I have a 10 year old daughter that is experiencing early puberty and menstrual cycles. Because of this, she has recently been gaining weight. I don't allow her to drink soda/pop and try to limit her sugar intake. I have been making kool aid and lemonade with Splenda. Is this safe for her?? Some say yes, some say no. I'm really confused about this. I thought I was doing a good thing. Thanks!!

Personally, I would use Stevia if you felt you needed a lo cal sugar substitute.
I am sensitive to synthetic sweeteners and would never let a child of mine injest same. As for Splenda, it is distilled with chlorine. If you have no problem with that, fine. I'm allergic to chlorine so I opt not to use it. I have switched to turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw) as it is not highly processed and is zero points on WW.

Personally, I would use Stevia if you felt you needed a lo cal sugar substitute.
I am sensitive to synthetic sweeteners and would never let a child of mine injest same. As for Splenda, it is distilled with chlorine. If you have no problem with that, fine. I'm allergic to chlorine so I opt not to use it. I have switched to turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw) as it is not highly processed and is zero points on WW.

Thanks for the info. Where would I find this turbinado sugar?? I was very worried about this and spoke with her doctor yesterday. The doc said it was perfectly safe and fine to allow my daughter the Splenda, as she needs to lose 20 pounds. However, I would opt for a healthier solution and would like to try the turbinado sugar.

Turbinado and table sugar have pretty much the same glycemic index, which means they do the same thing to your body. Turbinado is sugar in a slightly more natural form, but it's still sugar. It isn't going to help your daughter lose weight.

I highly recommend you look into a lower glycemic index sweetener like stevia how Titchou suggested, or agave nectar. Stevia is an herb that is naturally extremely sweet, after being processed it's a white powder similar to Splenda in taste and texture. Agave nectar is a syrup made from the sap of the agave plant. Both have little or no glycemic index and are totally natural.

Also meant to tell you you can find both of those, along with turbinado, at any natural foods store or the natural foods section of your grocery store sometimes.

Hi! I thought I would pass along this info that my neurologist told me. I've been using Splenda for quite a while. My neuro suggested I stop because artifical sugars can cause numbness and tingling.

splenda/is an "excitotoxin" ; Mono Sodium Glutamate is another [removed] try Stevia as a sweetener
Trehalose is a naturally occuring sugar -learn about it.
[removed]
read about the "Glycemic Index" of foods
avoid ground grain products as much as possible-raise blood glucose levels; increase insulin-excess glucose stored as fat - thats the way,unfortunately,cattle and pigs are fattened.
lots of green leafy,veges ;raw ,organic,best
fresh fruits,especially berries
Avoid milk/dairy as much as possible
avoid soy also -plant estrogen mimics
Eat raw,steamed,boiled,slow cooker:general rule processing food as little as possible is best.
learn to use minimal dry heat cooking-produces toxins such as; AGES(advanced glycation end products);oxidized or rancid fats,Aromatic hydrocarbons;polycyclic amines;nitrosamines
Fats are essential,healthy and do not make you fat!!
be sure to include 1/2 to 1.0 ounce Extra virgin olive oil daily;
Olives(a fruit),Avacadoes(a fruit),many nut(almonds,walnuts are good oil sources)
be sure to include sardines in diet.why? generally few accumulated toxins,good source of Omega 3 oils,EPA and DHA which are essential for controlling inflammation, health,brain and body.
Omega 6 oil ,is also essential but tends to be inflammatory in effect -most vege oils contain lots
and we tend to take in way too much.
Some short and medium chain fatty acids from meat are very good for health.Grass fed animals are best.Grain fed have fats which are less desirable

I Just Baught Stevia And It Is Great.

I agree with "lderly man" and "wholegrain". Agave nectar, Stevia or Xylitol would be good choices for a sugar substitute and all have a low glycemic index.

Please try not to give your daughter ANY artificial sweeteners. They are not healthy for adults and even less so for children. Stevia has been recommended to you as a good sugar substitute but stevia is not the ultimate sweetener either and there have been questions raised about its safety. For my child I would err on the side of caution.
Why do you feel that you need to give your daughter artificial sweeteners? Do you think that the couple tablespoons of sugar she may use daily (total of 100 calories) would make or break her diet? I doubt it very much.
If she controls her intake of sugary foods (junk foods) and cuts down on unhealthy fat it will make a much bigger impact than cutting out the little bit of sugar. Also, you should encourage her to exercise as much as possible. Kids get far too little exercise and spend too much time being sedentary and inactive. Those are the key elements needed for healthy weight loss: good eating habits and lots of exercise. That's just my opinion.

Stevia is not an artificial sweetner. There is controversy about the tests that were conducted and many think it was the sweetner industry pressuring the FDA to keep Stevia out of the US. It has been used for decades in South America, Canada, Japan, Australia with no known or reported harmful effects.

Please try not to give your daughter ANY artificial sweeteners. They are not healthy for adults and even less so for children. Stevia has been recommended to you as a good sugar substitute but stevia is not the ultimate sweetener either and there have been questions raised about its safety. For my child I would err on the side of caution.
Why do you feel that you need to give your daughter artificial sweeteners? Do you think that the couple tablespoons of sugar she may use daily (total of 100 calories) would make or break her diet? I doubt it very much.
If she controls her intake of sugary foods (junk foods) and cuts down on unhealthy fat it will make a much bigger impact than cutting out the little bit of sugar. Also, you should encourage her to exercise as much as possible. Kids get far too little exercise and spend too much time being sedentary and inactive. Those are the key elements needed for healthy weight loss: good eating habits and lots of exercise. That's just my opinion.

Stevia is an all-natural plant sugar. although I think raw turbinado sugar tastes sooo much better.lol. I had 3 stevia plants and enjoyed drying and crushing my own "sugar". Stevia has other nutrients (as most other plants do), but i can't remember exactly what they were. anyone know??

You are correct. Stevia is a natural sweetener, like sugar. I never claimed otherwise although upon reading my post again I can see how the placement of my statement about stevia could be interpreted as including it with all the artificial sweeteners.
As far as its safety, you are most likely correct as well. I have read quite a bit about it when I was investigating the safety of Splenda. It does indeed seem quite safe. I am simply acknowledging that there have been studies done which put a small question mark in my mind about stevia. It is a small question mark but I feel that whenever the safety of children is an issue I go overboard in being cautious. It has a great deal to do with the fact that children depend on us to make safe choices for them and they have very little control over the safety of food being given to them. This places extraordinary responsibility on us, as parents to be super vigilant in our choices.
Therefore, I suggested to the original poster that the issue of sugar her daughter adds to her own food is really of little significance in evaluating the total diet which she consumes. It is a very small part of it and being such, I would err on the side of caution and go with what we know to be quite safe (in small quantities, anyway) and that is regular sugar. However, I also suggested that she should pay more attention to the products her daughter uses which already contain much addded sugar and eliminate those from her diet. I also mentioned the need for exercise (which cannot be ignored in any discussion on weight loss).
It may be that I am a (food) safety freak but for our children's welfare it is better to feel safe than sorry.

I agree with Rita's comments as well