Over the last twenty years, health conscious consumers have continually searched for a healthy artificial sweetener because of the health risks associated with a high sugar diet. The most concerned group of consumers being those who are seeking effective weight loss solutions. As heart disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes increased over the years, so have the availability of artificial sweeteners.

Each new artificial sweetener that became available gained popularity for a while until reports of serious side effects began to emerge. Before long many consumers had switched to the latest artificial sweetener claiming no side effects. Making a transition was always easy because the government declared that thorough testing had been done and the product in question was safe. This is the same government who has allowed trans-fats, food additives and genetically modified foods into our diet.

The latest artificial sweetener to come along claims to come from sugar and taste like sugar. It is known as sucralose with the trade name splenda. Splenda representatives state that no claims have ever been made that splenda is natural. However, when a public survey was conducted forty seven percent of people questioned about splenda believed it to be natural.

Splenda is anything but natural. Splenda representatives are quick to point out that splenda is not absorbed by the body and has no side effects. However, studies have found that eleven to twenty percent of the compound is absorbed. The chemical composition of splenda was formed by replacing three hydrogen-oxygen groups of the sucrose molecule with three chlorine atoms creating chlorocarbons, which is six hundred times sweeter than sugar. Chlorocarbons have a long history of being associated with reproductive, organ and genetic damage. Studies have shown that high concentrations sucralose cause shrinkage of the thymus gland in animals that most closely parallel human physiology.

There have been no side effects found with short term splenda use in the studies that have been conducted. However, the real concern is in long term effects of splenda. To date, there have been no long term studies conducted. Unfortunately, humans are once again made to be the guinea pigs for long term effects of a new artificial food substitute. It may well be that the serious side effects associated with long term, regular splenda use will not present themselves until the damage is done, as was the case with the artificial sweeteners that came before splenda. Potential side effects from health experts are believed to be liver, thymus glands kidney, growth rate, weight and pregnancy problems. Splenda has also been found to significantly reduce intestinal flora essential to human health.

The truly healthy diet cannot consist of unnatural compounds such as splenda. There are natural alternatives to sugar that do not impact insulin levels and have no side effects. Two products that are highly recommended by health experts are stevia and xylitol. More information can be obtained about these substances by reading the articles The Dangers of Stevia and The Truth about Xylitol Gum.