s/o alcohol during pregnancy

[twoforjoy]

That is because you are. Google it. Once I did I never used another item that had artificial sweetener in it.

 

How many fetal deaths have been attributed to poisoning by artificial sweetener? How many babies have been born with health problems or birth defects that have been traced back to the use of artificial sweeteners during pregnancy?

 

I don't go for artificial sweeteners, myself, but I do think we need to keep a little perspective here.

[mommaduck]

How many fetal deaths have been attributed to poisoning by artificial sweetener? How many babies have been born with health problems or birth defects that have been traced back to the use of artificial sweeteners during pregnancy?

 

I don't go for artificial sweeteners, myself, but I do think we need to keep a little perspective here.

I don't believe those born with fetal alcohol syndrome had mothers that only had an occasional glass of wine with dinner. That is the perspective of what was referred to in the OP. Moderation.

[DarlaS]

BTW, although we call them artificial sweetners, they aren't. All sweetners are made of chemicals, even sugar. No, aspartame may not exist naturally, but then, neither does beer. It is all in how the chemicals are put together.

 

Artificial does not mean the same thing as "chemical". Water is a chemical. Artificial (to me) means it could only be created in a laboratory.

 

Things do ferment in nature. Pretty sure the first alcoholic beverage would have been accidental.

[kitten18]

Is there any evidence that fast food tacos are harmful to the developing fetus?

 

I guess I just wonder why every woman is so hard on herself about what she ate/drank/took during pregnancy. Avoid crack. Avoid meth. Avoid jello shots. But I really see no scientific basis for women feeling guilty about drinking diet soda, having a Taco Bell taco, or taking a Tylenol once in a while during pregnancy.

:D Love this.

 

 

I drank a non-diet Coca Cola Classic every day during my first trimester with both kids because it was miraculous at settling my tummy. If I was craving diet Coke, I would have had that, but I wanted the sugar.:tongue_smilie:

[WishboneDawn]

Artificial does not mean the same thing as "chemical". Water is a chemical. Artificial (to me) means it could only be created in a laboratory.

 

Things do ferment in nature. Pretty sure the first alcoholic beverage would have been accidental.

 

I'm failing to see the practical difference between a lab and a brewery, or even a kitchen.

 

Cakes don't rise in nature. Heck, there are no cakes in nature.

 

How sad for nature. :(

 

:D

[Cheryl in NM]

I'm failing to see the practical difference between a lab and a brewery, or even a kitchen.

 

Cakes don't rise in nature. Heck, there are no cakes in nature.

 

How sad for nature. :(

 

:D

 

I don't see a difference between a lab, a brewery or kitchen in the sense I think you mean.

 

I do, however, see a difference in baking a cake by combining ingredients that are natural and manufacturing an artificial sweetener from items that are not natural.

[WishboneDawn]

I don't see a difference between a lab, a brewery or kitchen in the sense I think you mean.

 

I do, however, see a difference in baking a cake by combining ingredients that are natural and manufacturing an artificial sweetener from items that are not natural.

 

And I'm finding it hard to tell what "natural" means these days. :001_huh:

[Liza Lee]

I know this is just anecdotal, but I know two women who were heavy consumers of diet Coke during pregnancy who had children with birth defects. One child had some missing fingers and the other child had one leg much shorter than the other.

 

Also, my XH had a single seizure after changing over to heavy use of diet soda. The second neurologist he saw said that the diet drinks were probably the cause. Use of diet soda is known to increase seizure activity in senior adults. I saw a study about it online several years ago, but I don't have a link any more.

 

So, yeah, I think fake sweeteners are poison.

[Veritaserum]

Also, my XH had a single seizure after changing over to heavy use of diet soda. The second neurologist he saw said that the diet drinks were probably the cause. Use of diet soda is known to increase seizure activity in senior adults. I saw a study about it online several years ago, but I don't have a link any more.

 

So, yeah, I think fake sweeteners are poison.

 

My neurologist and my dd's pediatric neurologist both said to avoid artificial sweeteners, too.

 

And seriously, it's easy to see the difference between something made with flour and eggs vs. aspartame. Y'all are being difficult on purpose.:tongue_smilie: Enjoy your diet soda if you want to, but don't offer any to me or my kids. :)

[Cheryl in NM]

And I'm finding it hard to tell what "natural" means these days. :001_huh:

 

I agree.

 

From http://www.aspartame.org

Aspartame is composed of two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine, as the methyl ester. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Aspartic acid and phenylalanine are also found naturally in protein containing foods, including meats, grains and dairy products. Methyl esters are also found naturally in many foods such as fruits and vegetable and their juices. Upon digestion, aspartame breaks down into three components (aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol), which are then absorbed into the blood and used in normal body processes.

 

The combination of these ingredients do not occur together in nature. Where they do occur naturally is not the way that they are used when they are combined to make an artificial sweetener.

 

When I bake a cake I use flour, sugar, oil, eggs, salt, baking powder, milk and vanilla extract.

Flour-grown in a field, cut and ground (I buy unbleached)

sugar-grown in a field, cut and evaporated

oil-grown in a field and expeller pressed

eggs-from my backyard chickens

Milk-from my mom's goat

So for the major ingredients in a yellow cake I can trace the origins of the ingredients back to the field. I consider that more natural than breaking various components of amino acids and other protein building blocks and re-arranging them to make a sweetener. The quoted article above also does not say where the Aspartic acid and phenylalanine are actually obtained. That they occur naturally in food items does not mean that the makers of aspartame obtain them from the foods.

 

In short, I'd rather my food be grown or produced by living animals than created in a petri dish in a lab.

[Jenny in Florida]

I avoided artificial sweeteners while pregnant and nursing.

 

I relaxed a little when I was pregnant with my son, allowing myself one caffiene-free diet soda each day in the third trimester.

 

If I'm honest with myself, I know perfectly well that stuff isn't good for a person. So, while I'm an adult capable of weighing the risks and making an informed decision, I don't feel it's appropriate to take completely unnecessary risks when we're talking about a vulnerable little being I'm choosing to bring into the world.