Cup of Tea at 3: Keeping it Sweet

We all know that sugar is bad for us. It rots teeth, increases risk of heart disease, causes obesity, has no nutritional value and gives our taste buds a craving for the sweet life. 

Artificial sweeteners also have no nutritional value and perpetuate sweet cravings. After all, Splenda, Equal and Sweet 'n Low are derived from sugar itself. But the health risks seem to be minimized when we opt for these alternatives — right? 

Perhaps not. 

One of the most controversial sugar alternatives on the market also happens to be the most widely used. Ever since the '90s, the artificial sweetener aspartame — aka NutraSweet and Equal — has been the subject of investigation. From the possibility that inventor G.D. Searle falsified safety information about the product, to the concern that aspartame's toxicity causes cancer, this sweetener has turned sour in the public eye.

It's not unusual to hear about people avoiding those little blue packets at the beverage bar.

Last month, the European Commission requested a review of the safety of aspartame, despite the fact that re-evaluation of the sweetener was not due until 2020. The European Food Safety Authority said that this request was due to widespread concern about aspartame in recent years. Studies have linked increased cancer rates and premature births to aspartame, although all have been denounced and criticized by health safety agencies. The sweetener remains on the market in more than 90 countries, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration maintains its safety. 

But after doing some research, it seems that no artificial sweetener is entirely risk or controversy free. 

I looked up the FDA's recommended safety levels for a few of the most popular artificial sweeteners and was surprised by the findings. Aspartame — the most "controversial" sweetener I had heard of — has a maximum daily recommended dose of 50 milligrams per kilogram of weight. That's about 18 cans of diet soda per day. On the other hand, sucralose and saccharin — or Splenda and Sweet 'n Low — have a limit of 5 milligrams per kilogram of weight. That's about six cans of diet soda or around 10 packets per day.

I'm not afraid of consuming more than six cans of pop per day — even I can be reasonable about my addiction to diet ginger ale. But I have to wonder about people who use products like Splenda in their cooking, as well as using it to sweeten their tea and then consuming it once again by drinking a few Diet Cokes. That FDA limit very quickly adds up. This limit, however, is supposedly 100 times less than the amount it would take to cause harm, according to the FDA.

I thought I had bypassed this whole sugary mess by picking up a bottle of stevia extract in the local health food store. This "natural" sweetener is a sugarleaf plant that grows in the tropics, is 300 times sweeter than sugar and calorie free. But then a little internet research burst that bubble. Stevia happens to be one of the few foods allowed in the U.S. that continues to be banned in Europe. It turns out that the EU charges this sweetener with causing fertility issues. And since stevia extract also happens to be pretty expensive (I paid around $30 for a small dropper bottle), my journey for sweetness has left a bitter taste in my mouth.

The bottom line is that it's difficult to find any solid answers about artificial sweeteners, and perhaps that should be a warning sign in and of itself. The Internet is alive with conspiracy theories about the ill affects of all artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes. Many believe that there may be danger in consuming these manufactured, toxic substances. Meanwhile, the National Cancer Institute maintains that these artificial sweeteners are safe.

Someone must be right. In the mean, time, perhaps it's safer to stick to honey. Unless anyone out there has something they want to tell me… 

Do you have a sweet story to share? Any insight on finding a safe and healthy sugar substitute? Let us know in the comments.