Splenda... my thoughts... and yours :)
I've had multiple people tell me they don't eat splenda and ask for the conversion in my recipes to white sugar, I've been trying to update and add them in for you all! On my last post, my year without "sugar" asked a good question about splenda, and by the way welcome and nice to meet you!
I've read a lot about cooking with honey/ maple syrup and such (the frosting recipe here uses honey!) but haven't totally committed to it partly due to the cost :( honey and maple syrup are $$$$!! As for splenda, it's hard to know what to believe, and I don't fault anyone for not wanting to use it/ trust it. However, there are some splenda bashing sites that have blatant lies throughout them that they call truths, unfortunately with the internet any idiot (me included haha) can have a voice. The problem with this is people will happily rant about what they "believe" and not about facts... Truthfully this really annoys me...
But where do I find the facts!?! Good questions... and I'm still searching that one out. First off, NOT the internet (at least not most of the sites anyway), you have to go to the library and look at accredited medical sources. The problem here though is even medical sources can be swayed to show what you want. Think of all the studies that prove the exact opposite of each other. I mean look back at when Dr's said smoking was good for you... uggggg.
I use splenda for a few reasons, it's nice to cut calories easily without a weird aftertaste (again some say they taste it so this is a personal opinion), diabetes runs in my family so I try to limit my sugars, and I have a boyfriend who wont eat white sugar but will eat things I make with splenda :)
It seems like everything has been good then bad for you at one point. Coffee is bad for you! Now it's good. Don't eat red meat... oh wait you can now it's ok... and the list goes on!
This is why my favorite saying is from my Nana, "Everything in moderation".
Anything no matter how "good" for you isn't the best idea is mass quantity. I think diets that cut out entire groups of things may be a good option for a short term if it helps a person start to learn to eat healthier... but forever... not so much (again my opinion).
I say eat everything in moderation and you'll end up ok :) As for splenda, the FDA says it's ok for now and I'll believe them (stupid of me... perhaps... but you can only worry about so much before you go crazy), I'm not ingesting crazy amounts of the stuff anyway so my guess is the exhaust from passing by cars I breath when I go for a walk is doing more damage to me then splenda is.
So my theory... listen to Nana, she lived to a healthy 95 and knows what she's talking about. Nana rocks! :)
Feel free to comment with your thoughts/opinions/ whatever :)
I've read a lot about cooking with honey/ maple syrup and such (the frosting recipe here uses honey!) but haven't totally committed to it partly due to the cost :( honey and maple syrup are $$$$!! As for splenda, it's hard to know what to believe, and I don't fault anyone for not wanting to use it/ trust it. However, there are some splenda bashing sites that have blatant lies throughout them that they call truths, unfortunately with the internet any idiot (me included haha) can have a voice. The problem with this is people will happily rant about what they "believe" and not about facts... Truthfully this really annoys me...
But where do I find the facts!?! Good questions... and I'm still searching that one out. First off, NOT the internet (at least not most of the sites anyway), you have to go to the library and look at accredited medical sources. The problem here though is even medical sources can be swayed to show what you want. Think of all the studies that prove the exact opposite of each other. I mean look back at when Dr's said smoking was good for you... uggggg.
I use splenda for a few reasons, it's nice to cut calories easily without a weird aftertaste (again some say they taste it so this is a personal opinion), diabetes runs in my family so I try to limit my sugars, and I have a boyfriend who wont eat white sugar but will eat things I make with splenda :)
It seems like everything has been good then bad for you at one point. Coffee is bad for you! Now it's good. Don't eat red meat... oh wait you can now it's ok... and the list goes on!
This is why my favorite saying is from my Nana, "Everything in moderation".Anything no matter how "good" for you isn't the best idea is mass quantity. I think diets that cut out entire groups of things may be a good option for a short term if it helps a person start to learn to eat healthier... but forever... not so much (again my opinion).
I say eat everything in moderation and you'll end up ok :) As for splenda, the FDA says it's ok for now and I'll believe them (stupid of me... perhaps... but you can only worry about so much before you go crazy), I'm not ingesting crazy amounts of the stuff anyway so my guess is the exhaust from passing by cars I breath when I go for a walk is doing more damage to me then splenda is.
So my theory... listen to Nana, she lived to a healthy 95 and knows what she's talking about. Nana rocks! :)
Feel free to comment with your thoughts/opinions/ whatever :)
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Hey there Steph! I have to admit, I'm an au naturale girl. I'd never use Splenda in baking and go right for the regular old sugar. I have no real reason, except that my gut instinct is that something made from chemicals can't be as good for you as the real thing. I do a similar thing with other foods too - not just sweeteners - and try to eat products that contain few to no chemicals (preservatives, things that belong in a lab notebook rather than on my cereal box, etc.) That said, I'm a hypocrite since I regularly fill my body will allergy medicines, which is basically a man-made chemical that's just not yummy. I do know that while I was pregnant they suggested not using sugar substitutes because they haven't been around long enough for us to really know their impact.
Have you checked out Michael Pollan (http://www.michaelpollan.com/)? He's a science/food writer who's been discussing this kind of topic. Interesting stuff, whichever side of the Splenda debate you are on!
I agree! My grandfather always told me "Everything in Moderation!" like your nana. That is why I have it in my header. I try to live by this, and sometimes I don't do a good job!
neva I can totally see where you are coming from and in all truth if I ever had kids I would go on a 100% natural diet for the duration of the pregnancy. I've been trying to use less chemical/preservative/packaged stuff but sometimes it's just too easy not too haha. It's funny (and awesome) how something like a kid can make someone change and start treating their body better :)
Meg, I actually noticed that saying on your blog day one and knew I'd love your site and recipes because of it :) Love that way of thinking! And I totally understand not being able to do it all the time.. but that's the point! As long as the crazy bad isn't all the time it's all good :)
I appreciate your Splenda thoughts. I LOVE the talk about everything in moderation. I'm going to give your muffin recipe a try (swapping out the Spenda for the raw sugar measurements you sent me. Thanks. I really dig it when anyone is trying new, healthy modes of creatively cooking.
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