SUGAR SUBSTITUTES AND COLITIS

I have given up the nectar of the gods (diet Dr Pepper) because of artificial sweeteners. I do not think it bothered my UC, but I know it screws with insulin response and I fear diabetes.

I do not drink regular sodas, either. They are too sweet for me, plus there's the HFCS which also causes metabolic problems.

I have a Sodastream (love it) and just drink bubble water and recently discovered iced coffees (cold-brewed, low acid)

IDK anything about Chinese Medicine...but I would like to.

I've never been able to tolerate artificial sweetners -- they've always given me diarrhea, long before I had UC. I've never really tried Splenda, but figure that real sugar is better.

Fake sugar never affected me when I had UC; it was about 7 years after my total colectomy that I became intolerant to them; it causes massive diarrhea. Fake sugar is in a lot of products; you need to read labels and even that won't give you an entire picture. Fake sugars are put into several OTC cough and cold medications; both PILL and liquid forms. Most of these ingredients don't have fake sugar listed on their ingredient label (a big pet peeve of mine). There is nothing worse than getting a cough under control so one can sleep, only to be up all night with diarrhea! For me, determining which OTC products were free of fake sugar was trial and error.

Good luck with the Chinese medicine! I know people who have had a lot of success for various ailments by using non-traditional practices.

Sue

My input really is in regards of sugar substitutes regardless of the possible impact on UC.

They are bad for many reasons ( I was a big user before). One of the first is that it sends the wrong message to your brain, your body expect sugar intake but nothing comes. That creates more sugar cravings... And so on... I don't like the idea of sending physical wrong message to my brain... My health is mess-up enough as it is.

I now use maple sirop as sweetener (very little). From what I have read it has the avantage of containing anti-oxidants. There must be some other good sugar around, but I haven't look arround much because maple sirop is easy to get here in Canada.

Hi there - I'm probably the user mentioned who may have lost a large portion of my left ear's hearing to aspartame use. I am now diagnosed with cochlear meniere's disease. I woke up one morning mid-July last Summer unable to hear out of of my left ear. This happened literally overnight. Went to an ENT doctor 10 days later and it was determined my lost hearing was gone forever. Sent to another ENT who gave me two gentamycin shots in my ear hoping to retrieve some of my lost hearing but only a small % came back. I now wear 2 hearing aids.

Along the way of all these ENT appts., the doctors asked me tons of questions. Asking what my diet was like, daily meds, none said cholestyramine could cause this, but then they asked if I had headaches. I said yes, migraines in fact and for 42 years. They asked what my method was to relieve pain, I said two Vanguish, a Pepsi, pretzels or saltines with salt, the doctors kept nodding their heads. They said to get off caffeine, get off soda's, that I was in a vicious cycle, at one point I explained I chewed a lot of gum and mints, had 5 hour energy shots occasionally, had eaten Yoplait light yogurt at times, probably consumed Crystal Light beverages and the word aspartame came up. One of these doctors declared no one should ever have this neurtoxin in their system. Period. I did my own research and was shocked, reading about the dangers of artificial sweeteners and how they are suspected to be in regular soda (yes regular, I never drank diet soda) but it was in plenty of the foods or snacks I had been eating. BTW, phenylalanine is one of the 3 chemicals that make up aspartame, so avoid phenylalanine too.

While my doctors cannot say with certainty aspartame caused my sudden hearing loss, they implied it's quite possible. And to avoid it like the plague in the future.

I immediately gave up all beverages and I mean ALL, except 3 quarts of water per day. My headaches ceased, completely. I felt so much better, except for my funky L ear.

I am now on a mission to gently point out to others the dangers of artificial sweeteners and especially aspartame, which BTW goes by at least a dozen names, manufacturers keep renaming it to fool the general public.

In May of 2013 there was a law passed that permitted aspartame to be included in all dairy products and companies do not have to disclose this info on the label. Which really makes people like me very suspicious of Pepsi and Coke products, they only have a few varieties each without aspartame, but I do definitely question the products that do not have it. In that manufacturing plant is aspartame and we are to trust a beverage without it, definitely has zero aspartame in it? Come on.

Did you all know that aspartame - Ace/K - is in Pedialyte? We are giving that to children for God's sake.

Well I could go on and on and fill pages here so I'll stop. I just gently and ever so kindly suggest everyone do their research and read every single label. It's so important!