Are artificial sweeteners safe during pregnancy?
Ah, artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes. This is one of those things that is no big deal if you don't already consume them but, if you're like me, and you actually prefer the taste of diet drinks and sugarless gums (or you can't eat sugar for one reason or another), you may wonder about this one.
There are many sugar substitutes out there but I'm going to cover the most popular ones: Aspartame, Saccharin, Sucralose and Stevia.
Substitutes like Neotame are mixed with aspartame to make products like Nutrasweet but most of the controversy is with Aspartame and not Neotame (like it's the best friend of the guy accused of taking a dump in the school pool – no spotlight but he's running with a shifty crowd) so I didn't bother with it.
Most pregnancy sites are more concerned about you consuming artificial sweetners to keep your weight down and they stress that pregnancy is not the time to be dieting; however, when you wade out a little further, the fake sugar debate sends some people right off the deep end when you're pregnant – I envision Donald Sutherland at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers including the banshee wail. The post I did on diet soft drinks has garnered as many comments as the flu vaccine post so clearly people are pretty passionate when it comes to both topics.
So gather round the campfire, kids, and let's get started!
Aspartame: Aspartame was accidentally discovered in 1965 and was more or less approved for use in the 80s. It's made from the amino acids phenylalanine and aspartic acid fused with methanol which sounds pretty synthetic but all of those components occur naturally in many foods like fruits, milk, vegetables, etc.
Unless you have a rare genetic condition called phenylketonuria (PKU) that prevents phenylalanine from being properly metabolized (you'd know if you had this, by the way), aspartame has been deemed safe for human consumption over and over again and it has been one of the most rigorously tested food ingredients out there.
A safe average daily intake has been set at around 20 cans of aspartame-sweetened beverage or about 100 sachets of tabletop sweetener for a 150lb (70 kg ) person and that is considered conservative. "Can I interest you in a bathtub of Fresca, Madam?"
Yet the controversy around it just won't go away. Studies linking it to everything from headaches to cancer have been tossed around since its inception and the buzz won't die down. There are entire websites dedicated to the evils of aspartame. It is the Kanye West of sweetners and it just can't stop pissing people off.
Saccharin (most commonly Sweet n' Low): Saccharin has been around in some form or another, for over 100 years and was banned for a while for causing bladder cancer in rats until they figured out that rats have different urine that humans do (Long story. Don't ask.) so the ban was lifted. There is still some stuff about it collecting in your baby's bladder knocking around the web right now but they aren't really sure if that's true. Great. Thanks for the awesome job on the rat piss report there, guys.
Sucralose (Splenda, SucraPlus, Candys, Cukren, and Nevella): Sucralose started being approved by countries in the 90s. It's supposed to "Taste Like Sugar because it IS sugar" but it's actually a sugar molecule with three of the hydroxyl groups replaced with chlorine atoms. Which is kind of like saying Wings is just like the Beatles. Sure Paul McCartney is still kicking around in there but it's not the same band, buddy.
The only iffy things that showed up in the good ole rat studies were some inconclusive immune system stuff that translated into a person consuming 20,000 packets of sucralose a day. I going to go out on a limb here and say back the hell away from the low-cal cupcakes if you're rocking those kind of numbers. There also aren't any long term studies on it because, well, it hasn't been around that long which isn't always comforting. So far so good though.
Stevia: Is extracted from the leaves of the stevia plant. It has been used for decades in Japan but is still fairly new to North America. The FDA deems Stevia as safe during pregnancy.
I've tasted stevia. It's good, don't get me wrong, but I don't think it's as close to the good, sweet lovin' sugar gives ya but that's just my opinion and it seems to be pretty free from controversy (so far).
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So there it is. Artificial sweetners are artificial which is always something to consider when you're pregnant but it seems that consuming them during pregnancy has been given the go ahead. Although, you've got another thing coming if you think you can sip a Diet Coke in peace.
People are rabid about this topic and I'm sure you're already painfully aware that being pregnant makes you public domain so you're probably going to get an earful from people trying to enlighten you. Just tell them it's actually whiskey in the Diet Coke can but you didn't want people sticking their nose in your personal business while you were enjoying your afternoon cocktail in the food court.
8 Comments
Reader Comments (8)
Thanks for the info. I'm almost 8 months pregnant now and occasionally enjoy a diet carbonated beverage, but lately I just opt for the high-fructose corn syrup sweetened non-diet variety to avoid reproach from my Prius driving co-workers. In a world where articifical sweeteners are viewed as evil, I figure that a corn-derived sweetener must be the lesser of two evils. I tried Stevia awhile ago and, sadly, I thought it tasted like ass.
I had to comment here. I drive a Prius and would never say such a thing. I'm sorry your co-workers are so judgmental.
I am pregnant and I happily drink Diet Coke (and now eat sushi, and even lunch meat without microwaving it! horrors!).
Though, after reading a few weeks ago that one teensy tiny recent study SEEMED to show that drinking more than four cans a day (FOUR?) *could*, POSSIBLY, lead to premature labor.... I've been drinking it less often--say, once a week instead of 3-4 times a week. And I never had more than one (12-16 oz.) a day anyhow.
I was more careful about lunch meat, sushi, etc. last time, and this time ... well, it isn't quite that I don't give a damn. I just think there's an awful lot of paranoia about all this shit and one Diet Coke more or less isn't going to irreparably harm me or my baby. And god help the person who tries to tell me what I should or shouldn't eat while I'm pregnant. Haven't they heard of the power of hormones?
But mostly I just wanted to thank you for the comment about the whiskey. I'm probably going to use that sometime.
I am definitely going to use that line about the whiskey!! Good one!
I can't thank you enough for this site! Amazing how peoples' sense of humor seems to go right out the window the moment they find out you've got a bun in the oven... One co-worker even yelled (as I reached to pick up papers off the floor), "Don't bend, you're pregnant!" How shall I sit in the car to drive home, I wonder? And nevermind the dirty looks when I had a bit of diet cola with *gasp" aspertame! But today I can't stop laughing about drinking a bathtub full of fresca, shooting down some whiskey, and generally terrorizing people with common sense. Who knew pregnancy could be this fun?
I have to say, I'm 20 weeks pregnant, and I enjoy around 2 cans of diet coke a day...somedays its more like 3, sometimes none at all....and cannot stop hearing comments from co-workers, parents, siblings, friends, who ever...I am not the kind of person to take advice from others all the time without knowing what I'm talking about, or what they are talking about. My response to them lately has been, "Oh, I didnt' know you had suddenly become my newest OBGYN, thanks for the unsolicited advice!" and usually, the shut up pretty quick.
Found you via offbeatmama. YAY! I'm not yet pregnant. My SO and I have been trying for over a year now and have started the whole fertility thing..blah blah blah. Anyway, I was visiting my sister who just had her baby and got an ear full about my eating habits. I'm a big fan of moderation in all things. Most of the time a little of something won't hurt. It's when you are doing a whole lot of it that things go south. Or so I thought. Her stance was that I wasn't truly serious about pregnancy if I wasn't cutting out everything that could possibly harm the baby or my chances of conception. Lucky I have a sane SO who set me straight. Long-short? Glad I found your site. Love that you are so laid back about everything and happy to have a place to go with my questions and curiousities. Thank you!
Really good info, and great site. I saw it on a list of the Top 50 pregnancy blogs as #1!
I try to stay away from as many artificial things as possible. It's good practice anyway. I'm a huge fan of Stevia for that reason. My husband and I like to cook with Stevia for guilt free (mostly) desserts :)
I just started a blog about pregnancy and nutrition, and I would love to hear your thoughts and get your feedback!
When I was pregnant everyone would jump down my throat because I would drink crystal light!
*GASP*!!!!
One person actually scared me so bad I called my OB right away in tears because she'd convinced me I'd permanently damaged my child.
When I called my OB I explained to the nurse that I would add one Crystal Light packet to a ONE LITER bottle of water and that I would only drink one of thee and then switch to regular water. was this ok?
She actually laughed a bit and tole me I was just fine. That unless I was using a packet for an 8oz glass and then having several glasses of the stuff a day (like 5) then I -and the baby- were going to be just fine.
I wish the people who were so willing to give you unsolicited "advice" at least had the decency to do their homework first!