to think that sugar is the lesser of two evils when it comes to the sugar/sweetener debate?

[BegoniaBampot]

try not to give my kids too much sugary drinks but usually go for the full sugar ones over diet or no added sugar as I worry more about aspartame etc over some sugar.

really just more curious as to what others think is the lesser of the two evils and what would you choose?

We try to avoid sweeteners, ds reacts badly to aspartame etc, turns into a raving loony. We buy full sugar high juice and find that 30ml of that in a large (almost a pint) beaker flavours the water a lot more than the same amount of squash with sweeteners so they only have a dribble of it when they have juice anyway, we don't usually buy fresh juices because the kids eat a lot of fruit anyway.

We have a 'everything is ok in moderation' motto, It's a more healthy and realistic attitude to have rather than raising them watching fat/calories/sugar.

I've raked PubMed extensively and can't find any conclusive studies saying aspartame does harm. Well, there are ones saying that it does not assist weightloss, but that's a bit different. The allegations of cancer being caused by aspartame are unproven.

Choceyes- 'Studies' can show what they like. They do not know how every human reacts, and alot of the studies are funded by the food industry anyway. I know my daughter, and I know she has reacted to having had aspartame. No study is going to convince me otherwise. I do not care if anyone believes me or not. As a consumer, I choose to buy what I feel is best for my family.

and sucrolose gets a lot of bad press too, as does the high fructose corn syrup. it's a bloody minefield and you find this stuff everywhere - even where you wouldn't think. even many of the 'full sugar' squash drinks have aspartame as well and the high fructoise corn syrup.

If they drink them all day, then it's not particularly good for their teeth. Better to get them used to something that isn't sweet.

Though I appreciate that's easier said than done with some kids - both my boys have ASD - one will only drink water (yay!) and the other insists on squash or will otherwise drink about 100ml all day and end up with dark, stinky wee. He gets hooked on sugar, so we look for squash with sucralose in.

Yanbu. We don't have diet or low fat foods in the house.

Sugar might not be perfect but I'd rather take my chances with that than a modern chemical version.

Despite my user name - I never buy anything with aspartame or glucose-fructose syrup in it.

Large doses of xylitol have a laxative effect.

StanleyLambchop - They are studies not "studies". These studies are peer reviewed and double checked and triple checked. I work in the scientific research industry. If you think that funding from companies changes the outcome of research in their favour (if they have been funded that is) then you know better than me, and I'm glad I don't work in research areas like that.

so what squash type drinks do you buy - I wrap myself up in knots trying to fund one without aspartame/ sweeteners or glucose-fructose syrup. then i wonder if it makes any difference.

Latara you can buy Xylitol from Ocado or Holland and Barrett under the trade name Total Sweet. It is actively good for preventing tooth decay.

Peppersmith mints and gum also use it.

Have a read Here to start learning about the whole sugar question. This, in my opinion, is going to become a big concern before too long and rightly so.

YANBU. I feel the same way. Same with full fat vs low fat. I'd rather have something that is naturally fatty than have something that has had fat taken out and other crap put in to make up for it.

But then I try to avoid chemicals and things in food anyway. Everything else in moderation.

Choc- no studies , or indeed 'studies' can prove or disprove how every human reacts to a substance, because we are all different. Presumably that is why some people have side effects to certain drugs, while others don't. Yet the medical industry does not deny that there are some people who will react badly to a certain drug- how can any study show that any additive is safe for every human? Many foodstuffs cause reactions in humans- nuts, gluten, shellfish- why is it so hard to believe that aspartame is any different, just because studies commisioned by the company that produce it says it is? I don't care what scientists say- they have not tested my daughter or seen her when she has had aspartame.

I am however not stopping you or anyone else from believing it is safe if that is how you feel. I was answering the OP based on my experience. As I said before, whether people believe me or not is irrelevant to my choice not to buy products containing it.

I find that anything with a chemical sweetener in makes me ravenous so tend to avoid as counter-productive. I would never knowingly give my dd sweetener or low fat anything. She loved a very occasional drink of blackcurrant cordial and only ribena was available in my local supermarket without chemical sweetener. I was shocked at that.

OP - I don't buy any squash for the kids. They drink water and milk and occassionally fruit juice. DH buys full sugar squash sometimes as he cycles to work 20miles a day, so need the extra calories.
The kids do have an occassional sip of my diet coke if I order one in a pub or restaurant, but that happens once a month or so, so I don't sweat it.

CaffeDoppio - I agree. Sugar is a much bigger problem. It's easy to ingest lots of sugar as it's in so many things and people eat a lot of it, so can easily go over the RDA. Whereas sweetners, people don't ingest a lot of it and current consumption is way below the RDA that causes any risks.

For my DS, I would rather he had full sugar.

I don't ever drink sugar in anything though and will only drink sugar free.

My ds drinks gallons of fluid - now he's 10 it's normally black de af coffee but when he was a toddler and I saw a paed doctor I queried full sugar vs sweeteners (dh is type 1 diabetic so if here is a sugar free version we have it) and the doctor told me getting a sweet tooth and being overweight because of it has far more health risks than sugar free.

StanleyLambchop - I do agree with what you say re you DD. Some people do have adverse reactions to things. I don't disagree with that at all. I was just saying that these studies are well researched (normally!) and just cos they are funded my interested parties doesn't mean they can be disregarded!

Damn it

I was really enjoying my turkish delight mullerlight...

Until this thread inspired me to look and discover its got aspartame in it!

Nah I'll eat it anyway

Aspartame aggravates my DDs psoriasis. It's obvious to see, if she has for eg diet coke or fruit shoot her psoriasis reddens, itches and sometimes begins to bleed. So we avoid it like the plague.

This thread has reminded me that I have a can of diet ginger beer in the fridge at work and so now I'm drinking it

Like most people here I too would rather have the 'real thing' (be that sugar, fat or caffeine) and make sure we don't consume too much of them.
When he was little I once gave DS sugar free Calpol, he went completely berserk and I never used it again.

I think one of the dangers of these substitutes is that people think that they are better for you, and then consume too much of it. I remember reading one MNer saying she drank 3 litres of diet Coke every day! That cannot be good for you even if it doesn't contain sugar.

High fructose corn syrup is the work of the devil though. It's added to food to make it sweeter than it needs to be, rather than as a substitute for sugar in the way that aspartame is. We were in the states last year and there are loads of savoury foods with HFCS added to them - potato salad was one I particularly remember. I'd bought it for a picnic lunch, took a heaping spoonful and spat it straight back out again it was so sweet!

We read labels like hawks after that and I ended up cooking loads on that holiday which was not the point of it at all.

Xylitol is on the shelves of Tesco now. Probably other supermarkets too.

One problem with artificial sweeteners is that they may actually contribute to weight gain (as may substitutes such as Xylitol). The argument is that i) sugars are both sweet and have calorific value; ii) as a result of consuming sugars in our normal diet, our brains will learn the link between sweet taste and calorific value; iii) when we then eat something sweet, our brain will trigger gastric responses which, amongst other things, cause our appetite to become sated more rapidly than would otherwise be the case.
By consuming sweet things with no (or with reduced) calorific value, we break down this link between sweet and calories in our brains. This means that when we do eat sugar the gastric responses are not triggered by the sweet taste (they will be triggered later by the sugar in the gut) and it takes longer for our appetite to be sated. Result: drink diet coke and you will need to eat more cake to feel full; hence you will become overweight.
Solution: drink water.