete nonsense. As shown above, a substantial amount of sucralose is absorbed, so the argument is not valid.
According to the HAD, "The manufacturer claims that the chlorine added to sucralose is similar to the chlorine atom in the salt (NaCl) molecule. That is not the case. Sucralose may be more like ingesting tiny amounts of chlorinated pesticides, but we will never know without long-term, independent human research".
Contaminants The FDA acknowledges that sucralose "is produced at an approximate purity of 98%". While that may sound pretty pure, just what is in that other 2%? It turns out that the final sucralose product contains small amounts of potentially dangerous substances such as:
Heavy Metals (e.g., Lead)
Arsenic
Triphenilphosphine Oxide
Methanol
Chlorinated Disaccharides
Chlorinated Monosaccharide
Although manufacturing guidelines do specify limits on these substances there is no guarantee that such limits will always be met. ]
HAVE SOME DAMNED SUGAR IF YOU CAN!! If you're diabetic and gotta have sweet, then just ignore me....ignorance is bliss, and bliss is what we all need more of!
I let my six year old son eat sugar. I try to get him to brush his teeth twice a day. I never floss his teeth because he hates it and well, my mom never flossed mine and I never had a cavity until I was 21. I think a lot of dental health is genetics and we are blessed with strong teeth. Not saying I don't feel guilty about not flossing him daily but he'll live. I let him drink Diet. Dr. Pepper sometimes, real root beer other times. But I also give him milk and encourage him to drink lots of water. Like anything, moderation is our key.
(I've read the Splenda smear campaign is sponsored by the Sugar Industry. I think it may not be great for you but I don't think it is that bad either. If it is? I'll find out eventually but for now, I liberally put it in my coffee)
I'm also a chemist, and can tell you that the guy who looked at the structure of Splenda and got the willies - he did so because most organic chemists who look at the structure would think, there's no way that molecule is stable. I also had that reaction. You think, for sure it's going to be reactive (and react with stuff in your body, like DNA, which will cause bad things to happen). But part of being a scientist is to then TEST your intuition by running an experiment. Which is what happened before splenda got FDA approval. In this case, our intuition would be wrong - the molecule is stable, and does not cause bad things to happen in the body.
But really - all things in moderation. You give a lab rat a big enough dose of almost ANYTHING and they're going to get sick. The amount of nutrisweet that causes cancer in lab rats? you'd have to drink many, many cases of diet soda all at once to get that amount in you. Sure, you might not want to take the chance. But if it's a matter of radically changing your life to eliminate either all sugar or all artificial sweeteners... well, for me, the risk isn't worth it. I eat a little sugar, a little articficial stuff, and am satisfied that I'm living a reasonably healthy life. I would suggest not freaking out about totally eliminating things, and just be sensible about moderation.
I just wanted to "ditto" Sinda's comment. *Everyone* should read "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. Since I am diabetic, I already read food labels - but after reading that book, I paid even closer attention to the labels. It is mind blowing how many foods contain corn syrup - and how many different names there are for it.
As for sugar, I'm in the same camp of "the diabetes is likely going to kill me long before the artificial sweeteners get a chance". Although frankly, if the sweeteners killed me, I'd still chalk that up to being the diabetes fault anyway. Damn disease.
If I didn't have diabetes, though, I would go with avoiding artifical sweeteners and just having sugar in moderation. The key is that moderation bit. So easy to say - so hard to do. :)