You are right.... many opinions!

My NUT says its ok to use.... That she'd rather I use it to get in my fluids than to NOT get in my fluids! But of course she says 'straight' water is always the best choice.

funny thing is... much of the time you can read how our 'city water' is not good for us either :)


For the fun of it I googled "are artificial sweeteners really that bad for you" and clicked randomly on 2 of the links that popped up. One said horribly bad creating all kinds of side effects and health concerns, the other reminisced about cyclamates (remember that stuff?) and said was not a big deal unless consuming mass quantities, which is true for just about anything.

So.... heck, I don't know. But yeah, I use them. Smart? Heck... I don't know :)

I've been hearing so much about this now too. The strawberry banana is my favorite crystal lite too! Lol I will keep drinking it though.

You asked for opinions, so here is mine....

It's crap!!! Don't put it in your body!!

I drank nothing but Diet Coke (and wine) for 20+ years and totally ignored everyone who told me the stuff was bad for me. I was addicted. I haven't had one for over 3 1/2 years (except in my dreams).

Here's what I've learned about artificial sweeteners....

1. They screw up your sense of taste.

2. They screw up your body's ability to handle insulin properly.

3. They make you crave carbs.

Digestion starts in the mouth. When you taste something sweet, your body says, "Whoo Hoo!! Here comes some energy!!" and it prepares to metabolize it. Then no energy comes because the stuff you just drank was artificial and doesn't have any calories. So your body says, "Seriously??? You just promised me energy! I want the calories you told me were coming!!! NOW!!" ...and your body begs you for carbs for the next 24 hours.

If you need some flavor in your water, try putting some strawberries or oranges in it. Use real food.

I didn't want to give up Diet Coke, either...until I got to the point where it was either give up and get a handicapped sticker and a scooter (because I weighed over 300 lbs and could barely walk) or make drastic life changes. I chose life.

If I can only drink water and my protein drink for the rest of my life, it is totally worth it!! (Honestly, there are some other things I can drink but I won't go into that here.)

Rant over. :)

JJ

It has given me migraines for years. Crystal Light also has one called Crystal Light Pure, it has stevia in it. It is harder to find, I found it at Target, but they no longer carry it, I did find it on line. I still like plain water best.

I use small amounts of it. But I've also started infusing my water with natural flavors. They sell those cups now that have the little infuser baskets in them. You can put fruit or whatever in there and your water becomes flavored. Having said that, you need to play around a bit. I've found that strawberries work really well. Cucumbers too. Blueberries and grapes not so much. And surprisingly, lemons and limes didn't do much. I still want to experiment with watermelon, pineapple and oranges.

I am one of those people who gets the runs from Aspartame...so, I am thinking that at least for some of us, it is not the most ideal artificial sweetener...although it might be an answer for constipation. ;-)

I know that my nut pushed Crystal Light as a way to get down the extra fluids, but that was not advice I took, knowing the affect Aspartame has on me. I always preferred plain water anyway.

For what it's worth, this was on CNN.com today:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/15/health/artificial-sweeteners-soda/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

What JJ said.

There was something on the morning news today about sugar vs. artificial sweetners. I still use them and will continue. The cancer causing deal is really a myth they said on tv. If you can go without both so be it but I can't so I will choose stevia or artificial sweeter over sugar due to the calories.