Splenda claims it is all natural sugar and that they take out the calories and carbs....does anyone know how this is done?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,

Remember Olean, the fat substitute? They basically work on the same principle. Splenda (sucralose) is made by taking sugar and replacing 3 hydroxyl (OH) groups with 3 chlorine atoms. This apparently doesn't affect the taste, but (like the modifications made to fats to make Olean) makes it mostly indigestible. If you don't digest it, you don't get the energy (calories) out of it.

I've seen concerns about the safety of Splenda, but I haven't looked into whether they have any basis.

Olean, contrary to the bad press it got, did not have any true side effects. Everything listed (the infamous "anal leakage" included) didn't occur any more often with the product than with regular fats.

(Gulp!) Chlorine?

Thank you Methos~~

methos is exactly right. About the 'anal leakage', it's along the same line as orlistat (Xenical). Most (if not all) experience the 'anal leakage' because orlistat is used to prevent fat digestion.. and obviously, Splenda is nearly indigestible.

As far as 'taking out' calories and carbs.. your body won't absorb them, if the particular item isn't digested. It's really a play-on-words, so to speak.

quote:

Originally posted by babthrower:
(Gulp!) Chlorine?

We are swallowing chlorine unknowingly all the time in our pools (swimming pools, puhlease!)
so what's got your tongue now?

Pin~Jinx / anarchist

I had visions of the product breaking down during the digestive process and freeing the chlorine which is super oxidizing. (Chlorinated organic compounds, particularly dioxins and furans, are human carcinogens and human system toxicants.)

You probably get chlorine in your drinking water, too. I don't. And I don't swim in pools. Too much chlorine. I swim in a nice nearby clean stream.

Of course, it is not just the element that matters, but the form it is in. Chlorine (as chloride) is essential for life (and makes up some 0.1% or quarter of a pound in a typical person).

I remember the makers of it comparing it to table salt (which is mostly chlorine by mass). Its being an organochlorine compound rather than a chloride salt makes this statement more than a bit misleading, but it is also clearly in a different chemical class than dioxins, DDT, PCBs, and the like. All of those have chlorine substitutions on aromatic rings, which produces far different chemistry than chlornation on an alkane, as in Splenda. That is not to say that Splenda is safe. I don't know anything about its safety beyond that the FDA has approved it.

methos says:

"[Splenda] is also clearly in a different chemical class than dioxins..."

Thanks, methos, I didn't know that. Somewhat reassuring.